Axia (pronounced “Eg-zay-ah”) Jane Denison arrived Friday morning weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces. She is beautiful, perfect and every other joyful adjective this happy grandma can think of. Her name, Axia, means “value and worth.” Her middle name, Jane, means “God’s gracious gift.” Axia Jane is God’s gracious gift of high worth and value to our family.
I think I may have inherited an extra wrinkle or two since Axia Jane’s birth. I have been grinning non-stop since Friday. I know many of you have experienced the joy of watching your children, with their children. Ryan and Candice look like they have been this baby’s parents for months. She is well-loved and cared for already! God designed his children to be family – by birth, by rebirth and through marriage. How blessed we are to have added to our family, this sweet baby girl.
We are created to love and be loved, first by our Creator and then by others in his creation. Psalm 139:15 says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” God has loved Axia Jane from the moment of her creation. I think God smiles when he makes us.
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (verse 16). It will be a joy to see our granddaughter’s life unfold. Axia’s family will observe those details day by day but God already knows every event, of every moment of her life.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Verse 17)
I have gone to sleep and awakened with thoughts of Axia Jane. I type these words wondering how she slept last night, how much her mom and dad slept last night, and praying that this will be a wonderful day for this young family. Psalm 139:17 reminds me that this is how God thinks of us every day – all day. How precious to know that God loves us and thinks of us all the time.
I watched Candice lovingly care for her new daughter in the hospital room. I remembered what it was like to hold Ryan for those first few moments and feel the powerful, consuming love of a parent for a child. The love we have for our children is the closest we come to understanding how God loves us. We are loved with a powerful, consuming and perfect love by our heavenly Father. I have prayed for new wisdom since last Friday. I want to know how to be a good and godly grandma. Axia Jane deserves the greatest love I can give her – and God provides the greatest love she can have. I want to give her my love and more importantly, God’s love through me.
Psalm 139 ends with the phrase, “and lead me in the way everlasting.” That is the prayer I will pray most often for Axia Jane Denison. I have watched my sons grow up and accept Jesus as their Savior. It has been my joy to watch them mature and live with Jesus as their Lord. Both of my sons chose godly women who live with great love for Jesus and faith in his will for their lives. As a mom, “my cup runneth over.” Now I will begin praying again for the next member of my family. I want Axia Jane to be led to life everlasting as well. It will be my great joy to learn that she has asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior someday.
Who are you praying for today? I think the number one priority for every parent is this: to lead your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to Jesus – so they can be led to “the way everlasting.” We have no higher purpose, and there is nothing of higher value. The world will try to convince us of other priorities – but this world doesn’t offer “the way everlasting” – only God can grant things eternal.
Holding my granddaughter was a precious moment, one I praise God for. Axia Jane Denison is everything her name represents. She is God’s gracious gift of the highest worth and value. Thank you for allowing me to share my joy, and my calling, and my PERFECT new family member with each of you.
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