Little Blessings

I know that children are blessings from God. I have four of them and they are incredible! Sometimes though they are an incredible challenge. In those challenging moments with my children, it is hard to remember to be thankful for them and the blessing that they are. Because of this, I decided to think about each of my children that God has given me and look closely at what God really gave us when he added that child to our family.

When He gave us our first child, Morgan, he gave us responsibility, routine, amazement, self-reflection, sweetness, and consistency. What a lot of things to add in to our lives! With Connor came strength, honesty, creativity, playfulness, and an unquestioning love for God. Meara brought us laughter, unexpected surprises, more hugs and kisses than we could have ever imagined, and overflowing joy. Then came Kyla. She brought wonder into our lives just when we thought we had everything figured out. She added abundant energy and activity and, amazingly enough, more laughter.

Looking at this list, I see how full our lives are. Each child really is a blessing from God. The next time I am cleaning poop off of the floor, telling them the third time to do something, breaking up an argument, or fixing another scraped knee, I will remember to thank God for my blessings.

Summer

Ha Ha! I have to laugh at myself. I was just messing around with my blog page and the settings and all that stuff and accidentally published my post with just a title. I guess that's one way to work through writer's block--I sort of feel obligated to say something now.

I do love summer. It is a busy crazy time for our family but the sunshine just makes everything seem more bearable. I was raised in eastern Oregon which is sort of desert area but right next to the Columbia River. There is wonderful sunshine all year around despite the temperature. Even after living in Northwest Washington for most of the past 16 years, I still have not found a love for the rain and the constant cloud cover that we endure for the majority of the year. I rejoice when the sun shines and and absolutely love traveling and experiencing 90 degree weather. My children, on the other hand, have lived here in the Northwest all of their short lives and when the sun shines and it's barely 70 degrees, they are eating Popsicles and looking for shade--it's hilarious.

I will enjoy the sun this summer but as the Northwest fall and winter approach, reminding myself to depend on the Lord to be my sunshine, is an important thing to do. Habakkuk 3:4 says, "His splendor was like the sunrise: rays flashed from his hand where his power was hidden." Psalm 84:11 says, "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." Not to say I won't enjoy the sun fully at each opportunity but, this summer, fall, winter and spring, I need to remember to focus my attention on God and not worry about the clouds in the sky so much.