Bethany's pre-birth poem:
The welcome mat is out
Your place is set at our hearts table
And we know you will be joining us
as soon as you are able
I wonder...
Will you be a shy, unobtrusive sort?
Or will you
rock the windows and
hang from the ceiling?
Whatever your personality is, my dear
You'll have a lot of it, I have a feeling
You will have your special place
Your unique role in our family
As we welcome your little baby face
to the heart and soul of our family
Still, you might wonder,
after Molly and Andrew get there share
being number Three
Will there be any left over for you?
will anyone
care?
Oh, little one
let me fill you
in
On a truth that we have learned
Love is a miraculous, Marvelous thing
That you won't have to earn
In a magical, Heavenly, Holy way
Love grows more and more
instead of
dividing away
And as we add to our family each new face
Love multiplies to keep the pace
Isn't that Neat? Isn't it Sweet?
How God set it up?
So from your downy hair
to your little
feet
Rest assured that when we finally meet
There will always be enough
As Andrew and Molly can attest
You will be loved with nothing less
Than all our hearts
as God gives us
grace
For God gave us you, little Baby Face.
So during the hard times
The Terrible Two times
The "Life Seems so Terribly Unfair"
to you
times
Remember this promise
keep it inside
you
Mommy and Daddy will always
be right there
beside you
So hurry up, little one
We're waiting and hoping
that you'll get
here soon
but in the meantime we're coping
until all the fears, dreams, hopes, tears
of
parenthood
It is a high Holy calling
And we stand still amazed
at the Wonder of it all
But right now all I know
is that I long to hold you
and tell you how I Love You
My precious
Little One
Love,
Daddy
July 31, 1993
Background by Lori