Psalm 1

We are settling into a good routine at our house. It's ever-changing, as each kid grows out of one stage and into another, but it's good right now. Rosemary has been sleeping through the night for two weeks, which is nice. :) She pretty much wakes up at 5 a.m. to eat, goes back to sleep until 8 a.m. and eats again, then eats at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and on and off from 5 p.m. until 8 to store up for the night. :) During several of the feedings I am upstairs in the middle of all the kids, but for the 5 a.m. and the 2 p.m. I've been going down to the classroom and sitting in the rocker. No one else is up yet at 5 a.m., and I've gotten the other three having quiet reading time or naps during the 2 p.m. feeding, so the house is quiet for an hour. Rosemary and I bond, nurse, and rock while I have the Bible open to some passage of Scripture. I have never been good about spending a lot of time in meditation until now. I am just so plagued by the "tyranny of the urgent"- let me read this Scripture, do the homework for this Bible study, etc. and then move on quickly because a million other things need to be done. Most mothers know that all too well. But nursing has helped me to slow down a little. And since my hands are basically both full during feeding time, I can't really do a Bible study where you have to flip back and forth in the Scriptures. So I open up, usually to a Psalm, and meditate. Oh, what sweet times these are. It's like Rosemary and I are meeting with God in a secret sanctuary.

Today's Psalm was Psalm 1. I changed the "he"s to "she"s so I could feel like it applied more personally to me:

"Blessed is she who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or sit in the seat of sinners, or stand with the scornful. But her delight is in the law of the Lord, and in it she meditates both day and night. She will be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf does not wither; and whatever she does shall prosper." (vs 1-3)

Wow! What precious promises!! Blessed am I if I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly (i.e., listen to what the world says or be led astray by what my unbelieving friends think). Blessed am I if my delight is in the law of the Lord! Blessed am I if I continue meditating on it day and night! To think, that God's Word says I will be like a tree planted by rivers of water. I love that imagery. Trees are firm. They withstand great stress in the wind and rain, and do not bend or break. Oh, to bring forth fruit! Does that mean that my life will be fruitful if I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but delight in the law of the Lord? Yes!! Praise the Lord! "And whatever she does shall prosper." Lord, prosper my home. Prosper my attempts at making our home a lovely, beautiful sanctuary where You are praised and we love each other. Prosper my homemaking. Prosper my breastfeeding. Prosper my marriage, Lord! Prosper our daughters! May they delight in You too!

Thank You Lord for the gift of time with You. May You become my greatest Treasure. Amen.