Ezra Jonathan Pound

Born August 1, 2016

8lbs, 5oz, 21.9 inches long

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Just a few weeks before my son was born, my grandmother passed away.  Whether I wanted to or not, I found myself thinking about birth and death and how they are related.  My Grandma was a remarkable lady and she lived a full life.  But that does little to soften the blow of losing her, especially if the person we loved was gone forever.  I wish my son could have met her.  Someday I will tell him that she is what true greatness looks like--a tiny, old lady who refused to be selfish or unkind.  If we live up to her example, we will have done well.

But what if birth and death are just different chapters in life?  My Dad and I were talking about how much birth must feel like a kind of death to an infant in his mother's womb:

  He has this life he knows and is familiar with.  He is comfortable and all his needs are met.

Then comes this day when his world seems to be collapsing.  He experiences pain, and doesn't understand what is happening.  The pain increases and then he begins to see a wisp of light at the end of the tunnel.  But to get there will be painful and terrifying.  Bursting into the light he enters a whole new world, where all those who love him rejoice and celebrate over him.  He could not see them, but they had been there all the time.  

Pring loves every child she has ever met..including Ezra

And above them all, is the One who none could yet see, but who was there all the time, loving them and rejoicing over them, leading them willing or unwilling into newness of life.

It is strange to think how my Grandma's journey may have been similar to my son's---he entering this world and she another.  For thousands of years, the Christian community has held these words dear:

"We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the LIFE of the world to come"

Not as an argument, but as a hope---not merely as comfort for when we die, but freedom and power to live now.  Until we have hope for death, life will always carry a burden of sorrow and dread---every birth will carry a hint of coming death.  

 But how do we hope for more life, rather than dread an end?  I had a conversation with a friend who said he just couldn't understand how we could really be confident about something like that.  He would like to, but it for him it feels like trying to deceive himself. 

It got me thinking.  How has that hope takes root in my own life?  With losing my grandma and others I love like my brother Jonathan (whom my son is named in memory of) I admit I want to hope.  But wanting is not enough.  

The hope I have was never offered as something I should sit thinking about, trying to decide if I think it is true or not; or worse if I really believe it or not. 

 How can anyone honestly answer those questions?

But the Christian hope is not hope in statements or facts, but in a person.

I happen to know my wife's birthday, height, eye color, and favorite food.  But if she asked me to do something very difficult and said 'trust me.'  I would do it.  Not because of the information I posses about her, but because I have learned to trust her.  

I think that is where my hope (and dare I say confidence?) about my Grandma entering a new chapter of life comes from.  I have never died, so don't know what that is like.  But I am learning to trust Jesus---by trying to live how he said to live, and see for myself if what he said was true.

If he was telling the truth about forgiveness, selfishness, money, loving others, and happiness---why should he lie about death?  Not because it seems likely, or logical, or even because I want it to be true, but because I am experiencing for myself the truth of his words for now, I learn to trust the truth of his words for later. 

And as I hold my little son and marvel at the miracle in my hands, I recognize we shall both die one day.  And perhaps in that moment, he knows better than I do that life is often birthed through what first looks like pain and loss.  

Maybe every birth points the way forward for every death---until death itself is swallowed up in life.   

Wow!  Being a parent is exhausting!  In addition to learning to change diapers and calm a crying baby, we are busying keeping up with Faithful Heart Foundation.  Please pray for one of our boys Benjamin, who has been hospitalized with kidney issues.  He is scheduled for surgery in September and very concerned about missing school.  Pray for his family as well.  In a home with 7 boys, it is a huge task to keep everything going and be at the hospital.  

We are so eager to get Dave and Shirley back!  Please continue to pray for them and for safe travel.  For Audrey and I, please pray for rest, Thai language learning, and our new intern coming in a few weeks.  If we can help others find that confidence and hope that starts in Jesus and works out in a life lived for others, it is a delight and a joy!    Thank you for your love and support.  

In hope of life,

Matt & Audrey & Ezra Pound