Irenic Thoughts

Irenic. The word means peaceful. This web log (or blog) exists to create an ongoing, and hopefully peaceful, series of comments on the life of King of Peace Episcopal Church. This is not a closed community. You are highly encouraged to comment on any post or to send your own posts.

4/17/2005

Growing in Grace

Gray McCulloughKing of Peace became a younger church yesterday. Once again, a new baby was born into our congregation. Gray Scott McCullough is, for the moment, the youngest member of King of Peace (less than 24 hours old as this is posted). Gray will not be the youngest member of King of Peace for long, probably not even a month. But for now he serves as a reminder. First, you cannot see a new baby without experiencing anew the wonder of it all and so Gray brings the gift a himself reminding us how precious life is and how fragile. Next, he reminds us what a daunting task it is to raise a child.

Gray with his Mom, ShelbyCharlie and Shelby are already making great parents. However, we know for a fact that they cannot raise Gray alone. The pressures Gray will one day face are more than we can imagine and more than he will be able to deal with properly unless he has learned the language of faith. For that, Gray's family needs a community of support, which is part of King of Peace's calling. That support is not just for our kids. We all need the mutual support a church offers—from Gray at less than 24 hours to Janet Finkelstein at 85 years. The community of support is to be with you from cradle to the grave (and beyond). We are called to be there for one another in all our joys and sorrows. And for Gray it means sharing the faith that is in us in an infectuous way so that as a child he comes to know about God's love as well as he knows anything as he comes to make the faith his own.

1 Comments:

  • At 4/21/2005 8:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Congratulations Charlie Shelby! I smiled and laughed when I got the phone call. Through the seemingly long nights ahead, be patient and know that Gray will certainly grow up much faster than you could have imagined! My youngest was getting married at the time Gray was coming into this world, and I remembered how her eyes shined and the joy this little life gave me when I first held her and counted her fingers and toes! Be Blessed and Love every minute good & bad. Do your best and God will see to the rest.

     

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