This precious baby was born to a soldier named Andy yesterday.
Andy grew up in a broken and dysfunctional home. His dad died in a car crash when he was little. His mom remarried, and his step-dad shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Andy and his brother, who both subsequently believed.
But Andy's mom is a mess. She cheated on his step-dad, foisted a divorce upon him, and has subsequently been sleeping with her boyfriend. Andy's brother even had the misfortune of walking in on them, which will likely result in additional therapy down the line for him.
When Andy and his brother have the gall to question their mother on her behavior, she accuses them of not wanting her to be happy. If only this type of situation was an anomaly.
Andy's wife hasn't had it easy either. While she grew up in a Christian family, she has enmeshment issues with her mother--a problem all too common nowadays. These issues usually stem from an unsatisfying marriage where husband and wife are not best friends, and instead, make their children their primary focus.
Often times, this results in a parent, often the mother, making one of her children her best friend to fulfill the role that is not fulfilled by her husband. Enmeshment between mother and daughter or son becomes especially problematic when it is time for the child to get married. When that grown child leaves his/her mother behind, it carries the weight and pain of divorce or abandonment.
This is what Andy's wife had to deal with as she cleaved to a husband who had to deal with his own dysfunctional upbringing.
But they each have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and while that does not protect them from sin or suffering, it imbues each day with new hope. So they labor diligently to love each other and proactively care for their marriage through mentor couples and counseling. They are best friends, and though they are sinners, they know they are no longer beholden to their families' sins.
They have twin two-year-old boys, and now they have Vivian Grace. Andy wasn't there for Vivian's birth, but he is not discouraged. He and his wife now celebrate the birth of three children. And hope bounds eternal for them with their children, marriage, and life together. Why? Because even in a season apart like this, their young family can celebrate the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, as well as their spiritual birth, life in Christ, death to death's sting, future resurrection, and life eternal with their Savior.
I don't think Andy and his wife know this, but Vivian comes from the Latin for "life" (think, "vivify"). Thus, Vivian Grace is a perfect name for this Christmas season, where Christians can celebrate the life they have by grace through faith in Christ.
