Overfloweth

Malachi 3:10
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (KJV)

"Room enough to receive." This verse pretty much sums up the past ten months since baby number six arrived. (I actually took these pictures a month ago but haven't had time to edit them or post until now!) This past year I have felt an abundance of blessings from God, but also an abundance of responsibilities, and my cup just wasn't quite big enough to hold them all. I was constantly feeling like my head was barely above water and at any moment I would just drown. A perfect gift would have been a clone of myself so there was more of me to go around. A gentleman said it beautifully in church yesterday when he told the audience that he was "blessed and stressed by five children." And those were all adult children! For me, having children #1-3, i.e. the crazies, felt like a small family. Having #4 and #5 felt like a medium sized family. Somehow with having #6 we crossed the magical border into Large Family Land where all your food is bought in bulk and you buy red flames to put on the side of your new airport shuttle bus. I feel a kinship with other mothers of large families that I did not feel with five. Before I had children I would have told you it was a silly notion to think that you could have too many blessings. Now I am older and hopefully wiser, and understand a little better that the greatest blessings in life come with obligations of time, talents, and self. The Lord has so many blessings that He wants to give us, but only as we have room enough to receive them. Just lately I have begun to feel like I am beginning to swim again. I can handle life without flipping out or spilling over-too much. I can freeze corn and can summer peaches without the house burning down or the children falling apart. I am the third picture in the series at present.  The new blessings have slowed to a manageable trickle. If nothing else, I have gained a more eternal perspective on my life and the nature of blessings, and THAT is a blessing for which I'm truly grateful.