Yesterday was a day of firsts for 6 month old Emerald: first baby food, first tooth, first trip to the beach, first sitting-up-solo.

That first year for all of us was a doozy! Most of us tripled our birth weight, mastered our first words, learned to sit, crawl, stand, and walk, figured out who was family and who wasn’t, and could mimic animal sounds. Scientists say if we continued at that phenomenal rate of development, we’d eventually be as tall as a skyscraper and would possess all the knowledge of the world.

During that first year babies are coping with “firsts” virtually every day, and truth be told, firsts don’t end after that. They may not come in such rapid-fire succession, but they do keep coming. Some people love that aspect of life, embracing unpredictability and thriving on change. Others would rather learn a niche and stay there. But babies? They don’t have a choice.

We adults might think we do have a choice about how and when we encounter our firsts, and in certain respects that’s true. We can control whether or not we try sky diving or deep sea diving, but oftentimes we don’t have a choice about our firsts. Accidents fit into that category, as well as disease and death.

Whatever our firsts are and whenever they come, they’re always accompanied by a need to adjust. That might involve making concessions and sometimes having to lower our standards in order to cope. But when we have to, we do. If we refuse, we can find ourselves sliding into dysfunction.

Sometimes I think of the multitude of firsts Jesus faced when he chose to become human. I wish I could have listened in on the discussion between the three members of the Trinity as they pondered the many dramatic firsts the Son would have to experience. That he willingly subjected himself to them anyway, knowing how difficult they would be, is proof of his love for us. It was the only way to make sure we could be citizens of heaven, and for a reason unknown to us, he wanted that with a passion.

Jesus experienced his firsts moving from heaven to earth, a definite step down. The rest of us will move in the other direction, from earth to heaven, a change that will bring one magnificent first after another. Most likely there won’t be an end to those, and that’s a glorious prospect.

Yesterday little Emerald had a day marked by happy firsts, and the rest of us could probably name a few we had, too. But positive or negative, welcome or unwelcome, we can simply choose to view all of our firsts as practice for an eternal life that will be chock full of them. But how thrilling to know that those firsts will all be good ones!

“How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you.” (Psalm 31:19)