Today, I’d like to share a miracle which came into our life. God provided us an example of his great love. We shared in the blessing of life. Today, our new grandbaby arrived. He is number five. He joins his three little girl cousins and his big brother, Vassili, but he is the first to grace us while I am doing this blog. It seems only right to share some reflections on him joining our family. The truth is ever since we learned that Katina, our daughter, and Vastan, our son-in-law were expecting, we have been praying for them and the new baby.
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When we learned the baby was going to be a boy he acquired a name, Peter Nicholas. The little guy was going to be named for his two uncles, one on each side of the family. Little Peter has been a topic of great speculation. When exactly would he come, how much he would weigh, how big would he be? Well, today we got all our questions answered. He made his appearance on February 21, 2009, he is 191/2” long and he weighs 7.4lbs.
I once heard that a baby was proof positive that God is love. This is one of the most simple and most profound statements we could consider. St. John the Evangelist states so plainly, “God is love” (1John 4, 8). Our God is a community of love, a constant exchange of love between the three persons of the Holy Trinity. A new life is a reflection of that love. Here on the desk is an icon of the Glukofilousa, (The Sweet Kissing Virgin). What a beautiful expression of love between the Theotokos and Christ, what peace, what perfect joy. Here into our life, that joy is revealed once more. 
We need to be open to God’s love, to allow it to permeate our soul and to have appreciation for it when it comes. This can happen not only in the big events, like the birth of a new baby; but in the little things. That is the challenge, stopping to recognize God revealing Himself and His love to us and letting that blessing soften our heart and bring joy into our life. Look at your life. Has God revealed Himself and His love to you? Maybe He has, but you were too busy or preoccupied to notice. The pace of life is so fast that many times we can not recognize the love of God. It may be that small event, that person we meet or the opportunity to open our own heart; yet we do not cherish the moment or perceive the encounter with the love of God. St Silouan the Athonite prayed, “O Lord, by Your Holy Spirit enlighten Your people that all may know Your love.”