By Miriam Rossow
I have four children and each one is a blessing from God. My first three were “planned.” The fourth, however, is my special surprise gift from God.
We had moved to Texas about 18 months earlier. We had finally sold our two houses in St. Louis and were getting ready to move from our temporary house in Texas to a new one that we had bought.
In order to make the move to Texas I donated or gave to friends all my baby stuff. My youngest daughter was about 18 months old when we moved so we kept things that we would need for her, but if it was too young for an 18-month- old, then it was gone.
So the week we signed and began moving into our new three-bedroom house in Texas we found out I was pregnant. I was in shock. I was depressed. I was uncertain.
I thought I was done having babies. I was not even certain I wanted another baby! I was guilty.
Children are a gift from God. Many women try and try to have children and have much difficulty. Many women try and try to have children and are never blessed with them. How could I be feeling depressed, angry, and sad that I was pregnant?
I was not certain God knew what He was doing. Or at least I did not understand God’s plan.
In the Bible story that we worked through in class this week, we learned that God’s plan does not always fit our plan or make sense. Abraham and Sarah were told to move to a place God would show them. Abraham and Sarah were promised a land that was occupied by nonbelievers.
Abraham and Sarah were promised descendants as many as the stars and sand! Abraham and Sarah were very old! How could this be part of God’s plan?
As the children learned this week and last week, God keeps His promises! One of the promises He gives us is that He will bless us. This blessing may not always look like what we expect or come in the way or when we think it should.
Caleb–my fourth, unexpected, and even unwanted child for awhile–is a true blessing. During the first three months of my pregnancy I had to be reminded again and again of God’s promise to bless me.
I had to be reminded again and again of His promise to never leave me. I had to be reminded again and again of His promise to love me and if He loves me, He knows what is best for me.
God keeps His promises and He promises to bless you. Look in your life today for those blessings. They may not come as you expect or even when you expect.
Mine came nine months after I was certain I was done having children. Mine came in the form of a blond baby boy!
What blessings are you receiving today? Share those with your children so they too can learn to see the blessings of God all around them even when they might be hard to see.
