Family Fortunes - Abigail Special

There are five members of our household who all share the surname Dryden. The oldest member of the family is Authrine – the mother of the brood and my wife. Age wise I come next on the list and God in His wisdom has placed me as the head of the home, father-figure and husband. I’m still getting used to the responsibility and have plenty to learn particularly in the area of servant leadership and consistently tending to the needs of the dear ones that God in His wisdom has allowed me to have stewardship. Still, that’s life and as the Dryden Motto declares I must Get Over It.

The first child is Kevaughn who will be fourteen in July. Due to a number of factors revolving his upbringing Kev has not had a straightforward start to life and at the age he’s at now he’s grappling with moving from childhood to adulthood slowly, oh so slowly, but he’s a great child really and just working through teenage angst.

From 14 we jump al the way to 2 years of age where we find the first daughter Deborah. She is at the stage of life where she can string a fair few sentences together and is more than alert to what’s going on around her. She has her fussy Dryden ways when it comes to people and things, but she wouldn’t be a daughter of mine unless she displayed those qualities so we wait and pray to see her bring these in line with a more pleasant persona. She is undoubtedly a source of great joy to me and I often find myself praying that God will allow me to truly nurture her to appreciate the presence of God and fulfil herself in it.

The fifth and final member of the family is Abigail. I don’t reckon there’ll be any additions to this lot. I just reckon that will be all in terms of family members birthed to be a part of who we are. That means that Abigail is the youngest member of the household and although she’s the youngest she is by no means the least. As her sister brings me great joy so Abigail brings great delight to her father.

It’s still odd being 29 and being a father who looks at two beautiful girls who look up to me and say daddy. Apparently at her age Deborah was already making tentative steps forward. Abigail can do a fair few steps with assistance but has yet to be bold enough to take some steps by herself. That’s about all that she’s not bold enough for. Still she will be celebrating her first birthday in the morrow and so it’s a time to be amazed at the fact that wow it’s already a year since I was mugging for the camera outside the hospital in the morning as this Daddy’s Delight emerged on the scene from the sanctuary of her mother’s womb.

I cannot find the words to convey gratitude to God for Abigail, with the many challenges I’ve had to endure in the past year it has been truly amazing to see her grow and come to grips with the world around her. It’s been different with her than it was with Deborah as I’ve more or less been around for all of her first year and seen her go from being helpless and loud to being loud and helpless with four teeth – fascinating journey. So as this bundle of Daddy’s Delight moves into her second year of existence it’s my heart desire that she remains healthy and experiences all the love that four loving people can give to her as well as what God’s love feels like in every day expressions of grace. I recognised a while ago that I’m not perfect (boy, what a shock that was … they’ll be letting me know that I’m not omniscient as well soon, but I’m sure they’ll ease me into that realisation) but I will endeavour to do my best by my family to grow and mature into being the best Christopher Dryden I can be – serving and caring for them in a way that would please my Father so that should Daddy’s Delight go on for another year and start talking she’ll be delightfully sharing the joys of having a dad like me.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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