Children are a gift

The Irises are blooming!

 The very cool thing about the Bible is that we can learn so much, it inspires me, it is true and it is living and active. In the mornings lately I have been reading through Psalms and I have been enjoying it very much and I think "This is a favorite book", Then I just finished reading through the book of Hebrews with the kids after breakfast and I think "I love this book and what I learn from it!" Then I was reading the first chapter of John while on our canoe trip (when I only had a new testament along) and I realized again just how much I loved that chapter. God's word is wonderful!

 Today I read Psalm 127 (another of my "favorites"!) and I want to share a couple of verses with you....

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

so are the children of one's youth."

Psalms 127:3 & 4

Children are something that we can't just run to the store and purchase when we feel like having one. Everything that we have comes from God but it is incredibly evident that it is through Him alone that we receive the gift of children in our lives. He is the one that gives life.

  Realizing that not everyone regards children as gifts (with some choosing to get rid of that life even before they take their first breath) is exceedingly saddening to me. God gives good gifts and children are certainly one of the most wonderful!

  I do feel very blessed to be the mother of 4 very fun children. I am very grateful to God for that gift. I love to think about what verse 4 means. Our children are like arrows in our hands. We cannot go many places - we are just one person (2 when you think of both parents) - but our influence (hopefully for good) can go much farther than we ourselves can go when we have children to send forth. I hope with God's help that we can train our "arrows" well so they are ready to "fly straight"!

  Thinking of children makes me think of a funny/interesting thing that happened at our house today. This afternoon after naps our family was playing a game of Settlers of Catan (a favorite of ours). Megan had come out from naps wearing a hat which wasn't that unusual as she shares her Mama's love of hats. I didn't think anything of it but then partway through the game she happened to remove it. I just looked across the table at her in shock- on the top of her head she had a fairly large pretty much all bald spot. I gasped and started to ask questions. Poor Megan was pretty overwhelmed was close to crying. The story finally came out that during naps she was combing her hair (Just lately she has been really enjoying brushing and combing her hair which I have encouraged) and her comb got stuck and she just pulled it out. I cannot imagine how she did that without experiencing much pain but I guess she has a tough skull! I also think she will be wearing quite a few hats in the future and I will be doing some careful hair arranging. I also requested that next time she gets a comb stuck that she ask for assistance in getting it out!

I hope you are enjoying raising your children. I sure am enjoying mine!