Peaceful Evening

Last night we enjoyed an al fresco dinner on the patio. The weather was perfect--low 80's, no wind. We threw our corn cobs to the chickens and they had a feast, too. Joel had fun interrupting their dinner by chasing them around the yard. Elizabeth and Paul played croquet with Daddy. Grace played bad mitten and Lydia skipped and sang, joining the others as her whims lead her.

Grace put Joel in his little swing on the play set and pushed him, much to his delight. Then the other kids joined him on the play set. Matt and I sat in lawn chairs and watched as Lydia repeatedly slid down the slide and Joel kept running to the periscope to put his mouth over the end and yell something unintelligible into it every few minutes.

Aside from the not very nice comments I've been getting about this pregnancy, I've also received many other comments of genuine concern. "How will you manage?" and "You must have so much patience." (Hah, hah). Honestly, when I look at things from the human perspective, I get overwhelmed, but when I "turn my eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, then the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." The only way I've managed so far is by the grace of God and that's the only way I'll manage in the future. He alone provides the patience, the energy and the love I need to pour out to my children and husband. Do I stumble? Most certainly I do. Then I return to The Cross and start again. Isn't it lovely that as Christians we can always return to our Heavenly Father for forgiveness?

As Matt and I sat watching the five children last night as the evening shadows fell over the lawn, I felt little Jude moving inside me and thanked God for how blessed I am. God alone is the Creator and Giver of life. Children are a blessing, not a curse, as our society wants us to believe.

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:3-5