"Happy Birthday, MOM!!!"
Ruth, my oldest child, is having her birthday today! I am sure that there was a lot of excitement in the house before the older two headed off to school. I got pretty emotional/tears when we prayed together this morning. To have Ruth so close by and sharing with great JOY the life she grew up with, and continues to have in many ways with her family! That truly gives me so much happiness! I was looking at some old photo albums this morning and John was seeing many of the pictures for the first time. He was asking about the small old house that we were living in when we had our first 4 girls... we moved here the year before I had John. "Were we poor then?" I shared with him that most all we had went back into the farm, but from when I had Ruth on I did not work outside the home for 14 years. "We lived simply and that was a good thing!" We both agreed that it is good to live a simple and uncomplicated life. All the things and stuff and distractions are ways of taking our eyes off our Lord! We didn't even have a TV for the first few years! Our little house holds many wonderful memories of our nest years. For the most it was wonderful, yet the sadness of LOSS was very much a part of my childbearing years. The Cross entered in and through it we found a deep love and appreciation one for the other!
Filled with so much JOY and feeling that this was a sacred moment - the birth of my first child! I could never prevent life and always yearned to be pregnant with the next. I was a bit unhinged when it came to LIFE! My Ruthie was a total delight - she slept all night the first week home! Your first one is so special - in my little farmhouse in the middle of winter - I learned all the specialness of caring for an loving a beautiful little girl. I could see with "the eyes of my heart" that this is the most special gift we could ever be given. I found contentment and happiness that was so deep and profound! How have the lies of Satan come into the world to make people take this as something that can be destroyed if it is inconvenient, or even prevented for selfish reasons? I was almost greedy for as much of these gifts as I could have... I now have 11, 5 with me and 6 in heaven. The lost ones were times of tremendous grief and sadness as a family, it made us appreciate one another so much more!
LOVE!!!!
I thought that this verse from morning prayer spoke of Ruth and her seeking the Lord's path in her life: "The path of the just is like shining light, that grows in brilliance till perfect day." Proverbs 4:18
This not only describes all of us that are on the narrow path carrying Our Most Cherished Cross, but it is a prayer for all of us this day and forward!
Jesus, we long to love and serve you in all that we do. Today's examples of St Elizabeth Ann Seaton and Ruth Ida Lanoue... two women, who look to YOU and your plan for their lives, no matter how hard or how much work. YOU are our goal in LIFE, O Lord. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Halleluia
Ruth with her firstborn son, Simon, 8 years ago! She too loves life, and she too has had a cross to bear - ruptured uterus/trusting in HIM for each new baby. We turn to HIM, and Trust!
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