Finding Solace

Love.

Hope.

Faith.

Faith Noelle Koster is born on a Sunday morning in early spring. She comes into this world screaming, but as soon as I hold her in my arms, she stops and coos. This little human might be small, but she is mighty. When her tiny fingers wrap around one of mine, she does more than hold my hand, she steals my heart.

Two days after we arrive home with our bundle of joy, I wake up before five in the morning to find the bed next to me empty. I quietly pad down the hall and find my wife sitting in a rocking chair holding our newborn. Watching her in this sweet moment, I’m reminded how I once thought I didn’t deserve this life. I didn’t believe that a sinner like myself deserved solace from the wrongs I committed.

But here I am, living proof that sometimes, the bad guy simply needs to find a reason to be good. Sometimes, their souls aren’t completely black but just a little singed around the edges. Sometimes, it just takes seeing the light to make it all right.

I walk into the room and catch Delilah’s eyes. Her early morning smile is one of my favorites, though she argues she’s tired and has dark circles. I don’t see anything less than beautiful. “How’d I get so lucky to be your husband and Faith’s father?”

When she reaches for my hand, I kneel next to her chair and take it. She says, “It was never about luck, babe. It was destiny.”

Destiny.