Notice the eyes glued to the music, the foot on the pedal. My cute little man.

I’d never read anything by Elyse Fitzpatrick, although I’d wanted to for a while. So when Comforts from the Cross: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time came out, I thought that would be the perfect book to start with.

Arranged as 30-day readings, this little book is a gem. Each chapter is 2-3 pages long and would make a perfect devotional for someone short on time or as readings right before bed. I really was amazed at how Fitzpatrick could make familiar truths so fresh to me. I found her writing sparkling and engaging. Yes, I said sparkling. I definitely recommend checking it out!

they’d jump off our headboard onto our bed all day. Among other things. I’ve got some wild little monkeys in this house!

I also love the idea my Blurb books are always on file in my account so that if anything happened to them (a fire, Sharpie, or water damage) I’d simply have to order another one.

Here’s a few snaps of my Blurb book for 2009:

The always-packed Irish pub has long looked welcoming to me. That, and the fact I have a thing for Irish pubs. Must have something to do with my Scotch-Irish roots.

Anyway, it ended up being the type of place I like. Noisy, dark, packed with people, it had the feeling like everyone knew everyone else. Just like an Irish pub should feel like. We were seated upstairs at a little dark wooden table and quickly ordered the crab dip as an appetizer.

Wow. It was the best crab dip I’ve ever had in my life! And I’ve had a lot of crab dips. It was unbelievably creamy and full of subtle flavors. I could have eaten the whole thing as an entrée. Not a good idea.

Josh ordered the Fish and Chips because he’d always wanted to try some and this seemed to be the place to do that. I had a hard time deciding between the Irish Seafood Chowder and the Shepherd’s Pie and eventually went with the Shepherd’s Pie. The Shepherd’s Pie was incredibly hearty with tender chunks of lamb, beef and vegetables and full of flavor. Delicious!

I definitely will be returning! Still gotta try that Seafood Chowder . . .

Welcome back for the next post in a new series With Child: Meditations on the Meaning of Motherhood. If you missed the previous posts, you can catch up by reading about Sarah, Hagar, and  Rebekah. Join me as I study the mothers of the Bible and discover what lessons can be learned from their lives. Come back each week for a new post in this series . . .

Exodus 1-2

Despite Pharaoh’s order to put all male Israelite babies to death, Jochebed sees to it that her baby, Moses, is kept alive. While hiding Moses for three months, Jochebed carefully weaves a floating basket. Then, she tenderly puts her child in it, and floats him into the Nile.

We see clearly in this story that God is directing matters in His sovereignty. However, Jochebed shows nerve, creativity, and trust in a heart-wrenching situation. It can possibly be assumed Jochebed knew the daughter of Pharaoh bathed at the exact spot she placed the baby in that reedy water. Instructing older daughter Miriam to watch over the floating child, She obviously expected something to happen.

What emotions ran through Jochebed as she placed baby Moses in that basket, not knowing if she’d see him again alive? Would the basket hold? Would it tip, drowning the child in the dangerous waters? If she anticipated Pharaoh’s daughter finding him, that too was a risk. Pharaoh’s daughter could have viewed the Israelites as scum and ordered the baby drowned then and there. She could have feared her father’s wrath too much to take him in.

It was indeed a great risk for Jochebed, as she tenderly tucked as blanket around her child, whose eyes looked up at her with wide-eyed trust. But she’d already risked much in keeping him alive since birth. The only chance for Moses to survive was to risk even more!

When Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the small babe amongst the reeds and decides to keep him, Moses’ sister does some quick thinking (or had she been instructed in how to act by her mother?) and goes to fetch a nurse for Moses. Of course, it’s Jochabed.

I also find myself pondering what kind of woman Pharaoh’s daughter was. Was she married and barren, thus welcoming a chance to “adopt” a child? Was she single? What did she tell her father when, coming home from bathing, she brought with her a baby? An Israelite child at that? Did she have to stand up to her father in order to keep Moses? Or was she the apple of her father’s eye, indulged to do whatever she liked? Was she keen enough to know the nurse was really the baby’s mother? I’d wager a guess she did.

Regardless, baby Moses lives. Not only does he live he gets to spend some more months or even years with his mother and the rest of his family until he’s weaned. The ending is a happy one, because Jochebed was willing to risk so much on behalf of her son!

Jochebed is a woman of brave trust. Her actions are carefully planned and wise, exhibiting bravery in the face of Pharaoh’s orders. But in the end, as her fingers lost their hold on the little basket as it slipped into the water, she had to trust God for the outcome. Moses was now literally and figuratively out of her hands.

There’s a point in every mother’s life when she must do the same. Wisdom and planning are exhausted and now there must be a letting go. All that’s left is brave trust in God, who oversees the situation, no matter how difficult. Whether it’s a mother with a sick child who’s ailing she can’t heal or a rebellious teenager who scoffs at his mother’s care, there comes a point when we’ve done all we can do. Now we must wait and see what God will do.

And that takes brave trust.

Has there been a time you’ve experienced brave trust in a difficult situation as a mother (or if you’re not a mother, some other situation)? What did you learn?

Welcome back for the next post in a new series With Child: Meditations on the Meaning of Motherhood. If you missed the previous posts, you can read them here and here. Join me as I study the mothers of the Bible and discover what lessons can be learned from their lives. Come back each week for a new post in this series . . .

Gen. 27

Was it the prophecy of the older serving the younger that made Rebekah prefer Jacob to Esau? Or was it just that their personalities and interests were similar, making the relationship easy?

Regardless, both Rebekah and her husband Isaac loved one child over the other. And the effect of that was long reaching and disastrous.

Rebekah listens while Issac talks to Esau, the eldest. Discovering that her husband is planning on passing the blessing that God had given to Abraham on Esau, she may have panicked. What was happening? Didn’t God clearly promise at Jacob and Esau’s birth that the Esau would serve Jacob? Something had to be done!

Rebekah wastes no time. She masterminds a plot that deceives her husband and cheats Esau so that Jacob could prosper. And ends up dividing her family.

Although Rebekah had started out her marriage full of trust in God, now, she must have deemed that God needed some help. She had no qualms about what she was doing. So much so that when Jacob brings up a concern with her plan, she boldly proclaims, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go. . . ” (Gen. 27:13).

Whatever Isaac and Rebekah’s marriage had been in the beginning, no trust or respect was left. Their allegiances were to their children. As Gien Karssen writes in Her Name Is Woman, “Communications between Rebekah and Isaac had become poor. Their family unit had crumbled. It was parted into two miniworlds. One consisted of Jacob and herself, the other Isaac and Esau. It appears that the children had driven them apart.”

As mothers we are busy with raising our children. We care for their physical needs. We help them excel academically. We help them pursue athletic or artistic talents. We sacrifice for them in many ways. And all that can be good.

Unless we put our children before God. Unless we put our children before our husband.

The fact is, our children will suffer if we put them first to an unhealthy extent. And so will our marriage. “The point at which many marriages jump the track is in over-investing in children and under-investing in the marriage” (Howard and Charlotte Clinebell).

Rebekah paid a heavy price for her deception and for putting Jacob first. When Jacob flees Esau, who is now so angry that he’s out to kill him, it is the last time she sees her favorite son. Eventually, Jacob is reunited with his father and is forgiven by Esau, some twenty years later. But Rebekah does not live to see it.

Nor does she live to see that “the hatred kindled in Esau’s heart continued to future generations. For many centuries the Edomites, Esau’s descendants, would be enemies of Israel” (Gien Karssen, Her Name is Woman).

Rebekah’s legacy sobers me. It reminds me I can tear down my home with my own hands. It reminds me how much power I have over my children as well as my husband, for good or bad. It reminds me that if I put God first, all my other priorities will fall into place. And even when I fail, I know I have One who understands my weaknesses and can redeem all my sins.

In a conversation on Twitter, some friends and I started talking about our favorite children’s books. But as more and more titles kept coming to my mind, and I thought it would be more appropriate to list them in a blog post versus Twitter.

Some of these were read on my own, a good many were read aloud to me and my three siblings as”family books.” Many wonderful memories surround these books and the interesting characters and stories I discovered while reading them. Most of these books tend to be “girl-centric” because I happen to be a girl, but there’s definitely some titles boys would like too.

So here’s some of my favorite books from my elementary school years, in no particular order:

Anything by Marguerite De Angeli but the titles that come to mind as my favorites are Yonnie Wondernose and Thee Hannah.

Betsy Tacy and Tib series by Maud Hart Lovelace
A sweet series about girlhood friendship that starts at the age of five and goes through high school and beyond.

The All of a Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor
A great series about a Jewish immigrant family at the turn of the century living in New York City.

The Happy Little Family series by Rebecca Caudill
A sweet series centered on four-year-old Bonnie, the youngest of five. Ironically, it was my brother who probably loved this series most. Simple stories about a family living in the country and the littlest member of her family trying to tag along on all the “big kid” adventures.

The Sugar Creek Gang by Paul Hutchens
A fun series about a bunch of boys who solve mysteries and learn truths about God along the way.

The Mandie books by Lois Gladys Leppard
One of my favorite mystery series growing up. Couldn’t wait until the next one came out so I could immediately go buy it! A great series for pre-teen girls.

All books by Patricia St. John like Treasures of the Snow, The Tanglewoods’ Secret, and Rainbow Garden. Patricia St. John herself has an amazing story, and if interested in her biography, I recommend An Ordinary Woman’s Extraordinary Faith.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Sweet riches-to-rags-to-riches story about a little girl who’s kindness shines through a difficult time.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A classic favorite, Mary goes off to live in a grand house on the moor that’s shrouded with secrets.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Probably not much needs to be said about this classic series. I devoured these books and they were my first introduction to fantasy literature.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
This magical book charmed me and I couldn’t put it down. Goudge’s writing is memorable and the storyline fascinating. Perfect for girls who love fariy tales.

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
A fascinating time-travel mystery.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
I always cry when I read this story, despite always swearing I won’t.

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Again, not a lot needs to be said. These books are great stories as well as an education about life on the frontier during pioneer days. We actually did a unit study based around these books during my very early homeschooling year.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Rye Brink, and if you can find them, The Winter Cottage, Louly, and Two Are Better Than One. They’re all out of print, but check your library.
I cried when my mom finished reading the Little House books, exclaiming in a dramatic fashion, “There will never be anymore good books to read!” Well, then I read Caddie Woodlawn and took that statement back. I’ll never forget the fabulous school fight scene!

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
Still one of my favorite girlhood books to read again and again. Elnora grows up without the love of her mother–whose embittered by the death of Elnora’s father–and finds solace in nature and going to school against all odds. Read it!

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
A great story about a spunky girl who has a serious accident and learns important lessons in growing up.

Louisa May Alcott books, including the lesser known titles like Eight Cousins, An Old Fashioned Girl, and Jack and Jill.

Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery
Still a favorite for me!

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
I did not want to read this book when my mom read this to us aloud growing up, but there’s a reason it’s a classic, and I was soon won over. A heart-warming storyline that yes, will make you cry. The writing is superb!

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
To be honest, we were bored out of our minds when we first started this book. But at some point, it got funny and enjoyable and one to look forward to.

What are your favorite children’s books?

On Saturday I had my long-awaited sonogram. It’s a surreal moment when the first visual of new life is seen on the screen. Suddenly, all the morning sickness, tiredness, and other symptoms that seem vaguely related to pregnancy find solid reality.

So this is what all that’s meant.

Despite the intellectual knowledge and having been through it all before, it never feels real until I finally see with my own eyes the new life I carry.

It’s strange to imagine that in a year this little life I’m just beginning to know will be about five months old. That he or she will have seemed to have always been part of our family.

I breathe a sigh of relief. One baby. I was nervous about more twins. Although I’d have welcomed them with open arms, I know the vast amount of work twins are (and yes, the vast amount of joy). But this time I was hoping for the blessing of one. To have the experience of focusing on one baby this time around.

I show Duncan and Owen the picture of Jones Baby #3 and they point at it.

“Baby!” they say, before running off to play.

Yes . . . a baby. Certainly, this is one special gift to unwrap today, and many days to come.

Just my contribution to Tuesdays Unwrapped with Chatting at the Sky . . .

Welcome back for the next post in a new series With Child: Meditations on the Meaning of Motherhood. If you missed the first post, you can read it here. Join me as I study the mothers of the Bible and discover what lessons can be learned from their lives. Come back each week for a new post in this series . . .

Gen. 16, 21

Hagar collapses at a spring in the middle of the wilderness. Cupping dusty hands she lifts a mouthful of cool water to her parched mouth.

She’s running from the cruel treatment of her mistress, Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Desperate she must have been, to run pregnant into the wilderness. But the Lord sees Hagar’s plight, as she tries to regain her strength at the spring. It is not yet time for her to leave Abraham’s household.

“Hagar, servant of Sarah, where have you come from and where are you going?” The angel asks her.

“I am fleeing from my mistress Sarah,” Hagar freely admits.

“Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel tells her. “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

This news meant an attitude adjustment on Hagar’s part. No more lording it over Sarah’s head that she has a child and Sarah doesn’t. But there was no guarantee that Sarah would now treat her with kindness. The angel of the Lord just asks her to obey his words.

She is given a promise. That she’ll bear a son; that he’ll live in hostility with others, but dwell over his kinsmen. And with this promise, Hagar seems is encouraged. “You are a God of seeing,” she says of the Lord. “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me” (16:13).

Hagar, in contrast to Sarah in this passage, is a wonderful example of trusting God in a hard family dynamic. I’d assume, being Egyptian, before this experience in the wilderness Hagar may have worshipped Egyptian gods. How did she view the God of Abraham and Sarah previous to this episode? Did Sarah’s actions towards her discredit the God of Israel in Hagar’s eyes? We don’t know.

But now Hagar has a personal experience with God. A God who sees her distress and personally responds to her situation, meeting her in the wilderness and giving her hope.

Hagar trusts God with her very uncertain future. Although God gives her a promise, she doesn’t know how things are going to turn out. With less promises than Sarah’s had, Hagar’s faith is really quite amazing. Picking herself off the dusty desert floor she puts trust into action and obeys God. Hagar goes back to Abraham and Sarah and gives births to Ishmael.

Fast forward sixteen or so years.

Hagar finds herself once again in the wilderness. This time she is being sent out of Abraham’s house, and this time it’s for good. Although Sarah instigates Hagar’s leaving, it’s the Lord who ultimately directs Abraham that the time has come for Ishmael to leave. And again, the Lord intervenes in what looks like a desperate situation.

Running out of the bread and water Abraham had provided her, Hagar puts her son under a bush, out from under the hot sun, and awaits death. Hot tears run down her dusty face.

Did she wonder about the promises she’d received from God when she’d been pregnant with Ishmael? Did she think all was lost? That God had forgotten her?

No, He hadn’t. God saw Hagar.

As Leigh McLeroy puts it in her book Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps: “All-seeing God also opened the eyes of desperate Hagar, and she saw a well of water that must have been there all along. Maybe she had even glanced at it before and simply moved on, assuming it was as dry and empty as she was. Redirected to the well, she filled the parched waterskin with fresh, soothing water and gave her son a drink. And she drank in the knowledge that the God she’d once named El Roi, or ‘the one who sees,’ had seen her in her first flight and was seeing her still.”

God sustains Hagar and her son with the provision of water and they live, making a home for themselves in the wilderness. Again, Hagar experiences God’s personal care. And again God reiterates His promise that Ishmael would become a great nation.

It was in the wilderness God met with Hagar and gave her strength for what lay ahead. Isn’t that the way God often works? That’s how it’s been in my life. In the darkest, most helpless moments, I experience God’s presence and care in a way like never before. Even if I feel small, misused, ill treated, and unloved, I have a God who sees. Even if I fear for my child’s uncertain future, I have a God who sees.

I want to respond to God like Hagar. But so often I’m more like Sarah. I know God’s promises by heart—heard them for years—but so often I doubt. I decide to try it my own way. Instead I want to trust like Hagar. Even in the wilderness.

Has there been a time when you had to trust God in a wilderness season of your life or the life of your child? What did you discover during that time?