Building One Another
SECURITY Vol 9 No 17
May 18, 2010
Dear Friend,
When we announced the birth of our first born to my parents many years ago, my Dad said he was having “patriarchal feelings!” I never quite knew what he meant – until now!
Last Tuesday night our son, Lee, called to say our daughter-in-law, Sophia, was in labor several weeks early. The next day Jackson and Weston Ott entered our world.
The Book of Proverbs puts it marvelously, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents.” Proverbs 17:6* I am not sure about the “aged” part but I sure get the crown and glory parts!
To say my feelings are complex is an understatement. On the one hand I am thrilled for our children and their children. On the other hand I am very aware of the fragility of life and the challenges ahead for these tiny children and for their very caring parents.
When our daughter, Lindsay, was three-years old I read her these words of Jesus, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29
I asked Lindsay what it meant. She took a paper clip from a nearby table, closed her little hand around it and then took my much larger hand and closed it around her hand. Yes!
Trusting in Jesus and entrusting one another to his care, Jackson and Weston and their parents and you and I are in the most secure place imaginable. Thank God!
With joy - E. Stanley Ott
Copyright 2010 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the NRSV