Baby Evelyn Grace Arcadia Denyer was born November 28, 2011 at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Proud parents are Stuart and Taylor.
Evelyn is the most beautiful child. Tiny and sweet. Even her crying brings joy to anyone who has the privilege to hold her. It is no wonder that in this season when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we see that same promise for the future in the eyes of every new born, especially in our own family.
Taylor had a long and hard labor. At first it started off sort of comically. We (Taylor, Stuart, Teri, and I) walked the mall (not the shopping mall, the mall with all the monuments) in Washington on Sunday evening. We spent time at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. monument and the old WWI monument. Taylor's contractions were regular, but not close enough to go to the hospital.
At the hospital, the labor continued through the night with no birth coming. As the shift changed in the morning, the decision was made that the baby was at risk and she should be taken by C-Section immediately. Taylor and Stuart were rushed into the operating room. For grandparents, there was a space in time where we knew nothing. Then, a very reassuring anesthesiologist came in and gave us good news.
Taylor and I have reflected as missiologists all through her pregnancy. (not typical father/daughter talks) Our friends in the Congo go through this process all the time, with very little of the kind of health care available to Americans. In some cases, it seemed we were receiving too much information and too much high tech care. We will never know if Baby Evelyn would have survived her birth if she had been born in the Congo, or even if Taylor would have survived.
We love Evelyn for who she is and who she is becoming, and as her grandfather, I would have no problem dropping everything else and devoting the rest of my life to her happiness. Having said that, her birth reminds me of all the babies I have baptized over the years and especially the Congolese babies I held in my arms and bathed with water and sacred words this very year.
Here's the commercial for Friendly Planet: Putting the picture of a baby born into poverty and disease in front of you for fund raising purposes is abusive to both you and the child. However, holding a new born in our arms is a reminder of why we're in the business of peace building and community development. Hold your babies with love.
Merry Christmas to all.
Bob
