Baby

Our phones are charged and so are we as we wait for the news of the birth of Emma Grace. Due date has come and soon will be gone and Tom and Rebecka, our children in New York will soon have their first baby who will forever change the ways things are done! (haha) We will get on a plane as soon as we get the call for this is our first baby Jodeit, Tom is our only son of four children.

We have all been there waiting for the "call". This one is expected and we will welcome it with praise, thanksgiving and great joy. Calls all have their origins, and are generated by one event sparking another.Some are expected and some take us completely by surprise. But the thing about calls is they initiate a response. God prepares us through our faith, our past experiences, our dreams and our approaches to handle whatever it is that comes our way, be it in joy or in sorrow. Our family has had calls of both natures. And one thing I have learned is to trust God no matter what news is on the other end. I trust him to uphold me, to grow me, to embrace me, to guide me and to bring me closer to him in circumstances of joy as well as adversity.

Today we lie in wait of a new born little girl. We can't wait to see what she looks like, and hold her as she makes her debut into this world. But in thinking about the birth of a baby, how precious it must be in the sight of the Lord, to present such a blessing to a parent. We think of children and imagine how they will grow up, but in fact it is children that God uses to grow us up.

1) Children are needy... a parent learns of sacrifice
2) Children are bent in different ways... a parent learns to be discerning
3) Children are in darkness.... a parent helps find a light to lead the way
4) Children are unsteady....a parent strives to establish balance
5) Children are restless... a parent tries to create reasonable boundaries
6) Children are rebellious... a parent is called to discipline
7) Children are bombarded by worldly views.... a parent must speak the truth
8) Children are insecurity...a parent provides encouragement and security
9) Children mess up....a parent learns forgiveness and grace
10) Children are created with a void .....a parent embraces them in love

As a parent we are faced with joys and perils of helping our children to grow up. But we what we must remember is that we are all children ourselves of a heavenly father who is continuing to help us grow up.
Those same challenges that we are helping our children to understand and grow up into are the very ones that God is working on us with. Sacrifice, putting others first, discernment, being able to tell right from wrong and acting accordingly, light, to live life in the light of Christ and his ways, balance, to be able to keep the scales of truth and deeds and favor upon what God wants instead of what we want, boundaries, staying in the lines of God's authority, discipline, a trained approach to seeking God's direction, truth, standing on what we know to be true in spite of the obstacles that surround us, security, knowing that God is in charge and as long as we abide in him, he will guide us and direct us according to his purposes and our growth. Forgiveness and grace, being able to let go of past trespasses that we have done and have been done to us and grace, letting God's grace flow so freely within us, so that it will overflow about us onto others. And finally love, love with a passion, love God and his ways even when his ways are not our ways (so much of the time they are not) love ourselves remembering that it is in our weakness that Christ's strength is perfected, and love others and seek to find the best in people and not be focus on faults, for we have all got them, they just come in different shapes and forms.

Babies are a reminder, as we watch them grow, that they too are one of God's tools to help us grow.Those tiny little miracles change us and grow us and can grow to change a world. After all, Christ started off as a baby, and look what he did! It is all about potential....and we all have potential, for God has created us for purposes beyond our imagination or our inclination.

A note here on the two verses below...they are identical. And when I see a verse repeated once or twice, it makes me think...wait a minute... if my parents tell me the same thing over and over, they must want me to "get it". God must want us to "get this"! And one more thing....about gifts,,, they do not always come wrapped as you would expect them....my precious friend, Bonnie, taught me that one day. It remains a truth that I stand on.

Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.

Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Dear Lord, Thank you for the gift of children. Though they are only on loan, how blessed we are for their lives, and the time that you have allowed for them to spend with us, and for the time you have allowed us to spend with them. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!