Baby Everett, Version 0.0

This week, I had the privilege of watching my second grand baby come into the world.  When I think of the opportunities we humans have, I think being born is probably near the top of the list.  After all, none of this life would be possible if we aren't born, am I right? It especially touches my heart when I think of who we are before we are born.

As I've matured through life, I've developed a few thoughts about the premortal life, none of which are scripture or doctrine, but which help me process things here on earth now.  I've known people and couples--good, god-fearing people--who have children who don't fulfill any of those parents' expectations, and their parents end up asking themselves, "What did I do wrong?"  John and I, on the flip side, thank God for getting so lucky with the four kids we have.  It might be a nurture thing, and people ask me how we parented our kids with such success, but I believe it's more of a nature thing:  we all come to earth with our own developed personalities.  I could go on about this topic, but it's not really why I'm writing.

As I sat in the delivery room, waiting for the imminent arrival of Baby Everett, I thought about his spirit at that moment.  I believe that the spirit (or soul) of a person doesn't enter the body until birth.  When name extraction was in its infancy in the church, I learned that stillborn babies don't need their temple work done.  So even though there is a completely developed body, there is no thought for ordinances or the afterlife for that body.  That leads me to think that the spirit comes when the body takes its first breath.  Also, we learn in the scriptures that Jesus spoke with Nephi on the eve of his birth. 

9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the ^aunbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be ^bput to death except the ^csign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.
10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.
11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.
12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord ^aall that day; and behold, the ^bvoice of the Lord came unto him, saying:
13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the ^asign be given, and on the ^bmorrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be ^cspoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.
14 Behold, I ^acome unto my own, to ^bfulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the ^cfoundation of the ​world, and to do the ^dwill, ^eboth ^fof the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

It wouldn't make sense for Jesus' spirit to already be in the infant body still growing inside of the expectant Mary, and to be heard by Nephi, so sometime that night, Jesus left the presence of his Father, was born, and became a mortal being.

Too, we know from the story of the Brother of Jared needing the sixteen stones to be touched by the Lord that our spirit bodies look like physical bodies.  (I wanted to cut down this excerpt from the scriptures, but it's just too beautiful.)

4 And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all ^apower, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy ^bfinger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have ^clight while we shall cross the sea.
5 Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which ^alooks small unto the understanding of men.
6 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the ^aLord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his ^bfinger. And the ^cveil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared ^dfell down before the Lord, for he was struck with ^efear.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should ^asmite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me ^aflesh and blood; and never has man come before me with ^bsuch exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye ​could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, ^ashow thyself unto me.
11 And the Lord said unto him: ^aBelievest thou the words which I shall speak?
12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and ^acanst not lie.
13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord ^ashowed himself unto him, and said: ^bBecause thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my ^cpresence; therefore I ^dshow myself unto you.
14 Behold, I am he who was ^aprepared from the foundation of the world to ^bredeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the ^cFather and the Son. In me shall all mankind have ^dlife, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my ^esons and my daughters.
15 And never have I ^ashowed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man ^bbelieved in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own ^cimage? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
16 Behold, this ^abody, which ye now ^bbehold, is the ^cbody of my ^dspirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.

The events of the Book of Ether took place many hundreds of years before Jesus was born, but we learn that even then, he had a body that looked like a physical body, but that was just a spirit body.

So back to our little baby.  I imagined him as a full-grown looking man, doing whatever it is that we do in the Spirit World.  Several of our family members have patriarchal blessings which talk about their lives or the decisions they made in the Spirit World.  Some of them even mention knowing each other there and promising to find each other here.  I would like to think that Baby Everett was part of our little Kennedy clan up in heaven.  That for some reason, and with some divine purpose, he was placed with Ethan and Rebecca (and consequently with the rest of us).  I would like to think that he and Baby knew each other, and that they know their future siblings as well, and that their baby spirits anticipate their arrival someday.  (It was touching to see how drawn to Everett Baby was upon first seeing him.  When she said goodbye to her parents at the hospital, without any suggestion or coercion on any of our parts, she turned around, kissed him on the head, and told him goodbye too.  If that isn't familiarity, I don't know what is.)

It filled me with immense joy, thinking that he was part of the two-thirds who chose to follow Jesus.  That he anticipated coming to our family, and probably waited expectantly for his turn.  It filled me with a bit of sadness to think of all the lessons he will need to learn on this earth, accompanied with both happiness and sadness, I'm sure.  However, he probably knew that he would be in line to accept the Priesthood of God.  That he would serve a mission.  That he would marry in the temple someday and be able to return to Heavenly Father with his wife.  And yet, here he was, forgetting everything and trusting that his parents will teach him what he will need to know to accomplish his heavenly goals.

It's easy to see him as the cute, gentle, easy baby that he is, but I think it's beautiful to think of him as the spirit man he was, and the godly man he can become.