Our daughter and son-in-law are expecting their first child.

And our entire family is eagerly awaiting the warm welcome we will bestow upon this ‘little-one,’ as he or she becomes the newest added member to our (oft’ times) crazy family-unit this Spring!

There are so many things I can already imagine doing with and for our expectant grandchild! And don’t even get me started on the special feelings & emotions that take place when your own child is expecting one of their own. (Tissue Box alert!) Is it just me???  Because as the weeks go by and the big day draws closer and closer I have found you want to share so many things you’ve discovered while raising them. All of which now seem to have become bygone-days, far too quickly!

You want to tenderly grab their hand and explain that; although you know that the two of them will both be AMAZING parents, there is still so much they do not know – so much they cannot even imagine will take place.

Most especially how…

becoming a mom & dad will change them forever.

“The moment a child is born, the mother & father is also born. They never existed before. The woman & man existed, but not as mother or father. Each are something new.” 

Author Unknown

Absolutely, Yes! And the change will indeed be for the better!

Because giving life to another person, who is so much a part of you will change your inner most being.  

And it will bring emotions to the surface that will stay there forever.  

Feelings that will make you cry when they cry.

Feelings that will make you wish you could safe-guard, shelter, and protect their innocence from ALL the harm in the world.  

Feelings that will allow you to encourage this child to be the best they CAN be, while becoming independent enough to live on their own someday; even though that very thing will tear at your own heart, in ways not yet anticipated.

You want to explain that they will never (again) be the cool person they once were, because….  

they will have to be the person who says no,

who says that it’s time to go,

time to stop having fun and

the person who must make them eat their peas and carrots.  

However, they will become the Super Hero; as the person who will jump in front of a train, if necessary, to save them – often at great risk to your own self.

All because YOUR life will no longer be as important to you as theirs.

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for.”

Author Unknown

I would explain that this little baby, this tiny new ‘bundle of joy’ they have given life to, is not really theirs.  But that he or she has merely been entrusted to your care for a short-while – to love, encourage and teach – because the way he or she will learn about and see the world is up, by the greatest part, to you!  Respecting and teaching, by your own example, the right way to go, will ensure that they too will grow up to please God and God alone.

“A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years, and in your heart until the day you die.”

Author Unknown

More importantly, I would wish them the very best as they navigate together through this holy new role as parents: the toughest, most rewarding job a person could ever love, this side of heaven!

hugs n’ blessings for all the tiny miracles who are nearing their time to be born into this world. May we always remember how each and every one has such limitless potential!