A Wonderful Mother's Day!

God graciously blessed me with a wonderful Mother's Day. We went to early service with Kim, Jeff, Kailey and Kendall at Summit Church.

When we first arrived about 10 minutes before service time, I noticed there was a young lady sitting very quietly sobbing. It broke my heart because I think I know the nature of her pain. You see, with it being Mother's Day, the church had planned a talk during the sermon from a young pregnant lady, an older lady maybe in her 40's or 50's (the mother of 6 children and the foster mother over the years of 40 children) and a grandmother maybe in her 70's. They were gathered around a baby crib and a rocking chair. So, I am not sure but think maybe this young lady had either lost a child or is having trouble with barrenness. My niece, Mary Kate, just went through 4 years of this heartache and just found out this weekend that she is pregnant. Praise God for answered prayer.

One of my best friends, Kim, also went through the heartbreak of losing 3 children to miscarriage before one of our teacher friends volunteered to carry a baby for her. Now Kim has an adopted daughter and a biological son carried in the womb of a friend.

The church service was good and very meaningful in all respects. The pastor and the ladies who spoke during the sermon dealt very wisely and gently with the fact of barrenness but encouraged those ladies in their call to be nurturers. I think God just built it into us women--we want to nurture and are fulfilled ourselves through our nurturing.

I cried through most of the service from the scene a few rows down from me of the young lady quietly weeping to the young man who came in late with a beautiful corsage and pinned it on an older lady I suspect was his mother. This was on the row in front of me. Somehow, the look of pride in himself and appreciation in his mother's eyes, brought a big lump to my throat and tears to my eyes once again.

The grandmother told how prayer was the legacy she was leaving her children and grandchildren with--how she reads the Bible through many years and starts with a different Bible each time and marks the favorite verses that God speaks to her--she has a Bible to give to each of her 9 grandchildren that she has read all the way through. What a legacy!!

Jeff's family and Boompa and I met Michael's family at P.F. Chang's for lunch, Traci, Katelyn, Caroline and Kennedy. We had a good time of fellowship and some great food.

I did get to talk to our youngest son, Chris, who is a Youth Pastor in Bellevue, Ohio, for a while this evening. It is hard to be away from family but I want all of them to be in God's perfect will more than anything else.