Amazing Grace celebrated a baby the evening we first met Marisol and Esteban. They had received a postcard from Amazing Grace and found their way to our church rental for Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship. We gathered that night to worship the little baby who came to save us from our sins. But God’s Word would bring even more peace and joy that Christmas night. There was another baby in the room. Marisol quietly shared that she was expecting. This little girl would change their lives. And through this baby, too, God would show us again what he promises and what he does for all people.
Little did anyone else know that the doctors had told the couple that their baby, due soon, would not survive due to a rare genetic disorder. Yet Marisol and Esteban clung to the life God had given them, and God was already working despite the coming tragedy.
When we were able to sit down together, Marisol and Esteban had plenty of doubts, worry, anxiety, and questions. But God would wash that little baby’s sins away. We shared the comfort of God’s Word, the promise of forgiveness, and the gift of baptism—the assurance that even if this child’s earthly life would be short, she would forever be safe in the arms of her Savior.
The baby came early, but in God’s perfect timing. Little Alicia arrived, and God’s Word joined with water. Her adoption into the family of God was sealed by Jesus’ own promise through the gift of baptism.
Then life seemed to come to a halt. Trisomy 13—a consequence of sin and part of this broken world—showed itself in tears, agony, and pain. And little Alicia was no longer in the hands of her loved ones, but in the hands of her loving Father and Savior in heaven. Heaven is now her home. And heaven is our home too. Amazing Grace was able to share that for Christmas, in the delivery room, and at the funeral of this little girl.
Esteban and Marisol are continuing to learn more about God’s Word, the waters of baptism, and the comfort of God’s promises. They are learning what it means that God graciously gives himself to us—as a baby in Bethlehem, as our King, and as the Savior who endured pain, agony, and death so that death would never have the final word for his people. So, we celebrate our babies, our families, our life to come, because that baby in Bethlehem also died for you and me. We don’t just celebrate the baby born for all; we share what he means to all.
From Hans Thomford, home missionary at Amazing Grace, Amarillo, Texas
