Six

Six years ago at 7:49 a.m. in Greenwood, SC Macayla Grace Smoak was born. She came out at 7lbs 11 oz. and was pink, wrinkled and gooey with a head full of hair. All that hair compelled some of the nurses to ask Jennifer if she had a lot of heartburn during the pregnancy. Apparently there is a connection (wives tale) between a baby with hair and heartburn during the pregnancy. Jennifer did have a lot of heartburn, but it was probably brought on more by Macayla’s father than Macayla’s hair. I got to give Macayla her first bath with the help of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and it wasn’t long before Macayla took her first nap. Jennifer did well except for her placenta not delivering and that required a quick trip to the O.R. after delivery. I did well until I watched them put a needle in Jennifer’s spine to control pain during delivery. That’s when I hit the floor for a few seconds! But all first-time Dads are allowed a floor nap in the delivery room. Macayla was an amazing adventure when she was born and I was ready to have twenty children. Macayla hasn’t disappointed us in the adventure department! She’s still my little girl and always will be. It’s amazing to take stock of all that has happened in that time. What is about to happen over the next six years? This past week I studied to prepare for a Bible study and in that process, I was reminded that Genesis records God creating the heavens and the earth in six days. God could have created everything in an immeasurable instant, but He chose to take time and bring order out of chaos. Step by step, one piece of the puzzle after the next, God put the universe together and when He was done, He saw what was complete and said it was “very good.” Six years ago, God started a process in our lives. This process will affect us for the rest of our days, but its purposes are found in a greater plan. The plan to redeem the world that fell shortly after it was created. It was no longer “very good.” Macayla is a victim of that fallen world, a world with defective genes and defective souls among other things. But through Christ, we are being re-created. Step by step, one piece of the puzzle after the next, God is re-creating us through a process and not an immeasurable instant (probably because we don’t handle sudden change too well as humans.) God promises that He works all things to good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. The blessing of Macayla and the curse of Battens Disease will all be worked into that plan. How? I don’t know. But when it is finished, we will be able to see the re-creation and see that it is indeed “very good.”