Getting to know all abooouut youuuuuu....
Any King and I fans out there?
I'm not sure why it strikes me as a bit odd that we have to get to know our children. Maybe it's because my role as a parent is completely different from any family-role I've had before... I never felt like I had to "get to know" my siblings or my parents... they were just there. And I knew them. Or, in the case of my parents, didn't necessarily ever consider them as people to get to know. Just Mom and Dad.
My brain forgot, just a bit, the process of getting to know your new baby. Hazel and I have been thick as thieves since she was born, and we've only spent 3.5 nights apart EVER (1.5 of those nights being me in the hospital, having Meriel) - and the first night apart wasn't until she was 17 months old. And although I will always be getting to know her as she grows and changes, I've gotten to feel that I know Hazel pretty durn well.
Then along came Meriel... and I remember the not-knowing. Love comes immediately - I'd turn myself inside out for her... but the connection isn't quite the same yet, and I can tell that it's because we are still getting to know her. Granted - at almost-7-weeks-old, there's not a TON to know, relatively speaking... but I feel a little bit of a gap because of it. It fills my heart up to know that the road of finding out who she is, who God made her to be, lies ahead of us. Each little smile, each coo, each fuss... each moment gives me another piece of the puzzle as to who she is.
Sometimes it has been tough, lots of times it has been joyful - and it is all precious, this process of knowing our children.
I wonder if God feels that way about us as we grow... except for the fact that He already knows everything... but is there a sense of anticipation - of knowing that something wonderful is coming up - and anxiously awaiting its arrival? He knows what the picture will look like when it's finished - but is there a sometimes-heartwrenching joy in the watching?
I hope so.
Friday, October 02, 2009
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1 thoughts:
I really felt that way with Madison too! At first she was just this tiny baby making all these noises, we got used to each other and I started to figure out her personality. We were totally in sync, then I went back to work and we had to find a new rhythm. Then I was back home for the summer, adjustments again, and now back to work. But I felt those transitions have gone better the better we 'know' each other. I forgot about how much of a stranger she was at first. :)
Have fun getting to know little Meriel! And that song will now be stuck in my head all day. ;-)
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