The Mommy Retreat

On a Facebook post last week, I called Noa's hospital stay a 'Mommy Retreat', and in many ways it was.  I did not have to resolve disputes between children, cook for my family, do laundry, school, or many of the other day to day tasks that are so tiring.  But at the same time, I feel that it was a gift to my soul as well.  There were a few key things influencing my thoughts and prayers:  
1.  I listened to the TULIP seminar from Desiring God, and it was a wonderful reminder, while I was staying at the hospital, that God is in control of every situation.  Not only in control, but has ordained them to be, so that we would know him more fully and worship him in a much grander way.  
2.  Over the weekend, Noa was supposed do be dedicated at church. One suggestion was to pick a life verse for your child.  The one verse that was so influential to me while I was pregnant with Noa was Romans 5:2-5  "...we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us".  I know there will be more sufferings in Noa's life, as there will be for everyone, but my prayer is that she can rejoice in them, with the end goal being experiencing the fullness of God's love.  
3.  Thirdly, last Friday, a dear friend of ours from Texas died of a heart attack at age 55. What a blow!  What a hard situation!  I can only imagine what that would be like, but as it says in the Fighter Verse we are memorizing this month (Psalm 103), man is like a flower of the field, he flourishes, then withers and dies, and is known no more...but this does not change the truths of our God, for it continues to say, the STEADFAST love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.  

Oh Lord, I want to flourish like a beautiful flower, right here, right now, knowing that no matter how short that time may be or how hard it may seem, your love for me never fails or changes.  And that is why we worship you!  

One other thing I learned, is that I am not near as fast of a knitter as I thought I was...I have a long way to go on the scarf I started.