Honestly, is there anything more joyful than the sound of a baby's laugh? I got to see Mr. Bear this weekend, and got to hear him laugh, and oh, man, the joy that flooded through me when I heard that sound!!! That's got to be the most beautiful sound in the world. You know in a child that young (6 months) that he is genuinely pleased and amused and just totally into being there with you.  I so enjoy holding him and playing with him, hearing him laugh and even hearing him cry (because I'm not there 24-7, with apologies to Rog and Marcy).  I love watching him figure out the world  and try to see things through his new eyes. When you think about all that he has to learn, it's exciting but it's also a little scary. I hope that he'll always know how many people absolutely love him, and even more important, how much God loves him and has a plan for him. I hope that he will stay in God's will, and follow the example of his father and grandfather before him. I hope he becomes a musician and a baseball player.
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:24-25: "So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that this pleasure is from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from Him?" (NLT). I would stretch the meaning of this to include spending time with family and loved ones. Next to the gift of His Son, which nothing else compares to, I would put the family as one of God's greatest gifts to us. I'm blessed because I happen to be close to all my family. There are no other human beings that I would rather spend time with than my family and my church family.