Children are a gift from the Lord: they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

A little over a month ago, I wrote about the passing of my mother.  Today we are celebrating her life and fondly remembering her with stories, pictures, music and a beautiful message of her eternal life.  All of her living children are here, plus her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Many of her nieces and nephews, their children and their great grandchildren are here as well.  We have been blessed with a caring family to help us celebrate Mom’s life and give us the love and support we need at this time of joy and sadness.

It has been such a treasure to have them all with us and for me to see for the first time, all the children who have been born into our family in the last year. Children are a precious gift from God. He created children for a special purpose. First of all, they will carry on the family line, but additionally, they bring us joy (and sometimes sadness) and are a reward. We should be proud of our children because they are a gift from God for us to love, cherish and raise up to know and love Him. They can in turn walk with the Lord and honor Him with their lives. Our job is to provide them the opportunity to know about His best gift of all…the offer of eternal life.

God gives us so much! His unconditional love is filled with so many examples of this from the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren He gifted us to raise, families in general, our health, our daily bread and most importantly for His gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Today, I am so thankful for my mother who provided us with the foundation we needed to learn about and love the Lord. I also thank God for our children and ask Him to continue to show us how to love them and support them as they carry on in His ways. My mother adored children and she would be so happy to see all of us gathered in her memory, surrounded by the little ones who will carry on our family and the love of the Lord for generations to come. Thanks be to God!

Patty