Thinking

The house is finally quiet. I'm suposed to be sleeping - I promised Jon I'd go to bed early since this 'family cold' is threatening to create a long night of baby comforting. But I just got Owen (back) down and want to give him a few minutes to work his way to a deeper slumber before I go the same direction.

As I rocked Owen for the last little bit I could not stop thinking about how I have CHILDREN. To be given the responsibility of stewarding these tiny growing lives is a privilege that sometimes floors me.

I thought about their births and how my different labor experiences speak volumes into who they are now and who they will become. I know it's not like that for every person. But Jon and I were talking today about all the moments where we can pinpoint God working very specifically in our lives. Two moments that I know, without the tiniest doubt, that God was there moving and working and communicating are the labors and births of Owen and Everly. They were unreal experiences, even in their vast differences. I am still learning from them.

I thought about how the preference of God is to partner with us. It's not that we stumble into destiny, it's that we look to Him to define our future, to explain who we are supposed to be, so that we can build life purposefully. He started drawing out the picture of Owen and Ever's future for us during those hours of labor...USING those hours of labor. And it's our job to teach them and raise them so that as their lives begin unfolding they'll be prepared for it.

Already, as they get older, I see those hints, those initial sketches, beginning to be fleshed out. Shadowing and depth added, color splashed on. The picture is becoming alive and it's like watching this amazing movie that you know the ending to. The process and the partnership are both so beautiful.