Can we just stay?

Moments that touch eternity...

Just before dawn I awoke to the feeling of a small balloon popping. Could it be the day?  I went to the bathroom.  Sure enough my water had broken. Still a bit dazed, I heard Andrew wake up. I went to get him.  We cuddled.  I woke Ulrich. I woke my mom.  Today's the day. Eddie somehow knew something was up and woke up two hours early.  The boys decided to take a shower.  I sat on the stool in the bathroom and told them it was baby peanut butters birthday and that I had to go to the hospital so he could be born.  They were excited.  I said my farewells and we were off.

The sun rising.  Contractions picking up momentum.  Drive through McDonald's for Ulrich. Hospital.  epidural.  10cm. Wait for mom to get there. Mom arrives.  Time to meet my little man.  Everyone tells me they see him.  Doctor asks if I want to catch him. I reach down finding his shoulders, slid my hands under his arms and pull him out and into the world.  I lift him up and draw him to my chest.  He cries. His pink body warm and messy presses into my heart and leaves an imprint that will last the rest of my life.

Moments that touch eternity.

I am standing on a high mountain.  Life stretches out in front of me. I will blink my eyes and this helpless little baby will be walking, running,  going to kindergarten.  Looking back,  I see the births of my other two boys,  my wedding and in the far past,  the moment my mother first held me.

I just want to stay.  I want to stay in this perfect moment with my newborn. With my wonderful 2 and 4 year olds. I don't want life to keep going.  I don't want to climb down the mountain.

When Jesus showed Peter the full glory of God on top of a mountain during the transfiguration, all Peter wanted to do was stay and soak up the moment. But Jesus urged him onward.  Peters call lay in the road ahead.  Surely,  memories from that mountain top experience sustained him when the path got hard.

Life is lived on the trails going up and down the mountain.  My life lived in the 9 months leading up to baby Philips birth and the year forward that he grows into a little boy.

Jesus who walked with Peter on the path up and down the mountain was the same Jesus who appeared in glory on the top.  God is with us as strongly in the path as he is on the summit,  even if his presence hard to feel and glory harder to recognize. 

I will tuck these amazing first days of life deep into my heart. And I know the path ahead is full of beauty and adventure.