On August 24th--

10,957 days ago, a baby girl joined our family. And we were blessed.

52 days ago, she symbolically left us to adopt a different last name and officially start a new branch of our family. And she was blessed, just as my BBL and I were blessed in our own right only 13,478 days ago – and every day since.

When birthdays or anniversaries come around, it is only natural we tend to score their accumulation. But the real measure of success and/or just plain good fortune is the quality of the accumulation, not just the quantity.

When my favorite daughter “left us” via her wedding (the afore mentioned 52 days ago), I declined my opportunity to offer a toast, but only due to practical reasons. The ceremony ran long, the reception was rapidly accelerating toward its end, and the best man and maid of honor had the occasion fully covered. But I offer this sentiment now in lieu of doing it then:

As we all know, the weather was a bit threatening on your wedding day, but co-operated during all the “strategic” times when we had to be outdoors. It occurred to me then that we didn’t know if the weather was due to the end of Hurricane Alex or perhaps the beginning of Hurricane Baker (your new surname). Hopefully not the latter! But as you face your future, there is no doubt you two will encounter some rain – be it in a physical state that threatens to spoil a pretty day, or in a mental state that threatens to spoil contentment and happiness. To paraphrase a prayer I learned as a child, I offer you this thought whenever it may be appropriate to consider – and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to consider it daily:

“Lord, we await the day when your Kingdom will come. Until then, may the rain [reign] of Your Divine Truth, Life and Love nurture us individually and help us grow together as husband and wife. We ask You to help us repel the sins of this world and that Thy Word continually enrich the affections we have toward each other -- and that we have toward all mankind.” Frankly, so far I think it’s worked fairly well to maintain my perspective.

Happy birthday, baby. Here is your entire wedding reduced to a 14 minute video.