2019 was a year of some new beginnings for our little family unit.
On Thursday, March 14, at 8:07 p.m., we welcomed a precious and handsome little face, Beckett Nelson Bright.
In that little bundle of joy, wife Krista and I greeted our second grandchild in as many years, and son Brandon became an uncle twice over.
We were overjoyed as we watched daughter Kelsey and son-in-law Ryan introduce Beckett to his big sister, Harper Rae, who five months later would turn 2 years old.
There is something indescribable about the birth of a baby — the introduction of innocent, tender human life — into a world that is anything but innocent and tender. It gives cause for celebration and brings hope in knowing that despite the troubles, trials and tribulations we experience during this journey, the difficult days and long nights we lie awake worrying, wondering and praying, there is a bright new tomorrow.
In Beckett’s tiny fingers and toes, deep true-blue eyes and broad dimpled smile, I see a great miracle of God.
For him, life is a blank canvas. I don’t subscribe to the belief that every movement of our life, or every outcome, is preordained. We are free moral agents with a free will to have our own thoughts, chart our own course and take our own actions.
Right now, Beckett is filled mostly with happiness, contentment, bewilderment and wonderment. The shapes, sounds, colors and workings of the world are only beginning to unfold around him. For the rest of his life, he will be trying to figure out what it all means, especially to him: his role, his belief system, etc.
His parents and others will guide his steps until he gets his legs under him. Eventually, he will set his own way.
Here on the threshold of a new year, 2020, we are like the newborn babe who has a pristine, unmarked book just waiting for our imprint.
