There is nothing more precious than a brand new baby. The purest symbol of heaven that is in tangible form. A gentle reminder that life goes on, but more importantly, that all good things come from heavenly places. Life from above, wrapped in blankets and filled with love…a brand new beginning.

We waited throughout the night to meet him. Although we were just a part of the waiting area, it was the place we could support from a distance and love our family with our prayers and best wishes. We were excited and as patient as you can be while waiting to hear any news from the delivery room. It was family time. A time to reminisce of our own baby experiences, from the oldest to the youngest. Anxiously awaiting a new person into our circle of love.

I am now a Great Aunt, a role I hope to fill honorably as part of this brand new little person. I am anxious to hold him, but am happy to wait for my time.

I ride with my sister-in-law to the hospital, I can’t help but feel excited for her. She will become a grandmother for the first time. We are giddy and nervous all the same. (Thank you Teresa, for allowing me to be a part of one of your pivotal moments in life!)

My thoughts are immediately returned to the Daddy to be – my sweet nephew. He was five when I married his Uncle. I can still see him sitting on the front pew at our wedding in a little blue suit, his legs dangling back and forth from boredom in his seat. Little would he know how much time we would later spend together after moving to North Carolina, where we knew barely anyone.

He became my fishing partner at times, a master pond turtle hunter, and my 4-wheeler buddy. His mother always had great birthday parties and I was often in the mix of those. He would stay with us on occasion and honestly, his Uncle aggravated him to the fullest extent he will tell you. As he grew older, the visits were fewer as with all growing kids. He doesn’t really know how much of a void he filled for us for many years, not having children of our own for 13 of those years. He was my buddy on many occasions.

I didn’t expect to feel the emotion I did when I saw my nephew come into the waiting area to give the family an update. He was now a grown man, soon to become a father for the first time. I only saw…my little nephew. I saw his anxiousness for his beautiful wife and the expectancy of that baby. I saw the same sweet little boy trying to be brave for his new little family. Yes, it reduced me to tears (I fought hard to conceal these). What I felt most? I felt proud of him, proud of the daddy he was going to be. My little nephew, no longer the little boy I considered him to be, but something entirely different. A brand new person he had become right before my eyes….and a brand new addition to my circle of love.

They will be fine as new parents. They will learn as we all have, make mistakes and make even more memories. They already have what they need most… love.

May God richly bless them on their new journey…

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.