thank you

Permanently etched in my memory is a card i read at my sister's house.  It was sent from her mother and father in law - on the occasion of the birth of their 6th child. 
The picture on the card escapes me - as does the hallmark message - & the gift they sent?  i couldn't remember if i tried - but in swirling penmanship on the inside of that card was a simple message, "Dear Travis and Stephanie - Thank you for giving us another baby to love.  Love, Oma and Opa."
i must've read it a dozen times. 
Tears rolled down my cheeks. 
Thank you for giving us another baby to love...
In a world that so disdains children... especially those born third, fourth, fifth - and beyond... here was a message from a family that obviously knew better. 
Could they have imagined then, the blessing that husky raspy voiced boy would be?  Could they envision his blonde curly mop of hair - his broad shoulders and earnest blue eyes? 
i doubt it...
They just knew - beyond a shadow of a doubt that being given the opportunity to gratefully love a new tender being was a gift, and they accepted it as such.  Here was a fresh opportunity to nurture, teach and delight in.  Here was another unique being with the capacity to claim his own place in his family, to form relationships, birth ideas, worship God...
& even now - as he grows beyond his current 5 years, i wonder how the rippling effect of this little boy's life will change this world? 
Yesterday, my sister posted a beautiful defence of life on her blog. 
Read it here & be thankful for every sweet baby to love...