Blessings

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are reflecting on your life and it hits you how incredibly blessed you are? I had an overwhelming wave of that hit me this week. One of the best things about God's blessings is that he uses everyday people to carry them out, sometimes without them even knowing.

Take for example our sister Leslie. She has been blessed to be able to stay at home with my niece Lynley. God provided a way for that to be possible and for her desire to be met. One could think that was the end of that blessing, done and over. Then Rowan enters the world and we make the decision for our family that I will continue to work after my leave is up. Leslie went ahead and offered to help watch Rowan when I go back to work. In doing this she took God's blessing and extended it to us. By God providing for her to stay at home, he not only blessed their family, he was preparing a blessing in advance for Rowan too. Now she gets to stay with family while I work and not day care.

Another way we have been blessed is through meals. Our friends have provided for us for these last six weeks and I have not made a big grocery store run or cooked a meal since we came home from the hospital. For someone who hates to cook, words can't describe how thankful I was to have that weight lifted off me. Every night I got to spend with my baby and husband without that stress was another blessing to add to our growing list. Especially after realizing that evening/dinner time would be Rowan's fussy time, I can't imagine trying to cook meals with her screaming in the background. So from our small group picking nights to support us, to work friends surprising us with last minute meals, to out of town friends visiting and bringing a frozen meal in a freezer pack, to friends with small kids and stresses of their own making us extras of what they are having that night, to friends making grocery runs for us, to still more friends who brought drinks, breakfast and take out dinners we have felt so loved by so many. I am blown away by the generosity and support that surrounds us and can feel God loving me through all these people. It is so true that when God has poured out his love to you, the natural response is to bless and love others in return. I look forward to opportunities that will allow me to return these blessings and allow others to feel this loved.

The last thoughts that crossed my mind were in light of my 6 week follow up appt with my midwife. As I walked into her office with my perfect, healthy, sleeping baby feeling back to my normal self in terms of my recovery, it did not slip my mind how blessed I was to have this be our story. As other friends struggle with difficult post pardum recoveries or have babies who are struggling with feeding or sleeping, the weight of this blessing sinks in deep. This awareness leads to prayer for all those friends and their children because once again, when you are filled God asks you to spill that abundance on others.

But no matter how much I pray for others or have opportunities to bless them, in the end I can never do enough to repay all which has been given to me. By that I am humbled. God is good. He works in ways to prepare a way for us far before we even realize there is a need. Thank you to all our friends and family who have allowed God to work through them to bless our lives. We are so grateful for all you have done for our family and we love you!