Don't you know what causes that?

Being parents of 8, going on 9 children, we get alot of unasked for comments. Recently I was in the grocery store with just B#8 when someone whom we have known for years commented on my pregnant state by asking me....Haven't you figured out what causes that? My answer to him was " Yes, the Lord". I guess I kind of expect those comments from strangers but coming from someone that we used to go to church with kind of threw me. So I thought I would do a post on why we do what we do...

First and foremost, we are followers of Jesus Christ and we believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and is still relevant for believers today. Having said that let me share with you some scriptures that sum up what we believe about children....

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord;
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

How many of us would more than welcome gifts and blessings from the Lord if it came in the form of money? But we all know that money does not bring happiness. Many times we hear of people who won the lottery, that it ruined their life or their marriages. Yet the Lord, creator of us all, in whose image we are created, says that children are a gift, a reward! I expect that the Creator of the Universe knows much more than us which of the two(children or money) is truly a blessing and a reward. Now I am not saying that we believe that everyone must have as many children as we have. I am saying that for my husband and I, we have come to believe that we should welcome whatever number of blessings the Lord chooses to entrust us with. Do I have all the faith right this moment to be completely on board with it if the Lord give us 10 or even more??? No, I can't say that. I believe that He gives us the faith for each child as He brings them into our family. One of my favorite hymns is "Trust and Obey". It says...trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.

So that is what we are doing. We are trusting God to provide for each little one He brings us and we obey what we feel the Scriptures are telling us.

I like what King David said in Psalm 37:25-26 : I have been young and now I am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; And his descendants are a blessing.

Blessings

"The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22

We are each blessed every day in big ways and small ways, with our lives, our children, our homes, our jobs. This past month we have been more cognizant of those blessings, whether because we have been looking for them or maybe because since Mark's accident we realize more and more how precious each day and each blessing is. Below I wanted to just show you a few of the blessings that we have taken pictures of.


15 1/4 lbs of fresh Salmon, given to us the very day it was caught, from a dear couple at church, who are very generous. DH finally got to use the fillet knife that he bought for fishing.

Some other very generous friends of ours have blueberry fields and they allowed us to come and pick blueberries. B#2 is a very fast picker so we have lots of blueberries in the freezer and we made some blueberry jam. Earlier in the summer, we had the opportunity to go to another farm to pick strawberries so we have those in the freezer ready to eat or make jam with. All of this for free.

You might think this a strange picture. But we were blessed one day when we checked the mail and found a check from the grandparents to put towards fixing up one of our bathrooms that was in need of some TLC. We purchased a new toilet and got a big roll of remnant flooring. After doing the bathroom we still have lots leftover so we can use it elsewhere.

What are some blessings you have received lately? Post me a comment and lets see what the Lord is doing in each of our lives. Maybe we all just need to stop and look for what He is doing in our lives.