The Miracle of Life

This past Sunday was a good day for us at Lake Orion. It was a day fraught with emotion and excitement. It was a day of death and resurrection. We witnessed the miracle of new life. On Sunday, two people stepped into the waters of baptism. One of them was a good kid. He is a little shy, very soft spoken, but solid. He choose to step into the waters and profess Jesus as the Lord of his life, making the personal decision to continue on the journey of discipleship that his family has taught him to travel.

The other was a young lady who has recently found herself staring into the eyes hopeless. Two weeks ago things were so empty, she was caught in such an ominous mire that she attempted to end her life. She wasn't successful that night. But this Sunday she was. She stepped into the waters of baptism and allowed God to crucify the hopelessness and to resurrect her to walk in new life.

All week my mind has been taken back to two songs. The first is one is by John Mayer. He sings:
"They tell you to stay inside the lines, but something's better on the other side.... I wanna run through the halls of my high school. I wanna scream it at the top of my lungs. I just found out there's no such thing as the real world, just a lie you've got to rise above."

Mayer seems to be saying that his old self, the person that had been defined by the stories of society, had been freed in a moment of liberation to experience something new, something outside the lines, the realm of what the "real world" imagined possible.

The other is a song by the Josh Joplin Group. Joplin sings:
"I've changed, I've changed. I've reconsidered everything. I'm fine now. I'm fine now. I've laid the barrel in my mouth, and everything I thought before, I won't think anymore. I've changed. I've changed. I've changed."

Mark Love mentioned this song one night in passing because of the brilliance of Joplin's use of the death and resurrection motif. It seems so fitting in light of this past Sunday. Something changed. Though this young lady's life didn't end in suicide, she was forced to reconsider everything. She did "lay the barrel in her mouth" as she stepped into the waters of baptism. On the other side she was changed. Her hopelessness was trapped in the waters as the Egyptian chariots were trapped in the Red Sea. The possibility of life on the other side, in a promised land awaits. Captivity to hopelessness has been left on the other side.

It was a miracle of life...

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On Monday I witnessed again the miracle of life.

Natalie and I went for her first prenatal appointment. Since there were a few doubts about how far along she was, the nurse advised us to have a dating ultrasound. So, we go to witness the miracle of life first hand a little bit early (and see his or her little heart beating at 167 bpm).

So, here are the first two pictures of our precious little Magna-baby! Natalie loves to point out how photogenic the little tyke already is. The baby posed so we could be sure to see all four of the little arms and legs. We are now 9 weeks along, due on October 10. I am sure that this won't be the last email where I talk about this little life, but I am too overwhelmed and dumbfounded to know what else to write now. So, just enjoy the pictures!

Natalie just sent out this email to some folks. I thought you might enjoy her perspective:

It’s a…

BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right, I’m nine weeks along and due October 10th! We’ve been dying to tell all of our friends and family, but we wanted to wait until I had my first doctor’s appointment. I went on Monday, and I’ve attached our baby’s first picture. Its little arms and legs are so cute!!! To give you an idea of size, it was a little larger than a grape when the picture was taken. We got to see it wiggle around a little bit, and its heart was beating 167 bpm. It was so amazing and surreal to watch! I’ve been feeling pretty good, although VERY TIRED! We’re very excited for this baby to arrive, and it seems as though the next 7 months won’t pass quickly enough! Love you all and just wanted to share our happy news!

We tried to track down as many emails as we could, but feel free to share it with your family if they didn't receive it.

Love,

Natalie, Eric & lil’ M