Sweet Sixteen...
Sixteen years ago, an indescribable feeling swept over me. It had been coming for some time, almost nine months, to be exact. The year 1988 began with an announcement, a declaration of life about to change. As preparations began, they were interrupted by a different kind of announcement, a declaration of a life in danger.
In the end, one life was lost, another gained, and sixteen years ago, wonder was as close as my heartbeat.
One month and three days after my father died, my daughter Amy was born under an intense light in the darkness of the fourth hour of the early morning. 4:23 a.m., I think. Just after her birth, the nurse stretched her out on a small table next to me, and I remember cranking my head to the side, moving in close, staring at her as if she were the first of her kind to enter the world, a here-to-fore unknown kind of creature. And no kidding, my first thought, and my first words about her, were simply this, whispered to no one, I suppose, except to her, and the God who brought her.
"She's beautiful."
Amy's sixteen today. I've often told her it was one of the dreams of my life to have a daughter like her, a girl with whom I could walk along and talk about things: big things, little things, things of earth and heaven both. I often sit in wonder, just looking at her, watching her discover her life, her passions and dreams awakening, God reaching out to her in ways none of us yet fathom.
I'm probably embarassing her, but that's part of my job, right? She's still beautiful, more so each day, and the least I can do is throw out a "Happy Birthday" that can be heard around the world, for any who care to hear it.
Funny...she's opening in a production of "Godspell" tonight, playing a disciple of Jesus. If sixteen is any kind of marker, any passage into adulthood, what better way to launch the journey. May it be a role she plays all her life.
Amy...here's to you! Happy 16th Birthday!
8:00:58 AM 
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