I marveled as our daughter labored with a quiet, intense focus – even during the most difficult of contractions. Then again, a friend once remarked of her, “She is the quietest kid I have every met.”
So, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by her self-contained approach to labor.
Eventually, after some good old heave-ho effort and a few unexpected moments typical of the birthing process, our oldest gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
It took nearly a full day of holding and gazing upon her little bundle before our daughter felt ready to give baby-girl a name. She had come to the hospital with two potential names, but after meeting her daughter neither seemed quiet right.
But then, in the quiet of the morning, our daughter asked, “What do you think of the name Ocean?”
“I love it!” came my immediate reply. Something in my spirit said yes, Ocean is exactly the right name.
Or Little O, as her great-grandfather fondly calls her.
It suits her. This tiny human with vast and unfathomable adventures ahead of her.
It suites the parenting experience as well. After all, what do any of us know about the depths of joy and sorrow we will experience when we first embark upon the journey?
And I can’t help but think of that song Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong.
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown
Where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
When Oceans was released in 2013, I had just barely entered the unnesting journey with our older two girls. Those early years had proved that it would be a far more harrowing experience than I’d anticipated.
Wandering in the great unknown, walking with our daughters through the whirlwind that is adolescents, I often felt as though I lumbered on failing feet.
And I knew. Oh! How I knew – I was completely inadequate to the task. Yet, I believed God had invited me to this good work, this wild adventure of mothering.
He knew the oceans would rise for me, for you – and certainly they will rise for our oldest as she parents her daughter.
But these experiences, where we feel as if we’ve suddenly stepped off into the deep end of the ocean, reveal just how desperately we need Him. They foster a growing understanding of our utter dependence on His grace, mercy, and wisdom in every moment.
God knows that if any of us is to walk steady through the parenting journey, especially during the wild and stormy unnesting years, we must lift our eyes from the waves raging, look past the impossibility of the task before us, and focus firmly on Him – the only One with power to calm the storm.
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours
You are mine
So my prayer for our oldest daughter, for all of us – is that we will marvel at the work God is doing in the lives of our children, that we will receive the moments of joy with a glad heart. And when things are hard, when sorrow threatens to crash over us, my prayer is that we will discover just how limitless is the unfailing love of the Father for us and for our children.
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
Psalm 36:5-7a (NLT)
Leave a Reply