Blessing from the Lord

When I stop and think about all the ways the Lord has blessed our family, I can only shake my head in thankful disbelief.  The Lord provided Jim and I with salvation from our sins, raised us in loving, God-fearing families, brought us together from distant corners of the country to be united in marriage, infused our relationship with abiding love and companionship, brought us into the fellowship of saints in a local assembly, surrounded us with beloved friends and family both near and far, has given Jim consistent employment so that he can provide for our material needs, blessed us with twin daughters who He kept safe through a difficult pregnancy, faithfully cheers our hearts with their healthy development and growing personalities, and now, once again has blessed us with the opportunity to bring another life into this world.  We are humbled and grateful and thrilled to announce that we have a baby due at the end of April.  We have learned from our journey that we can’t take any blessing for granted, so we are simply thankful for the life that has been entrusted to us, however temporarily, and seek to use it to bring honor and glory to the Lord.  For He is the author and sustainer of Life, and our utmost prayer for all of our children is that they spend eternity with the Lord. 

It’s exciting and a bit overwhelming to envision what our life will be like with three children aged three and under in the near future.  I know my big girls will be very helpful…I can already imagine them informing me every time the baby needs to be changed (“P-U.  Baby stinks!”), or is sleeping (“Baby sleepin.’  You need da be QUIET!!!!!!!”) or is upset (“Baby cwyin’.  Boo-hoo!”).  Maybe I’ll even enlist them to push the baby’s stroller.  Although on second thought, given how they drive their own toy strollers as if participating in a demolition derby, I may not delegate that task to them just yet!