Baseball and Soup

You know it’s been a rough year for the Seattle Mariners when Dave Niehaus and Mike Blowers, the play-by-play announcers,  are reduced to talking about soup.  And I quote:

Mike Blowers:  I like a hot bowl of clam chowder….and a nice stew.
Dave Niehaus:  MMMM…..Me too!

You can’t get that kind of cutting edge baseball banter anywhere else, that’s for sure.

Why Grace?

Decided to post something from my wife this morning.  As you’ll see, she’s a much better writer than I, and I’m hoping that this won’t be the last time you get to hear from her.  In this post, she explains why we decided to name our baby girl Grace. 

 

Why Grace?

 

Besides being what I think is a lovely sounding name, “Grace” is a particularly meaningful title for me to give to my first daughter.

  

First, I know that it is by grace that we have been given a daughter.  Conception of a child is not a gift that has been given to everyone, nor is it a gift that has been appreciated and gratefully received by all who have experienced it.  The miraculous creation of a human soul is an incredibly gracious gift.  It is pure grace that this gift has been handed to Paul and me.

  

Second, I know that it is by grace that we will be enabled to raise our daughter in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Each day that Christ sustains us to live with our daughter is a day of grace.  Every moment we are enabled to hold our tongues and respond to our daughter in patient, consistent training is a moment of God’s grace to us.  Each time we rightly discipline Grace, we know that God’s grace has been extended to us as parents and to our daughter as His child.  It is pure grace that enables a parent to love and train and discipline a child as Christ has loved and trained and disciplined us.

  

Third, I know that we are completely and utterly dependent on the grace of God for the beautiful salvation and sanctification of our daughter.  It is our hope and has been our prayer since before this child was conceived that the incomparable gift of grace through Jesus Christ would be given to her.  That she would be chosen by God to be His own, enabled to love and obey Him, given the richness that comes with a repentant heart, this is our greatest desire for our daughter.  We will strive to raise her in such a way that her heart desires the Lord and loves His Word, but it is foolishness to believe that our greatest wish will be accomplished outside of the pure grace of God.  He is our only hope.

  

And so we name our daughter Grace: thankful that the gracious gift of a child has been given to us, dependent on the Lord to give us the grace to parent her according to His Word, and hopeful in our prayers that Christ will demonstrate His eternal grace to our little girl by adopting her as His own and saving her.

  

Thank you, Jesus, for Grace.