James is still feeling pretty badly this morning, running a fever and wanting my constant attention, so Ella has gone to play with her cousins and grandmother, and we are alone. His requirement of my presence gave me a reason to spend time sitting still and reading for a little while this morning, and I am reminded again of how much I love the gospel of Luke. I just love the beginning. It's so beautiful and so great.
We've been reading through the Old Testament during our "family time" at night, so in the past few nights we've talked about Sarah and Rebekah and how they couldn't have children and then God blessed them with children (or a child, in Sarah's case). On a side note, Ella has been asking some very perceptive questions that show she is really listening and desiring to understand. Last night when KJ told her that Rebekah got pregnant after they prayed to the Lord, she asked, "How did she get pregnant?" Unfortunately, I can't remember what his answer was at the moment, but the main point is she is listening. KJ also made the comment, "Boy, Abraham's family sure did have a lot of fertility issues." I've thought that part of the reason for that was to illustrate to them and to us that He was in control of the growth of His people, and He did not choose them for their great might or numbers. They were the fewest of all peoples.
I thought about these things again this morning as I read about Zechariah and Elizabeth, another barren woman. I was also reading these things in light of a conversation I had with a friend the other day who is having her first child at age 30. It was not the way she would have planned it, she said. She thought she would be done at 30. But after reading about all these much older ladies who were not blessed with a child until later in life, I thought I should remind my friend, "It's okay." My friend did say that it was such a comfort to her knowing that God is sovereign over her life and the timing of her precious first-born child, and He is. He is indeed the giver of life, and He gives it when He chooses, at the perfect time and not a moment too late. My friend lost a baby several months before I did, and I think it will be for her as it was for me with James and for Elizabeth: "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."
Love Lynn :)
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