What I Could Have Missed

My prayer request lately has been the same to those who have asked how they can pray for me: contentment. I’m just days away from the birth of my third baby and it’s all about all I can do to sit around and wait on him! I’m a nester by nature so when you give me a task to the likes of having a baby, I go into in to HYPER-nesting zone. The baby’s room (which he will share with his older brother and sister) has been painted since December. His burp cloths and swaddle blankets are already folded and neatly arranged in his drawer. Stroller, car seat, pack-and-play, swing...check, check, check. Once I finished my to-do list, about 6 weeks ago(!), I went in to major anxiousness mode. I’ve been wishing away the days wanting it to be April 11^th in the worst way!

Thankfully, God saw this in my heart and started to do a work in me! I began reading the Women’s Ministry Spring Book Club book, The Resolution of Women by Priscilla Shirer, and sure enough, chapter two was “Contentment.” The resolution the author commits to is this:

“I resolve to embrace my current season of life and will maximize my time in it. I will resist the urge to hurry through or circumvent any portion of my journey but will live with a spirit of contentment.”

Although I’ve far from mastering being this type of women, God did give me the opportunity to be present in a moment that will have an eternal impact. One afternoon, while my daughter was finishing an orange Popsicle, God gave me the privilege of leading her to Christ. Even as I type that, my heart bursts with joy! It’s all I can do but pray, pray, pray that this was a true conversion and that her pure heart is truly the home of Jesus Christ now. Before I went on my “contentment quest” in these last few weeks before the baby comes, I would tell people that there are major events coming before the baby’s due date that I didn’t want to miss – Mattie’s 5^th b-day and Easter. Little did I know that her spiritual birthday would be something that I could have wished away as well if I hadn’t started praying to be more in the moment with my husband and kids. I can’t tell you how many people have told us to enjoy our time as a family of four because that is all about to change. Something else I read in The Resolution of Women that struck me is this:

“You can always tell people who operate from a position of perceived lack and deficiency. They are stingy with their time. They’re selfish with their resources. They’re tight fisted with their energy...they’re like my two-year-old, unwilling to share with his friends for fear he’ll run out of what he’s got.”

God has given you and me enough, and He always will. And when we choose to recognize this and trust in His continued supply, we’ll be able to engage in life in a way we never have before. We will be surprisingly satisfied.

Of course I know that Mattie’s salvation decision was not dependent on whether or not I was paying attention and present to her. But I do know that God allowed me to be a part of this miracle – something that I could have overlooked if I was too self-obsessed and anxious for the future. The birth of our third baby will be all the more sweet now...he will have an older sister who has accepted Christ as her Savior and can (hopefully!) model what it looks like to be a Christian in our home and beyond.

Look what I could have missed...

Praising God,

Simone