Mother of three!

As I was sitting here uploading pictures to this blog, it struck me that it's no longer Jack and Luke; it's now Jack, Luke and Claire. I now have three little people that God has entrusted to mine and Jordan's care. It's not only our responsibility to feed and clothe them, but, even more importantly, it's our responsibility to train them up in the way they should go. It's not our primary responsibility to be their best friends but to raise them in the way of the Lord. It's our responsibility to reverently pray for each one of them and that they would all come to know the Lord at an early age. It's our responsibility to guard their hearts and minds from the ways of this world and to steer them to our heavenly Father.

It's not that I hadn't thought of these things before, but now that we have had our third child it's just another reminder of how children are truly a blessing from the Lord. They are a blessing, but with each blessing comes a huge responsibility that God gives us. God is going to hold Jordan and me accountable for the choices and decisions that we make on behalf of our children. I sure want to stand before the Lord when I meet Him in heaven with an excellent report of how we have made an eternal impact in the lives of Jack, Luke, Claire and whoever else the Lord may bless us with.

Below are a few of my favorite passages that I pray for our children. I guess I know what I will be doing when Claire wakes up for those late night feedings:-)

"Unless the LORD builds the house,its builders labor in vain.Unless the LORD watches over the city,the watchmen stand guard in vain.In vain you rise early and stay up late,toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to [a] those he loves.Sons are a heritage from the LORD,children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate." Psalm 127

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it 2so that you and your son and your grandson might (A)fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, (B)all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3"O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that (C)it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in (D)a land flowing with milk and honey. 4"(E)Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the (F)LORD is one. 5"(G)You shall love the LORD your God (H)with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6"(I)These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7"(J)You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8"(K)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9"(L)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10"Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, (M)great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and (N)you eat and are satisfied, 12then watch yourself, that (O)you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." Deuteronomy 6:1-12