On September 24 at 9:32 in the evening, our daughter, Rachel, gave birth to Jack Desmond Anderson, our first grandchild, in Santa Rosa, California. At her side were Luke (her husband), Becky (her mother) and Jackie (Luke’s mother). By all accounts it was a beautiful moment for all of them. I arrived late the next evening, and got my first sight of Jack the following morning. From the first moment I saw him I found that my heart overflowed with love for Jack, pride in Rachel and Luke and praise for our Heavenly Father who made Jack’s brand new life a reality. I felt joy as I held him and could pray over him Numbers 6:24-26. So, I offer these poems as a tribute to all God has begun in the life of Jack Desmond Anderson.

Only God

Only God can form a child like this;
Magnificent and sweet,
Complete,
At peace
With blue eyes
That seem to ponder
And to wonder,
His delicate hands and feet,
His face that tells
New stories by the moment,
Contented
Then demanding,
His attention
To the voices of
His mother and his father–
Only God our Father,
Our Savior and our Brother,
Our Comforter Inspirer
Could make a child like this.

How Can I?

How can I hold this child in my arms
With eyes deeper blue than a midday sky
So tiny his head can rest in my hand,
His face perfect, unique, profound?

How can I hold him my heart filled with love
And not understand the heart of God
Who knit him together, each sinew
 Bold testimony to his parents’ embrace?

How can I deny my perfect joy
 With God’s love resting dear in my arms,
Exquisite peace when I hug him close,
 Pure delight and Heaven’s sweet, sweet grace?

M.S.
September 29, 2015
Psalm 139