Today we had dentist appointments for two of the children. Tonight, we are headed to have dinner with a couple from church, who also raised 5 children and have wisdom to share with us young folks as we seek to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Tomorrow, the day begins with a run to my doctor to report all of the recent goings on with my seizures and see if he has any wisdom to share with us as we go forward. We then will have Nathaniel, our oldest son, over for supper and to spend the night before we take him to Portland for what promises to be his last appointment with the hand surgeon. We pray that this report opens the door for Nathaniel to continue his plans to leave next month for culinary school in Texas beginning in January. We will then take him to his home in Palermo and then head toward Kingfield for the next stop of our whirlwind week.
The stop in Kingfield promises to be one of the greatest blessings of the week. Last weekend we were scheduled to spend the day with the Bates family, our dear friends who will soon be moving to Canada for work. Rory is a border patrol officer and has accepted a position for the next few years in a place that we will not be able to visit. With our recent visit cancelled due to illness on their part, we are looking forward to this visit even more than we previously expected. We plan to spend the night at the Bates home and then head back to our own home on Thursday evening.
I realize that to some people, this doesn't look like that busy of a schedule. However, when you factor in the feeding, care, and training of 5 children and my recent physical constraints, this week is going to be a killer at least for Sara. She now must do all the driving, which is in itself a chore due to our infant daughter's disdain for riding in a car in the dark. Thankfully, the other children are very helpful in caring for the baby and we won't be driving in the dark too much. The more I think about the strength, patience, and compassion that are the hallmarks of Sara's life, the more I love her and thank the Lord for her.
Through it all, while we know there will be challenges aplenty, we will be together, We will endure whatever comes our way as a family. We will sacrifice for others, we will remind ourselves of the grace and mercy of God whose example of sacrificial love enables us to endure the trials, and we even find joy at the end. Truly, the words of James chapter 1 give us hope and wisdom.
What a blessing it is to know that our trials do not come from the apathy of God, nor any lack of power on His part to remedy our situation. Rather, trials serve a purpose, that is to make us more like Christ, to equip us for every good work, to show the steadfast love of God whose absolute power and wisdom can be trusted to work all things together for our good and His glory.
