Baby Blue Eyes

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Blue. 

Five Minute Friday 4 300x300

The first time I gazed into your blue eyes I was still on the operating table, awake with my stomach open. That's where you'd been, only moments before.

A c-section was not exactly what we'd planned for your birth but in the end, all that mattered was that you were finally here. After you were born, Daddy and our sweet nurse, Carolyn, went with you to the warming station so that you could be checked out by the neonatologist, who stopped by before leaving the OR to inform me, β€œShe looks good! 10 fingers, 10 toes.” Despite the fact that I was still in surgery, for the first time all day, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Even though every scary moment in our pregnancy had ended with the doctor reassuring us that you looked healthy, we still went into that operating room afraid.

Hope On The Operating Table

After what felt like years but was, in reality, only minutes, they finally brought you to me. Daddy and nurse Carolyn laid you across my chest and I gazed into your eyes for the first time. They were a deep, dark shade of blue. Although I'm told you can't yet see well (let alone focus), I'm quite sure that in that moment, you locked eyes with mine and we fell in love.

Now, at 10 days old, I look into your blue eyes, wondering if they'll stay this shade, knowing that regardless of whether or not they do, I'll still be mesmerized by them. You see, Hope, you are intoxicating – not just for me but for our entire family. We cannot wait to see what the future holds - for you and for us. Together, we'll dream, play, laugh, learn, and grow. And in the meantime, we'll soak in every minute with you as we gaze into those deep, dark blue eyes.

Baby Hope

Jen Bradbury on Youth Ministry

Jen serves as the Minister of Youth and Family at Atonement Lutheran Church in Barrington, Illinois. A veteran youth worker, Jen holds an MA in Youth Ministry Leadership from Huntington University. Jen is the author of The Jesus Gap: What Teens Actually Believe about Jesus (The Youth Cartel), The Real Jesus (The Youth Cartel), Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders (Abingdon), and A Mission That Matters (Abingdon). Her writing has also appeared in YouthWorker Journal, Immerse, and The Christian Century. Jen is also the Assistant Director of Arbor Research Group where she has led many national studies. When not doing ministry or research, she and her husband, Doug, and daughter, Hope, can be found traveling and enjoying life together.

More about Jen

Jen's Books

Now Available!

A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm

Order Now

Now Available!

Unleashing the Hidden Potential of your Student Leaders

Order Now

The Real Jesus

Order Now

The Jesus Gap

What Teens Actually Believe About Jesus

Based on National Research

Order Now

Subscribe

Categories

Tags

Recent Posts

Archives