Can't Sleep

Yea it's 1:43 a.m. and I can't sleep. I (we) were hoping baby #2 would make an appearance tonight, but it's not going to happen.

I was doing the dishes, thinking about the eminent arrival of my son when my mind went back to the night Levi was born. Then out of nowhere this thought came into my head.

The country Levi was born in and is a citizen of has been at war for his entire life. He has never lived in a nation that was at peace.

Then I thought about his three year-old counterpart in Baghdad and tears came to my eyes. What must his life be like with so much fear, desperation, and death surrounding him. Then I thought about Levi's counterpart in Fort Dix who hasn't seen his dad for 14 months (almost half his life) because daddy has to go to war for the second, third, or even fourth time. How much that son must miss his daddy, and how strong the ache is in the heart of that marine sleeping in the hot sand tonight in the middle of the desert.

Tomorrow I will greet my son in the morning with a big hug and a plate of scrambled eggs. Then Levi will more than likely walk out of our home and go to Central Park with Allison where he is safe, protected, and has lots of friends to play with. I am tempted to say that I will do these things in honor of those who can't, but that's just false humility. The truth is I can do these things with Levi and it is absolutely not fair that his counter-parts can't do the same with their dads. To say otherwise would be naive.

Lord, help our children forgive us for the wars we (adults) are pushing into their precious lives all over this world.