Peter (The Accessible)

Yes, it has happened. My daughter is a mother. Peter David Washburn was born yesterday morning at 12:35 a.m. And he is a most fortunate child to have the sweet mother that he does. He is, of course, perfect. 10 fingers, 10 toes and immediately after birth he looked exactly like a cabbage patch kid. Now that he is a day past the beating up of birth, he looks like the perfect mix between Sarah and Jeremiah.

Babies are the best. But, as often happens in life, good follows bad or the other way around. Friday evening, my ex-husband had a serious accident occur on his jobsite. His line of work is demolition and it is a dangerous profession.

Laurie's birth also was somewhat an intersection of happy and sad. I found out the day after she was born that my beloved mother-in-law was dying of cancer and only had a short time to live. Laurie was light in the middle of shock and sorrow. I remember often taking Laurie and the other kids over to Mom's house during those final days. Once Laurie was lying on Mom's bed next to her, just cooing away. I remember Mom smiling and remarking on that sweet, beautiful baby sound. And for some moments, that sound deadened the pain.

Life has been compared to a roller coaster. Sometimes I think it is more like the Wild Mouse at Lagoon, a roller coaster of sorts with one big difference. The Wild Mouse takes pleasure in jarring the rider. It will take you to the edge only to jolt you in the other direction. At the end of the ride, you have laughed and and you have screamed. And you are left with bones rattled and muscles sore. But what a ride!

I have pondered this weekend how often in life the happy comes with the sad; how often sorrow is followed by joy. If we allow it, the joy always wins. Joy is so powerful. Yes, powerful enough even to overcome sorrow. Powerful enough even to overcome worry. If we let it.

And isn't life wonderful? Especially the hope that comes with a new life. Sweet Peter may be the President someday (I'd prefer President of the Church over the Nation :) ), or a teacher of teenagers, or a wonderful father, or whatever he wants to be. He is promise personified. Every baby is the birth of hope.

And God is good. Yes, yes He is! In the words of CS Lewis, "God who foresaw your tribulations, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain; not a case of 'tempering the wind to the shorn lamb' but of giving the lamb a coat proportional to the wind."

Gratitude is the key to overcoming sorrow. Opening our eyes to joy and light chases away the dark. The light is there. It is always there.

And to digress... Yesterday, we went to the hospital and Peter's paternal grandpa, Mike, was holding him. Mike is a quiet, soft-spoken giant of a man, who is always ready with a smile. I thought of how lucky Peter is to have three grandpas. He has Niel who is most gentle, Mike who is most warm, and Grant who is most wacky. And little boys need all three. What a lucky, lucky baby!