In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now
the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be
light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good,
and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and
the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to
separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under
the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
Beginning
in grief, we spent much of the next year holding tightly onto each other and to
prayer, as we tried again for a little one. Trying to allow the joy of the
pregnancy to separate the heartache of last time; hoping the potential of a new
home and new work position would separate the fear when this pregnancy was
having complications. Our marriage, like our faith, shaken yet
strengthened, as we talked about names and turned to every saint we knew until
the late, or sometimes early, hours. And we ended that year – one where
we did our fair share of turning to the sky – with cheesecake snuck in by my
parents to our hospital room as we slept beside our day-old son. And
there was evening of the 24th, and morning of the 25th –
the second year.
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to
one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground
“land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing
plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to
their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced
vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing
fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Then God
said, “How about trying that again;” and so after spending the first half of
the year marveling in the sheer awe of our child (and watching each other no
longer as just spouses, but now as parents), we spent the second half preparing
for number two. Work was more challenging than ever, and we gathered up
all our strength, and my fleeting energy, to both enjoy and plan for the fruit
our love was bearing, and the life it was producing. And though tough, it
was good. We ended that year – one in which God granted so much growth – with Pizza Hut delivery and
Catabwa on the couch as one baby slept and the other kicked within. And
there was evening of the 24th, and morning of the 25th –
the third year.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the
sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark
sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the
sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the
greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He
also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the
earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light
from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was
morning—the fourth day.
We spent this year in chaos, measuring
time in boxes and tears. Tears that marked the days, as we welcomed and
enjoyed our beautiful little girl in all her wonder and grace, side-by-side
with those that marked the dark night of the soul as postpartum depression set
in. We said good-bye to the first place we together called home, and
bought the place that took far longer than imagined to feel like home to me,
where we had to re-learn how to live together – now along with two other lives;
where the threat of counseling was the guiding star that finally saved us from
the darkness that seemed too vast to navigate. And despite it being our
toughest year, in the end, God saw
(and showed us) that our love was good. We ended that year – the one
governed by challenges – with the delivery of “the big red chair” (that along
with our children was what finally made me feel at home), followed by the worst
DQ cone ever for dessert (par for the course that year). And there was
evening of the 24th, and morning of the 25th – the fourth
year.
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created
the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water
teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged
bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and
said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and
let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the fifth day.
This year was spent enjoying additions
and comforts, settling into the “American Dream.” We got the dog of my
dreams, raised the chickens of Mike’s dreams, and watched our two little
blue-eyed blonds teem along with them – all the creatures moving about together
on the land we mowed with our riding mower, around our dream playset.
Changes at work brought new levels of comfort for both of us there as well, so
all aspects of our life seemed to fit together in this year of contentment and
thriving. It felt clearly that God
had blessed us and happiness increased as each month passed. We ended
that year – one in which we seemed to be flying high – with a “fancy” (Mike in
full suit and everything) dinner out, where we skipped dessert to head back to
our hotel room (in time for the stomach bug to set it). And there was
evening of the 24th, and morning of the 25th – the fifth
year.
…Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in
our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in
the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the
creatures that move along the ground.” So God created humankind
in His own image, in the image of God they were created; male and
female God created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the
ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant
on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.
They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the
earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the
ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant
for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Like the surrounding years, this one
was spent often forgetting we were spouses to one another, as our days as
parents became so demanding. God
had given us so much to rule over and care for, so much it seemed to fill the
whole earth at times. (Even to the point of not having time to help one
another through the grief of difficult losses that year). I spent a few
weeks in Kenya, feeling more and more called to have the third child we had
talked about; Mike spent a few weeks alone with the kids, feeling less and less
sure about our plans to be fruitful and increase in number. After waiting
and discerning, we ended that year with lunch and pie at our favorite small
town café, along with all the life we had made – our two and a half kids.
And there was evening of the 24th, and morning of the 25th
– the sixth year.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all
their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work
he had been doing; so on the seventh day God rested. Then God
blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the
work of creating that he had done.
Beginning with the spreading news of a
new one coming quickly on their way, much of this year was dedicated to a lack-of rest.
From a difficult pregnancy that led moods and patience to falter, to weeks of
false labor that altered our plans and expectations, from major career changes
that put our schedules in upheaval, to the additional little life that awoke
every few hours (and then some) that made our routine (and sleep) non-existent
– there was little resting. Yet all those waking hours helped us see all
that we have made – all that God was
and had been doing – in our lives, and it gave a profound feeling of being
blessed. We ended this year – one made holy – with a double-date with my
parents that filled us up so much we traded supper for just popcorn and a movie
after the kids were in bed. And there was evening of the 24th,
and morning of the 25th – the seventh year.
* * * * * * *
As Mike and I finish celebrating our
seventh anniversary, I can’t help but being amazed at all that can happen in a
seemingly short amount of time – the vast array of what God has done, and all the life that has
been created since we became one. And it was very good!
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