"Glory"-ous
Certainly one of the highlights of our Christmas was unwrapping a certain bundle under the tree, one particular little lump of sugar who turned us from boring old parents into a fun and fabulous aunt and uncle!
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Ruth Glory Sizemore, here she is, in all her GLORY...
Cherubic doesn't even begin to describe this little love.
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Our first encounter with the dollop (by the way, her cheeks are probably the softest, squishiest things on this planet)...
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One of the most special aspects of experiencing baby Glory was to see her with James. We would certainly love to give that little boy a brother or sister of his own one day, God-willing, but for now, he's got a baby cousin that fits the bill just fine. The way he approached her with silent curiosity and wonder, then squeezing her gently and finally jumping right in to hug and snuggle her. He even talks in a baby voice to her, dropping adult-sounding lines like "Aren't you just so cute!" Wow, when did our baby become the "big" kid?!
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One of the best pictures of all...(with James' 2nd cousin, Lia)
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With her cool Mom and Dad...
On Christmas morning, Glory was dedicated at First Baptist Church. I couldn't help but think of her name. "Glory" -- one definition of it is "weight". Now, the weight of glory didn't lead me to think of those deliciously chunky baby thighs (though how could you blame me?), but rather, the weight of the glory of God as evidenced through this new life, this baby created in the image of God, the same shape and size and heft that our Savior was formed into when He came to this Earth. I was nearly overwhelmed by the weight of that vision.
Though another thought perhaps almost overwhelmed me more--the memory of our own son wearing that same christening gown, nustled on the same pillows of the same couch, his proud parents beaming above him.
"These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."
-- C.S. Lewis (from "The Weight of Glory")
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The feelings associated with what our lives were in those moments and what they are now are still hard to reconcile, yet as the memories of that past dim a bit more with each year, a light and a hope looms in the horizon, that one day when we see the face of Jesus we will find a wholeness more complete than any memory of such on Earth. That is the hope (and weight) of Glory.