He lives!

He lives!

After nine months of silence, a voice is heard - the Verbose Philosopher is still alive!

Since we last spoke, much has happened!

A major house move.

But most notably...

He lives!

... the birth of my first child - my son, Eljireh. ("Eljireh" means "God will provide".)

He was born in our lounge room - a very healthy and happy homebirth.

Unfortunately, the combination of my wife's severe neck & shoulder problems (and hypoglycaemia and etc), plus a baby that was so super energetic that it literally did not sleep more than a few hours per day for the first three days or so, plus colic and wind problems that kept the baby screaming long hours every day for the first two months or so (problems that continued in a milder form for the third and fourth months of his life too), plus the usual pressures of running my own software development business - well, it all added up, along with the other odds & ends with which life is filled, to mean my disappearance for a time.

But for now, I'm back. At least, momentarily.

Christmas came and went - our first Christmas with a baby outside the womb. Christmas day was fun - the grandparents heaped presents on little Eljireh.

And we remembered the birth of Jesus Christ.

Now, it would normally be Easter Sunday we would issue forth the cry, "He lives!". But it seems fitting here, too, in memory of the first Christmas, to send the cry once more.

He lives!

Not only did He live as a human, born in a manger some 2,000 years ago, but He lives. That's what God's own name means - Yahweh - "I am" or "I will be" or, in colloquial speak, "I live".

And so, with these three "He lives" in mind - the Verbose Philosopher lives, the Verbose Philosopher's little boy lives, and Jesus Christ lives - I close with a simple anecdote from the precious moments immediately upon Eljireh's birth :

As we held him there - this precious bundle, already so strong he could hold up his own head without support - we started singing that classic old Christian song :

"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
"Because He lives, all fear is gone
"Because I know He holds the future
"And life is worth the living just because He lives.

"How sweet to hold a newborn baby
"And feel the love and joy he brings
"But greater still, the calm assurance
"This child can face uncertain days because He lives"