Are Children Really A Blessing?

I am up later tonight, than I have been lately. I have many feverish children in the house. My three year old keeps waking up crying, so I am up to comfort him. I thought I would take this little time, while he is back asleep, to post again. The following is an article I wrote some time ago, but I changed a few things to bring it up to date. We live in a world that does not regard children as blessings. What do you think?

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Children are a HUGE part of the life of keeping a home, for most home keepers. I get a huge variety of questions regarding my own children and how we do things in our home. I am also asked, quite often things such as, “Why do you have so many children?” “Are you done yet?” and “You must have fairly easy pregnancies and deliveries, huh?” My answers are fully based on the 127th and 128th chapters in the book of Psalms.

“Behold, Children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of a one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” Ps. 127

“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house. Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed, who fears the Lord.” Ps. 128:1~4

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Children are a blessing and a reward. We will receive and not turn away any blessing the Lord may have in store for us.


So I must have fairly easy pregnancies and deliveries to be able to follow through with my receiving of these blessings, right? Nope. I have not been one blessed with easy pregnancies and childbirths. I have had some really difficult pregnancies AND some extremely traumatic child births, including one emergency cesarean. The one thing I can always cling to is the sovereignty of God. I am human and have definitely had my days of wondering how in the world I can put another foot forward.

I have been with child, throwing up for the majority of the nine months, begging the Lord to help me through. I have been in traumatic situations countless time in and after childbirth that brought me depending fully upon the Lord, trusting only Him with my life. I even found myself pregnant once again, just weeks out of the hospital, after nearly losing my life to a blood infection. My baby at that time was only 4 months old. I spent the majority of that particular pregnancy deathly ill, wondering if my baby would even make it. I have also suffered through seven miscarriages, one being twins. So, if I did base my decision to trust the Lord in giving me His blessings on good health, I would not know the blessing of being a mother.

The one thing the Lord has shown me through all of this is His promises that “when I am weak, He is strong” and “it is through our weakness, that then we are strong” and most of all, when I am weary and heavy laden, He gives me rest. He knows just what I need. I try my best to focus on what this is all about. It isn’t about me. It isn’t about this earth. It is about His Kingdom. Will I do this for His Kingdom? Yes, and yes again!!

My heart regarding children easily mirrors the thoughts of Elizabeth Prentiss. In Stepping Heavenward she writes, “Here is a little mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, to her most tender cares, to her life~long prayers! Oh how rich I am, how truly, how marvelously blest!”

She also says, “I want to see little children adorning every home as flowers adorn every meadow and every wayside. I want to see them welcomed to the homes they enter, to see their parents grow less and less selfish and more and more loving because they have come. I want to see these precious gifts accepted, not frowned upon.”

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It is so true. There is no denying the blessing of a child from the Lord. If we are feeling as though our children are not a blessing, but a hindrance or a little person full of troubles, then it is time to reexamine ourselves!

Next time you pick up a precious child, drink them in! Close your eyes and experience a piece of Heaven!

The Aroma of Heaven

There are many wonderful aromas in this life, but none so delightful as this one! No, it’s not the smell of freshly baked bread or of supper just coming out of the oven. It isn’t the delectable smell of vanilla or even of Christmas coating each corner of the home.

This aroma is straight from the Lord….something that gives us a small taste of the atmosphere of Heaven! When it enters our lives, time seems to stand still, if but for a moment. The home is suddenly filled with awe and wonder. It is so rich, those experiencing it, just drink it in! It brings each family member closer together and closer to the heart of God. It makes this heavy life seem so much brighter and lighter.

OH! The precious aroma of NEW LIFE! That tiny little life that smells so much of the gentle touch of God! Yes, as I snuggle this new life close to me, I can close my eyes and almost FEEL…SMELL the Almighty Father’s hands on my face. I close my eyes and in these tender, fleeting moments, Heaven no longer seems so far away.