In Your Father's Hands




This is a photo of our newest little grandson, William Patrick Douglas Stewart. He had a bit of a rough start. His mom laboured long and hard, but when it was evident he was going into distress, he was finally delivered by emergency c-section. I caught this photo of him through the nursery glass with his father's wedding-ringed hand reaching out to touch him.

Only a few hours old, little William was having trouble breathing, so they sent a team up from Sick Kids to assess him and decide whether he should be transferred to another hospital. Just now I got a text message from Andrew that reads simply...

"We need you to take care of Heather. I'm going to Southlake with William."

I texted back, "I'm on my way."

So little William is to be separated from his mom already, who loves him more than life. How hard that must be for her. But his father will be with him and that will be some comfort to her, I know.
As we four grandparents peeped through that nursery window this evening, my eyes weren't on the baby. I was watching my son, gazing at his son. It was a precious moment. A moment I will remember as long as I live.

God speed, little William. You are in your father's hands, and in your Father's hands. There's no safer place in the world to be...

Comments

Belinda said…
Our prayers are with William and his mom and dad, Heather and Andrew.

Congratulations on the birth of this precious child--the 10th grandchild and first Stewart grandson.
12:22 AM
Dave Hingsburger said…
Susan, with the time zone, I'll be sure to catch God while having his first cup of coffee ... prayer's on on the way.
1:23 AM
Susan said…
It's wonderful to know that William is covered in prayer from both sides of the ocean!
5:11 AM
Deidra said…
I am praying for you all - with a full heart.
8:55 AM
Marilyn said…
Praying!
9:06 AM
Angcat said…
We're praying too. Give Heather a hug for me.
4:25 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c
Read more