I awoke this morning thinking hard about the kind of world this earth will be when Oliver is a man. I wonder if he will have the freedom that I have to speak openly of the love of Christ Jesus. I wonder if he will be persecuted for his faith. (Made into a joke? Excluded? Jailed? Killed?) I pray that God will use him as an instrument of peace.

As I thought about these things, Oliver looked up at me and grinned a toothless grin. To think that each of us begin as toothless grinning babes. What responsibilities I have as Oliver’s mother! To love and nurture him, to identify and strengthen his weaknesses, to shape him into the man God intends him to be.

It is a joy to be Oliver’s mother, but it is a tremendous burden to know that there is pain in the path ahead of him. When God cursed Eve with the pain of childbirth, I think this is what He spoke of. The pain of childbirth itself is short lived in the scheme of things, and many women never experience it. The knowledge that, in bringing Oliver into this fallen world, I am contributing to the continuation of sin– that is the curse.

But the Father is gracious and merciful and He provided me with a Way, despite my wretched nature. He gave me joy in the form of a little boy named Oliver. May I handle this gift wisely!