Babies

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Here I am holding precious Avery. She is the daughter of a fine couple we met earlier this year in Israel.
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I love babies. Don't most women? There is something so cute, cuddly, and special about babies. They are sponges that we can soak with our love. Even when we see baby kittens, or baby deer with all the little white spots, we get excited. They are so tiny, so adorable.
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I have never had a baby of my own to hold, to love, to teach and train. It is just God's plan. If His plan suddenly changed and we were blessed with a little one, you would probably not find two more ecstatic people. But, as it stands now, our lives are blessed, we feel complete, and we have learned to not question God's ways. We enjoy the great things He does give us, rather than complain about what He chooses to withhold.
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Some people have told us that in place of natural children God has blessed us with spiritual children. And it is true that we have helped birth "children" into His Kingdom. In many ways, it is enough to know that for the last 12 years we have lived a life of faith that has been a blessing to others. When I get to the end of the line and it's time for me to walk through death's dusky corridor, I don't think I will have regrets. Will the maternal desire ever leave me? I don't know, but probably not. But there is nothing that compares to seeing a "child" born again. The sound we hear at the time of birth is beyond beautiful and miraculous cannot begin to describe the thrill of this new life. Even if my part was just that of a nurse's aide standing at the ready, to know that I had a small part in producing such a miracle is satisfaction enough.
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To a much less degree, I also find fulfillment through writing. Writing is the impartation of ideas, the planting of seeds that are tiny kernels of powerful potential. Many times printed words outlive the author, and the concepts people glean from what they read have the potential to change them forever.
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It took me three years to write Food for Thought. When it arrived, I was like a kid in a candy shop (all organic candy, or course!). It had been a long gestational process and the satisfaction of seeing my work in print is hard to describe. Then along came Cooking with Wisdom, which was also a lot of work but easier to bear than Food for Thought.
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Now, Bill is encouraging me to pursue other projects and I feel like I have direction from the Lord to begin a book that I plan to title Inside Out. It might take a while - I'm not one of those people who can write a book in a week - but when the time is right, we will deliver our third "baby!"