On Monday, December 6, 2021, Rosemary Joy Dempsey entered the world. She was born in the natural way, with all the discomfort that comes from birth in a fallen and sin-cursed world. My dear wife, delivering her fifth baby, was beautiful-even in the midst of a situation that can bring out the worst in broken sinners. And so mother and daughter, both precious, both beautiful, came home on Tuesday. There is a newness to our home and family. We aren’t sleeping much (Rosie does NOT enjoy her bassinet), and we don’t really have a new schedule yet. It’s just too early. But there’s a beauty. When our little girl cries out in the middle of the night. When our two-year-old interprets “being gentle” with the baby in a very different way than it was intended. When our boys tell us how excited they are to have another little sister. There’s beauty in new life, just as God intended there to be.
But there’s also fear. One more child, and college is not too far away. Our house is plenty big, but our monthly expense list will increase, if just a little. Will my wife, who has been the rock of our home, be able to navigate homeschooling with a newborn? Will the older kids continue to respond well as Rosie grows? But the biggest temptation to worry: will the newest life in our home come to know true life…new life in Christ? That’s the great struggle. Our Rosie is broken, just like her dad. I gave her more than just her beautiful eyes…I bequeathed to her a pattern of sin that leaves her condemned and separated from God.
So why bring more brokenness into an already broken world? Because we serve a Redeemer King. It’s really that simple. There is a God in Heaven Who delights in redeeming broken things. My life is a case study in the wonderful grace that is offered by God through Jesus Christ. And that grace is wonderfully available to our little girl. And so we’ll teach her as she grows about her family…her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and grandparents and cousins. But we’ll also teach her about the family that we are a part of and that we want her to join…the family where our big brother entered our broken mess and died. Not in defeat, but in willing sacrifice. And how He rose again victorious, conquering sin and death, and offering new life to all who believe. Another brother. Another Father. New Life. Forever.