Mother's Day Thoughts

I can remember a very difficult couple of years when I dreaded sitting in church and listening to awards being given to the oldest mother, the mother with the most children present, the youngest mother, etc.  I prayed earnestly that God would bless Jonathan and I with children.  Children to raise in a godly home, children to nurture and love with the love of God, and hopefully children that would one day live for His glory as well.  Today, I sit with little Eli in my lap, Ian to my right and Jada Kathryn leaning on his shoulder as we read the Bible together.  Jonathan is fixing his supper, as he has just come in from work, and he interjects comments about the stories we are reading.  Afterwards, he questions the kids about what we've read and they eagerly answer each time.  I take a deep breath remembering the prayers I cried out to God and the answer I see before me.  I know that God wants us to bring our greatest pains to Him, and that sometimes we see answers to those prayers and sometimes it seems that He doesn't hear....but we know in our hearts that everything is for His glory.  So, as I recently celebrated a day that use to be painful, I am fully aware of those who are still praying.  I ask God to give them a peace, and a joy about this life that only He can provide when we don't understand His plans for us. 
This year I especially enjoyed Mother's Day as my pastor, Bro. Doug, read from 2 Timothy where we find that Timothy's faith comes as a result of his mother and grandmother's faithful life.  I couldn't help but think how this was an example to those who have children and  to those who do not.   Every believing woman has the opportunity to be a spiritual mom to someone.  If we are a child of the King, we should be sharing our faith with those around us, and specifically to those individuals that we come into contact with on a regular basis.  We are pouring our lives into something, and the question is, what?  Is it our hobbies (which are not bad in and of themselves), the t.v., yardwork, work outside of our homes, etc.  I guess Karlyn, my sister-in-law, stated these truthes from Timothy very clearly in her song yesterday..."Generations will reap what I sow".  What are we leaving behind for the generations that follow?  It doesn't matter if they are our biological children or our spiritual children....what harvest will they reap from our lives? 
Needless to say, it was a very powerful Mother's Day for me.  From the joy and blessings of children, to the convicting message in church, to the sadness of a mother not here to hug, to a blessed afternoon with a loving and faithful mother-in-law, to laying down my head last night with the weight of responsibility that I awe to generations to come.  I think I'll close these thoughts with a handwritten letter from Jonathan's grandmother, who though now in Heaven, she led the way for Jonathan to become a child of the King as she faithfully took her children to church.....and now generations later follow her lead.  Her great-grandchildren are hearing the great truthes of Scripture because she was a faithful mother( with the help of her faithful husband).I was cleaing out an upper cabinet in her old house when I found this poem: 
I prayed, "Oh, Lord, bless all the world.
And help me do my part".
And Straightway He commanded me to find a broken heart. 
I prayed, "Oh, bless each hungry child. 
May  they be amply fed".
He said, "Go find a straying soul and share with him thy bread".
"Oh stir the hearts of men", I prayed
And make them good and true".
He answered, "There is just one way-
They must be stirred through you".
Dear friend, unless you really mean exactly what you say,
 until you mean to work with God;
It's dangerous to pray!

May we be faithful to work for Him,and may our eyes see clearly where He's leading!