First off, praise our awesome, almighty God. It is only by His grace through your prayers that we survived. Eliaya is a beautiful, amazing little girl. She's definitely a blessing. That being said... it's not been especially easy. I can already tell the Lord is using her to reveal my own sin and to grow Jarrod and I in holiness. I have been meditating on two verses these past few weeks
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This has been powerful to me, especially during those early morning feedings. I know God purposed for me to be a mom and He gives, and will continue to give, me the strength to be such. When I am tempted to throw in the towel and give up on the ways Jarrod and I decided on regarding how to raise Eliaya, I think on this verse. It's also encouraging to think that loving on others and praying for them... it's not in vain. the Lord will have His glory. The work He's called us to partake in, it's worthwhile. Parenting, sharing the Gospel, washing dishes... there is a harvest if we do not give up.
The second Scripture God's been teaching me a lot through is 2 Peter 1:5-8. "For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. If these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." Becoming a Christian is anything but a call to stagnation. We are to grow in Christ-likeness, in faith, virtue, knowledge.... This has been convicting. Since Eliaya's arrival, I've realized my time is not my own. She's hungry when she's hungry. She needs changed / snuggled / prayed for regardless of the red numbers on the clock. Anger rears its head. My self-absorption now stares me in the face. Praise Him for grace. I feel like I am moment by moment repenting and growing in self-control. It's amazing how the God of the universe can use a baby to change my heart.
Jarrod went to a conference a earlier this month, Together for the Gospel. It's a gathering of evangelical leaders, seminary students and pastors from all over to discuss/assess how the church is doing in reaching the lost. I encourage you to check out the website, you can listen to / watch the main session speakers (www.t4g.org). I was especially challenged by David Platt's message. Pray before you watch that one... God will use it.
Eliaya is doing well. We head to the pediatrician in a week and half for our 1 month check up. I wonder how much she'll weigh! She's definitely growing. Here's some pics from the past few days. Please continue to pray for us.... Eliaya does NOT like to sleep. She fights it with all she's got. Her most ear-splitting screams come about 45 seconds before she zonks out. We joked before... but I really do think she's going to have Jarrod's personality.... 1st born syndrome.....
Love,
the Reeds
No comments:
Post a Comment