1) God is incredibly gracious.
Over the past twelve months Cami and I have seen God's grace time and time again. Psalm 127:3 says, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord", so the sheer fact that we were able to conceive was an undeserved gift from God. God protected both Cami and Karis throughout the pregnancy even though at one point we believed we had lost the baby. God sustained Cami through the delivery process and allowed her to deliver Karis naturally without the epidural. God has kept us sane through several long days and several sleepless nights. And, God has given us a healthy and generally happy little girl.
When we speak of "God's grace" we speak of God's undeserved favor and over the past year we have been keenly aware of gifts from God that we certainly do not deserve.
2) Cami is incredible (period).
Aside from the gifts mentioned above, I have been reminded every week of this past year that one of the greatest gifts that I certainly don't deserve is my precious wife. In the past twelve months she has gone through bouts of nausea and vomiting while carrying our baby and working to put me through seminary. She labored for nearly twenty four hours with no epidural and still had the strength to push Karis out in less than twenty minutes. For over one thousand hours (6 weeks) I could probably count on both hands the times in which she actually got more than three straight hours of sleep. And for four months she has joyfully cared for, fed, washed and changed Karis while maintaining our household and sacrificing me multiple times a week to study, write or attend elders' meetings.
We live in a culture where the general publicly whispers about women like my wife, "Oh, she's just a stay at home mom." And yet stay at home moms, like my precious bride, are giving of their time, their energy, their resources, their sleep and their very lives to sustain, nurture and educate a human being. In a sickening and frightening consumeristic society, human beings who willingly and joyfully give of themselves to other human beings should be honored and revered. Proverbs 31:28, "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."
3) Karis is an incredible joy.
When Karis was one week old I told her that she had accomplished quite a feat: she hadn't been in this world for more than seven days and yet aside from her mother, I loved, adored, and cherished her more than any other human being in the entire world. In four months she has brought an unimaginable amount of joy to Cami and I. From holding her for the first time as a new born to coming home from work and seeing her light up when she recognizes me. From gently kissing her little feet in the hospital recovery room to giving her zerberts on her tummy when she is being changed into her pajamas. From unexpectedly hearing her laugh for the first time to tickling her under her chin and making her laugh uncontrollably and then furrow her eyebrows at me. From dancing with her to "Cinderella" to singing the "Gospel Song" with her and praying over her each night. Being a father is another undeserved gift from God and has brought me so many smiles, so much laughter and so much joy.
4) Parenthood is an incredibly weighty responsibility.
I still remember walking Chewie and Maximus the morning Cami and I found out she was pregnant and praying during the entire walk for our new baby. I remember praying that God would keep him/her safe in the womb, that God would bring him/her safely into the world and that ultimately, God would save him/her. As each week passes and Karis continues to grow up right before our eyes, my prayers have become more and more fervent. I pray that God would gives us the grace to be faithful parents. I pray that God would surround Karis with godly friends. I pray that God would give Karis a loving and godly husband. And I pray that God would save Karis and use her in mighty ways for His Kingdom. What drives these prayers? A sense of the weight and responsibility of parenthood.
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