Overflow of Harvest…
Brian, Emma, and I had the stomach bug pretty bad last week…Brian and I worked together as a team to serve and pour out to our kids, but we both felt sick and weary. Lewis and Hannah, you see, were not sick! ….I have come to accept a few unchanging factors about my kids …especially the two, lovingly called, “the twins”–they have more energy than can be bottled and sold! And more will than I have seen in any my entire parenthood so far, except in three others! THESE are the hard days. Sick parents, energetic, strong-willed kids… I love, though, the perspective that a few days give. I remember feeling at the end of a hard week, I truly hope to see that fruit soon! It feels so tiresome and weary sometimes. I love that God’s Word trumps my feelings!! His Word says that if you sow seeds, you will reap a harvest IN THE PROPER TIME. It takes FAITH for me to believe this sometimes when my days are long and the sowing is hard work. But God graciously gives us sweet and persistent love for our kids…He prompts us to keep going…waking up each morning with new grace and new mercies…with freshness and new creative ideas…and vision. Sometimes, He even gives us glimpses (hope) of the harvest to come….other times, it is an overflow!!
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen beautiful glimpses…Today, it was an overflow.
I want to share a few of our beautiful glimpses and what God is doing in our amazing kids right now:
Just the other day, Lewis looked at the melted snow flowing down our drain pipe outside our home…and he said to me quietly, “mommy, look, the rain is coming down the pipe…flowing…just like God’s love…it just keeps coming and keeps coming. It doesn’t stop.” My eyes teared up. It is in moments like these that I can see that they really do understand!
I love seeing God’s faithfulness to them…to pour love and counsel into them…as Lewis was thinking the other day, he told me…”mommy, I think the kids bother me at school sometimes because I expect them to treat me perfectly.” Wow. Such introspection, such sweet counsel from Him…a wonderful breakthrough!
And on another day, when I was wishing I had more time with Lewis that day, Lewis whispered to me while we were cooking together after nap time, “mommy, God came to me in a dream while I was sleeping and told me He loved me!!” Oh, He covers them with His love.
And Hannah, as she battles being 3…and we all feel it…God pressed into me the other day to remember to remind my children that we are all sinners and fall short of His glory…I said this to Hannah during a time of great struggle for her and her eyes lit up…she asked me if I make wrong choices too…”oh yes, Hannah”…I said a bit too joyfully, “I do!” I loved seeing her feel freedom knowing she is not alone in her struggle.
~Today, there was an overflow in their little spirits. Hannah…in her intimate love…her social grace, her sweet manners, her joy in spending time with me, her desire to love and nurture me…and Emma…and her cuddlies 🙂 Lewis, in his sweet desire to help…opening doors, running to the kitchen to ask daddy, “How may I help?” and telling me, “Mommy, you sit here and I will find it!” What a wonderful quality to have in the firstborn child…I really don’t know what I would do without it. …Lewis giving me and sissy back scratches…telling me how much he loves us. This is my romantic, strong poet!! …Lewis and Hannah’s sweet love for each other…playing sweetly together, considering each other’s needs and desires…joyfully playing together. Oh, they are like peas and carrots. They do love sweetly…yes, and they can argue passionately too! But, today, only sweet love. What a joy and gift it brings to our hearts. They even went to bed obediently and with focus. Really, it was an evening to remember.
Emma brings LIFE and BEAUTY and JOY and PEACE and FUN to our days….she is a gift beyond our wildest dreams…I really couldn’t imagine God giving me such a gift in a baby…in a child. I just KNOW the depth of God’s love for me when I look into these deep and sparkly blues. She brings forth praise and thanks in my heart…in each of my days. We are deeply grateful for her life…and cannot believe our little Emma “boo”…our Emmy…is turning 9 months in a week and a half. Oh we love her and will miss her babyhood. Every day is a holiday with Emma. She really does brighten our lives and lift our hearts up to the Lord in praise.
In Hannah’s words, “Oh Emmy, you are such a cutie baby.”
I love capturing the overflow of harvest…that I may remember…for the next sowing season 🙂
Walking in Faith 