I’ve had a LOT of blogs over the years. They’ve served many purposes – tracking daily life with family, super couponing, crafts, an online cookbook where we could access our recipes wherever we happened to be. But I’m not really at that place – any of those places – right now, at least not for blogging purposes. My lifeline, a group of friends that serve as a sort of come-and-go coffeehouse of moral support, has issued a blogging challenge to get a new post up this week, so starting over seemed appropriate.
What about the blog title? Well, they’re all things I’m raising!
ARROWS – The children that God has entrusted to me – whether for moments or years. We’ve been blessed with 6, four that we teach and nurture and hug and kiss, two we long to meet in eternity whose lives serve the purpose of teaching others about miscarriage and allow me to walk with other moms “joining the club to which no one wants to belong.”
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed
Psalm 127:4-5a (NKJV)
HERBS – While raising a “large” family, we try to be conscious of the resources that God has given us and be good stewards over them. Our home has a small yard where we try to coax growth from the ground every year. Our dry mountain air doesn’t always work with our plans. I’ve also begun to study the use of herbs for medicinal purposes. It’s something that has been an interest of mine for a long time. With the changing healthcare climate and the lack of medical facilities where we live, I decided now was the time to learn to be prepared to treat less serious ailments at home, as well as use God’s bounty to encourage health in our family. I’m learning as I go, reading a lot of books and trustworthy websites, and taking the plunge. Down the road it may become something I pursue as a career, however that will be YEARS from now. Just like the blog title, my arrows come first.
EXPECTATIONS – This one’s on me. Without a doubt, I’m loved and cherished as a child of God, Christ’s death having covered every aspect of my life where my “me-ness” gets in the way of the perfection demanded of me. I have the duty to lead a life of excellence, being above reproach, daily seeking His will and improving this life I’ve been gifted. I’m going to fall, I’m going to fail, but I’ve been forgiven by the death and resurrection of Christ through the gift of His grace, promised to me in my baptism. Circumstances of life change moment by moment. Lord help me to find the areas where I can step out and make a difference… and where it’s best to step back, hold my tongue, and pray.
So there you have it. I’m sure there will be other topics that creep in as well… like my propensity to find myself with a ball of yarn in my lap, perfecting the art of fancy knot tying =) Grab your favorite cuppa and come along on the journey.
-Genevieve
Arrows, Herbs, and Expectations 