Four Poems on Love for an Infant Son

I.
You are a gift
entrusted to us
from our Heavenly Father.
He has charged us with your instruction and your care:
And the first lesson you learn must be learned
in the rocking chair.

II.
Learn as I rock you, that love can be tender.
Feel as I bathe you, love can be pure.
Know as I dress you, love must provide.
Hear in our songs, love can rejoice.
Taste as I feed you, God's love is sweet.
Let your first steps instruct you,
Love will encourage and pick up and cheer.
Learn with your first words, love must speak.
See as I bandage your scrape
And kiss your fevered head that love heals.
When I leave for work, know that love sacrifices;
And when I return, that love prioritizes.
Let my punishment remind you, love corrects,
Seeks the good, and expects the best.
Let my hugs teach you, love forgives and understands.
Learn as I hold your sisters and brother and mother
that love can be multiplied
without being diminished.

III.
Do not be fooled by the imposters:
Passion and fashion and beauty:
Love is not made of such sentimental stuff.
Love is rugged and strong; willful and tough:
Chasing and embracing godly duty.

IV.
May you see in this father your Heavenly Father,
And know every morning as you climb in my bed
That it's His heart that loves you when this face is smiling.
It was He who is love who made the first man,
And you are the man He made you, my son, when you love.