Texas, Kansas & Happy Birth Day, Elisabeth! (7lbs, 4oz)
Posted on May 3, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Worldview |
Has not the LORD made them [husband and wife] one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. Malachi 2:15
Yesterday morning, at 6:15, Elisabeth left the safety and comfort of her mother ship and launched into her new life in the outer world with sunlight and breathing and eating and the caresses and kisses of a mom & dad & brothers & sister and for now, her Nana, my wife, her grand mother. Although I had four of my own, and this is the fourth-born of my first-born, this moment still leaves me breathless with the marvel of it all.
Elisabeth now joins her two older brothers, Judah & Micaiah, and her older sister, Kate, whom she replaced as the baby of the family.
I hated missing it.
I have been gone for two weeks, one spent at my daughter & husband’s home in Texas, hoping to be present when Elisabeth arrived. But, God determines birth dates, not calculators, and so I unfortunately missed this grand moment. I had to leave at the end of that week for a date myself with some wonderful people in west Texas and then in Kansas. Both places brought me into fellowship with brothers and sisters in whom God had done some amazing and marvelous work through the Truth Project. I heard tearful testimonies and story after story of the grace of our Lord as He continues to put His hand upon this humble effort. I met several large groups who gathered in homes of dear friends of mine to give testimony to God’s work.
I was privileged to preach at MidCities Community Church in Midland. They have been going through the Truth Project in their small groups, while Daniel, their pastor, was preaching in parallel with the “tours”. I enjoyed an exciting dinner and Q&A time that night with all of their group leaders. They are truly wonderful people.
In Wichita, I was greatly impressed as I met with the principal of Trinity Academy who had taken his entire faculty through the Truth Project and heard amazing stories of what had happened to them. I met with one of those teachers and marveled at his testimony. The school is committed to deeply integrate Christian worldview throughout its curriculum—not to simply just add Bible verses to the corkboard in the class rooms, but to genuinely weave a comprehensive, systematic biblical view of life throughout the academic content and school activities. They are also committed to take their parents through the Truth Project and have already completed it with 30% of them.
I had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Stephen Marsh, pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, who will have all of his elders and deacons and small group leaders at the September Simulcast to train them to lead TP small groups next spring. He is planning for the entire church to travel that road together.
And Thursday night, after dinner at a dear friends home with about 20 TP small group leaders, we then met with nearly 150 TP leaders and participants for a two-hour Q&A session. I was deeply blessed in my time with them.
I say all of this only to share with you the great glory of what God is doing. You’ve heard me say this before, but it really isn’t about me or our team. It really isn’t. It’s all about Him.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Well, then home, finally. My wife is still in Texas where she will remain for a while to provide some help so mom & dad can concentrate on baby Elisabeth.
Which brings me back to the miracle of birth. I think I would like to take some time in the near future with you on this subject. Maybe some of our doc friends out there can help with the details. But think about what has to happen in the few moments of this transition. A baby goes from being fully connected and dependent upon mom’s internal systems to their own. They transfer instantly from getting oxygen through the mother’s blood to their own complicated system of breathing and extracting oxygen from the air. Their digestive system has to immediately kick in to begin processing food. They’ve never eaten before, never digested anything before. None of that intricate mechanism has been active yet.
I’m sure there is more, but isn’t it amazing? And yet, though all of the technical things are really quite phenomenal, nothing can match the awesome reality of a mom and dad seeing her for the first time, holding her in their arms and sensing the ongoing blessing of God and His plan to “seek godly offspring“.
Happy Birth Day, Elisabeth! I love you.
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13 Responses to “Texas, Kansas & Happy Birth Day, Elisabeth! (7lbs, 4oz)”
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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project--a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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Congratulations Dr. Tackett!! What a special time for your family and a great blessing from God!!
I appreciate your sharing about how The Truth Project has impacted people, groups and areas. As I was privileged to be in the initial launch seminar in Charlotte and bathed the effort in prayer, I watch truth being a more visible focus amoung some of the folks exposed to the small group in my church. It is a wonderful blessing and a true work of God!
When you do take a look at the miracle of birth be sure to include an investigation of the physical characteristics of the male baby on the 8th day after birth, the day of circumcision in Abraham’s time. Science has proven that the Lord knew what he was talking about if they had any doubts about it or if they cared to admit it!
Congratulations Granpa Del…!
Thanks for sharing the news of Elizabeth’s birth! We all rejoice with you…!
God Bless,
Coach Sam and Family.
Del,
Congratulations! I can’t understand how anyone could witness the birth of a baby and still have “Faith” in evolution. As you described, God designed us to switch our connection with our mother to our dependence on those systems God developed in the 9 prior months.
Dr. Tackett
Hearty congratulations to you and yours from fellow grandparents of ten. Jeannie and I attend Faith Presbyterian here in San Antonio with Reid and Irene Cohee and they were kind enough to share your blog address with us. We added two granddaugters to our own legacy this past month, so we share in your joy on two levels.
The picture of Elizabeth’s siblings on your blog is wonderful; what a beautiful family.
May God bless you richly and grant grace, serenity and wisdom to the “new-again” parents and grandparents.
Bruce & Jeannie Judisch
Congrats to the parents of baby Elisabeth. We are expecting #5 in September. Tell them we say “hello”!
Eric & Tonya
Del,
I am so thankful with and for you as your family grows. I’m also thankful for and excited about God’s plan to produce Godly offspring, and how your family is a part of that. Congratulations to you and Melissa, and to Ford, Tara, Jason and Seth as uncles and aunts.
Del,
Congratulations! There’s nothing more precious than a newborn baby!
It was a pleasure meeting you in-person in Troy, Michigan a few weeks ago. Thanks for the bit of 1-1 time….
Dan…
Del–congratulations on the new arrival! My oldest is a college freshman, so I have a couple of years (hopefully) before people start calling me Gramps.
Just wanted to let you know what a blessing TTP has been to us. I am a youth leader at Summitview Community Church in Fort Collins, where we’ve been going through TTP as an entire church. My “small group” has been our teens. Our discussions have been raging, crazy, wide-reaching debates into every area of God’s concern with His creation. Just fantastic stuff. I have been creating some materials to specifically guide teens through the program; my suggestion would be to perhaps customize the program a bit for youth leaders. Thanks again for this gift to Christendom. What a legacy to leave!
Hi Rob! We are using TTP at Faith Church in our small groups, too. BTW, you’ll make a great grandpa. It’s been a long time. Please drop me a line at DOT AT gmail.com.
Rich
congrats! how exciting. my parents will be grandparents in august to a girl. their first and they are tickled. they are already asking how the “baby girl” is doing.
the miracle of a baby growing inside me is amazing. i still can’t believe there is a little version of my husband and i in my tummy.
Rebecca Atcherson
FFI Summer 2004
Congratulations! Our daughter just turned 14 months old and I have to admit that I am more jealous than ever of the role of grandparent.
Our pastor said it best, you get to enjoy and savor every stage more than you could as a parent.
Awwwww
It really doesn’t get any better than this. My husband & I were astounded and in awe at the birth of each of our three. Honestly, I was convinced nothing this side of heaven could touch it. I was wrong. Those grandbabies are something else. To see God’s plan progress to yet another generation; the wonder is that God would use two hopeful, but dopey, people like my husband & myself; it leaves me speechless. I’d like to encourage the young parents in the midst of the chaos to take a minute or two every day to admire God’s handiwork which is your child. When you gaze at your baby holding her baby, you’ll know why.