Due date in 6 days.

September 19, 2011

This evening I was sitting around the living room with my husband and the youngest 6 children. I looked at each one of them and thought back to their labors and deliveries. Sure, each one was painful, but brought about the same result - a glorious new little baby! I had survived each one and I will get through this labor as well I assured myself. I have been praying that not only would I not be fearful or afraid of this delivery, but that I would be excited and looking forward to this birth with anticipation. I am struggling with that a little.

As I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the couch, I was thinking about a dream I had a few weeks back. In this dream I was holding my new baby and experienced the rush of emotions that come along with holding him/her for the first time. Those same physical feelings of hormones, adrenaline and bliss washed over me again as I relived this dream, accompanied by the feel of the baby's skin against my face and lips as I kissed him/her for the first time, the smell of the skin of my new baby, the sweet sounds that newborn babies make, the little movements, the little hands and I found myself longing to go through labor to feel all of those beautiful things again. What a glorious gift!

God knows just exactly what we need and exactly when we need it to be encouraged in the work that we are doing. So many people think that I must have things easy by now with my 12th baby. Some babies have been easier to deliver than others but they by no means get easier just because they are number 11 or number 12. Each labor and delivery is so very different and rather indicative of the personality of each child. The experience is as much theirs as it is mine. We do it together. I can't wait to see what is in store this time around and to meet this special, new little one.

September 20, 2011

I was able to hold a 2 week old little baby today and I cried as I snuggled and swayed with this fresh little baby boy. It reminded me of God's goodness to me with the last 2 babies just days before their births. On both occasions God provided a new little baby for me to snuggle with to help remind me that the labor and delivery is all worth it, that any discomfort I will experience over the next few days is worth it.

I am overwhelmed by God's provisions in my life. They are everywhere around me. I only need to look beyond myself at the workings around me to see them. God is always good and always faithful.

The blessing of the Lord's Day.

Today was a glorious day spent doing all of the things that one should do on a day "off". I slept in a little later, played with my kids in the pool, blew up balloons for them, watched a child do a back flip on the trampoline for the first time, spent quiet time doing crosswords on the back deck with two of my girls, shucked corn, peeled potatoes, had a turkey with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob for supper, ate caramel popcorn and watched a movie all together as a family. There was even time to Skype twice with beloved members of our family. All in all, it was a beautiful day of rest and fellowship together.

Before it all got started this morning God placed a burden on my heart. What came to mind were the many friends and family I know that do not participate or enjoy the glorious Lord's Day rest that we were intended to partake of on a weekly basis. It grieved me to consider what so many are missing out on by being too busy to take a day "off".

God gave us the Sabbath, or Lord's Day as a gift and a blessing. He created the day for us, not the other way around. It was never meant to be a burden or a means of taking away our fun. It was a gift, given to us by our Creator who knew our frame, knew our needs and knew that we would need a weekly rest to recharge and gear up for the upcoming days.

Let me take a moment to simply list the different blessings that we have found by taking literally the command to "do no work" on the Lord's Day. We are able to plan times of fellowship with our friends and neighbors both to encourage and to be encouraged, we aren't pulled in different directions on this day and can spend the day updating each other on the weeks activities, there is no hectic schedule to keep, naps are for everyone who wants one with no guilt, projects that are looming are forgotten and put aside with no guilt, and there is time to minister to the needs of others. We also do special things just on Sundays like drinking chocolate milk for breakfast or having root beer floats for dessert after lunch.

Like too many things in life, the Lord's Day rest is overlooked and pushed aside as burdensome, legalistic, old fashioned, not realistic in today's world, and on and on could go the list. Rather than see it that way, I challenge you to see it from a positive point of view. Look at all that you receive! God wants to bless you richly each week, on His special day. Why turn that down?