Abundant Joy

Last night, around the supper table, joy was abundant.  Extremely abundant!!   Will had a contagious case of the giggles.  Just listening to him laugh had everyone else laughing so hard we were crying!  As I took off my glasses to wipe my eyes, I couldn't help but actually weep to the Lord.  My mind went back a few years, to the time before the Lord changed our hearts forever, when we were content to never receive another blessing from the Lord in the form of a child.  Justin and Lizzy's little giggles would not have been here last night for us to find joy in as well!  The thought of the joy we'd have missed out on made me cry tears of thankfulness to God, for showing us that He had huge blessings in store for us, if we'd follow and obey Him.

I can honestly say, that we've never looked back on the decision to trust the Lord with our womb.  There have been days that raising 4 little ones has been extremely difficult.  Neither of us have ever been afraid of difficult things.  Our life following Christ has been much easier on our souls than the life we once led.  My heart aches for those who have not come to know Christ, for I can never forget the pain my heart kept inside from the weight of my sin.  (Even before I knew that it was sin, the weight was there.)  After some time serving our precious Savior, I have learned that it is much easier to trust His will, and just obey what the Holy Spirit tells me to do.  Trusting becomes easier, childlike, and it's easier to see why God speaks so highly of the faith of a child.  Children trust that their parents are going to feed them, not drop them, etc. to the point of taking for granted the fact that this wall of protection is never going to fall.  That's the same way I feel in the loving arms of my Father, knowing that He is always going to provide.  Faith is a hard thing to understand, but when you get it, the Lord fills you with Abundant Joy.

Pictures of the Lord's blessings in our home