Hello, Little Baby! Welcome to our world! We’ve been expecting you!

Though you are only one-day old, you have already been weighed and measured. Your blood has been drawn, your feet prints have been recorded, and your ten little fingers and toes have been counted. Even your picture has been taken. The identification band on your leg tells who you are and whose you are.

Please excuse me for staring at you. I can’t help it. Your little person enthralls me. I marvel at your soft skin, your teeny-weeny finger nails, your tiny lips, your wisps of fine hair. You are fully equipped for the life that awaits you. Although fully equipped for the future, you are totally helpless for now. In fact, you come into the world with only two innate skills: sucking and crying. But guess what? They are all you will need for your first few months of living. Why? Because there are people ready to watch over and care for you 24-hours a day. That’s right, 24 hours a day! Isn’t that amazing? They’re your Mommy and Daddy—those two people who cried when you were born and now keep holding and kissing and hugging you. And because caring for you is such a big job, there are other people who will help them out from time to time—especially your grandmas and grandpas. Wait till you meet them! All these people love you very, very much and are happy you’re finally here. Taking care of you though is a daunting task—one you probably won’t appreciate until you have babies of your own!

New Baby, let me tell you a little about this world that you’ve been born into. It is a marvelous place! I can’t wait for you to meet the sun and moon and blue sky and white clouds and rain and snow and trees and flowers and cats and dogs and birds and frogs and ladybugs. In time, you’ll meet all of them and many more things—and hopefully you will learn to love this world as much as we do. Soon you’ll be eating all kinds of food too—cereal, apples, peanut butter, carrots, cookies, pizza. The list goes on ad infinitum. And other extraordinary wonders await you too: walking and talking and reading and writing and friendship and laughter and games and pictures and music, to name just a few.

A famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote this almost a hundred years ago: “Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of humanity.” That’s why seeing you gives me hope. Great hope—because your coming tells me that God still has hope in us. I look at you and wonder: what will you grow up to be? The possibilities are endless. I look at you too and wish the world were a better place for your arrival. Not everything is as it should be. Far from it. But I look at you and I want to make the world a better place—simply because you are now in it. Thank you for inspiring me to want to do that.

Little Baby, you are fresh from God. You might have forgotten who God is, but you will learn again in time. Remember that identity band on your leg—the one that tells who and whose you are? It should also say, “I am a child of God.” Always remember that!  God created you and loves you more than you can ever imagine. And also remember this : I love you too!

Happy New Year to All of You!