Now Let Us Rejoice

This weekend I had the priviledge of seeing my newest little niece blessed by her daddy. Her daddy is my baby brother and it's fun to watch him enter this new phase of his life. It seems he was born to play the role of the doting father. He can't stop smiling at his baby girl. And I don't blame him. She is a DOLL.

The blessing took place in California, because that's where my brother and his wife live (much to our disappointment). My parents, my two brothers and Zack and I were able to make it out for the blessing.

While I was sitting in the chapel, surrounded by my brothers, my parents, and my sister-in-law's family, I starting thinking about all the family members who were there but participating on the other side of the veil. My brother, my son, my grandparents and countless others surely were there as well enjoying the wonderful occasion. My sister-in-law's grandparents had passed away a while ago and so I imagined them greeting and shaking hands with my grandparents and congratulating each other on such a fine, sweet little great-grandchild. I imagined a lot of patting each other on the back, hand-shaking, grins, and words of "She's adorable." "We've done well." and "She gets that from me...". (You know how grandparents -and great-grandparents- can be.) While I was sitting there thinking about all of this I was struck with how neat it was that two families, who didn't know each other before, could instantly become connected -all because of a little girl.

Then the closing hymn started. "Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation." A wave of understanding washed over me as I sang the next words, "No longer as strangers on earth need we roam."

We, two families who were once strangers, are strangers no more. We are one great family now. And that's pretty much what life is all about.