Judah David Dukes (From the Daily Update- May 25, 2009)

Happy Memorial Day. 

Between today and in the next few weeks, several dear friends will be giving birth to new little children.  I'm not sure what I'll say for each, but here is what I have today.  I would say that this stands (in spirit, at least) for Judah, Baby Braden, and Tatum DeMooney- effective upon arrival. 

And so it has happened.  Keight Dukes gave birth to a baby boy this afternoon.  Her and Jesse named him Judah David Dukes, and from what I hear, he is as healthy and amazing as new life always is.  So this one is for you, little guy. 

Every now and again, particularly at funerals, we spend time reflecting upon the reality that someone could be here one day and simply not the very next day.  Life flows by us quickly, and all of us share in a couple of certain things.  One of those being a day where I won't breath the same air that you do, not for a time, anyway.  

But here you are, Judah.  Here you are to make me think of the beautiful reality that on the other side of this paradigm is the fact that someone could not be here on one day and then very much here, in all fullness of the word, the very next.  Did we ever know, in our years leading up to you, how much we would be blessed just by your presence? Is it possible for me to even begin to penetrate who you will be to your parents, to your friends, to the people that you will love?  How lucky (as if that word could do it justice) to have you with us.  

Most likely you will grow like a weed.  You will soak in every bit of the life that you come in contact with.  You will go to school and you will find strange passions for things- maybe soccer, maybe the piano, maybe paint on a canvas.  You will begin to explore what it means to love long before you are ever aware of it, and one day you will meet a woman who has the power to hold that heart of yours beating in her hand.  With all probability, you will make fine children of your own one day and you will stand over them in their tiny cribs with their tiny hands and their blinking wonder and you will be in absolute awe of how such a miracle could be.  You will wonder how trillions and trillions of little cells could join together in perfect harmony, like a symphony, to create a body full of lungs, heart, and brain; a body that can sleep and eat and run and jump and slide into a home base.  A body that can think and hope and dream and love.  How all of this can be will leave you silent in your mind and you will kiss that child on the nose, turn out the lights, and go out into the world to live a life that is nothing short of full. 

You do not know who you are yet, but we do.  We know that you were created by a God who loves you.  A God who calls you his child and wants to be your Father in a way that Jesse will do everything he can to be a reflection of.  He will want to comfort you, nurture you, provide life and food for you in a way that Keight is going to wrap her entire self around providing the sign of this through herself.  

Who are you?  Time will spell out the details, my friend.  But in the meantime there is one identifying characteristic that defines you now and forever: You are loved.