Baby Number Eight On the Way

There he or she is, Bergsma Baby Number 8, due in November.

Eight is the biblical number of a new beginning.  David was the eighth son of Jesse.  His rise to the throne of Israel marked a new epoch in the history of salvation.

I did my dissertation on the Jubilee Year, which also occurred on the "eighth" year of a week-of-years.  It was the supreme renewal of Israel social and religious life, like pressing the "reset" button on society.

Dawn and I have a lot of joy over this eighth child.  The baby is like a divine gift of renewal as we get older.