So it is with great mixed emotions that I mark the time of the birth of our firstborn! Happy Birthday, Marshall! To some degree it seems like only yesterday, and I can recount all the birth story leading up to 8:39 AM on Saturday morning, July 2, 1977. But in other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. It IS a lifetime ago! My first son has a son of his own. And with all due respect to my second and third born, there is something unique about the first birth experience and first born child. Go ahead, admit it, you guys, now that you all have first borns of your own.
And for reasons I won't go into, God's timing was perfect, as we look back on it 31 years later. Perfect for His intention of making us more like His Son, rather than the road we were on selfishly. If you let them, children will take you out of yourself and into the selfless zone. Not entirely, of course, but I can more readily see why animals will kill for their young - assuming they haven't killed their young!
So, a very Happy Birthday to you, Marshall. You've changed our lives and continue to do so. I'll stop now, because my screen is getting blurry, if you know what I mean...
