Kohanui

It has become tradition that whenever we have a new baby Laura asks me to write a letter to her and the baby. We save these for our children to read when they grow up, and occasionally I’ve posted them on this blog. 

I’m leaving this one here as a tribute to my amazing wife…

Dear Laura,

Once again we find ourselves in the altogether too familiar surroundings of the maternity ward at York District Hospital. You are hooked up to a monitor and the rhythmic beating of our baby’s heart reminds us that before too long we will be welcoming another little life into the world. You are lying on the bed, eyes closed, searching for a few final moments of rest before we are submerged into a whirlpool of dirty nappies, nocturnal feeds and bone-aching tiredness.

We have been talking about life. We are no longer the teenagers who met at university all those years ago, flushed with naïveté and youthful idealism. We are older and, dare I say, wiser. My temples are beginning to grey, and your body bears the marks of three long pregnancies and four years of motherhood. We call them your badges of honour, which they truly are. We have seen many things and dealt with the exigences life has thrown our way. Our lives have been enriched in both good times and bad. We have learnt to trust each other, and God, more each year.

Over the years I have seen you transform from the young woman who always wanted to be a mummy into that beautifully realised dream, full of compassion and fun. Our children, who are waiting patiently at home, are a credit to you, an enduring testament to your unquestionable skill as a parent. They are vibrant and inquisitive, just like you. They make me smile every day, just like you.

Three months ago we returned from a year in Wellington. New Zealand changed us all forever, in more ways than I can begin to frame in this short letter. As a family we are bigger, stronger, less inhibited. Conceiving this new baby was perhaps the biggest change, leaving the familiar surroundings of having two busy but manageable children and entering the unchartered territory of being outnumbered.

We are calling our baby Kohanui, a Maori word meaning ‘great gift.’ We thank God for the great gift He gave us whilst we were in Aotearoa, and pray that Emily would grow up to trust in God’s great gift to humanity, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Over the years He has blessed me with so many of these great gifts. Thank you for being one of them.

Ed