大象传媒

Zoe, it鈥檚 been several months since I last shared a pause for thought with you. Not long after the last one, I stood next to my husband outside our front door, waiting for my one year old, who was inside (my mum was in there looking after him, I promise鈥�) to answer. My husband Matt stood weighed down with hospital bags - and was rocking even bigger ones underneath each eye - because we鈥檇 been up the whole night in hospital, having given birth to our little girl in the early hours. And this was the moment, Zoe, when our one year old was going to meet her for the first time. We knocked and waited, as we heard his little feet pitter patter towards the door.听

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His reaction was priceless (and later went viral on our family chats). He jumped and shrieked with joy, bellowing 鈥渓ove you baby鈥� and 鈥渢hank you mummy鈥� into the early hours as he repeatedly kissed her. His tiny body couldn鈥檛 contain nine months of excitement - which bubbled up and out of him like a shaken-up bottle of coke - exploding around the room in the form of song, dance, and sprinting. Soon the effervescence gave way to tiredness. He fell flat, and was put to bed. New life had arrived, Zoe, and he鈥檇 embraced it wholeheartedly. But so often, this is not my reaction.听

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When a new opportunity knocks, the first thing I usually feel is apprehension - or worse, a sense of grief. Because the truth is - every change, however small, comes at a cost. Of course, in time lots would change for my son with the arrival of his sibling. He was no longer my only child, my only priority. Some old routines would have to die, and in many ways this moment marked the painful end of an era. But, overcome by the new life in front of him, all he felt was pure joy. In the Biblical book of Isaiah, God gives some comforting words to those facing change. He says 鈥淔orget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See,听I听am doing a听new听thing!鈥� It鈥檚 a helpful reminder for me, as a Christian, to have faith that God is behind each of life鈥檚 new additions. To loosen my grip of the old, and concentrate on the goodness of new life in front of me. So that when it comes knocking, I can fling open the door and welcome it with a song and a dance.听