he "bless youd" on me- Valentine's Day 2016

There are some things our children say that we hope to remember forever. In the event that we do not remember, we can look back at this post, smile & reflect on a meaning deeper than a string of words thrown together by a four year old.

Lolo, oh sweet Lolo. Since the time she became a big sister at less than two years old has been heard saying "he bless youd on me" anytime a little brother has sneezed on her.  We have laughed about it for nearly three years & have probably only corrected her a few times....it's just so darling. So, much to our delight she has continued to say it when Arlo is the "sneezer" & she is the receiver.

At breakfast we often read from a children's devotional book called Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones. We love these devotions because they offer much more underneath the surface of a simple explanation, similar to the Jesus Storybook Bible which is also written by the same author. Each have been known to bring one or both of us (adults) to tears.  A few weeks ago Eloise who cannot read at all flipped the book open to one called "Bless You!" How appropriate.

My words cannot do it justice so here is an excerpt from this lovely book:

[God said,] I will surely bless you."Genesis 22:17 (NIV)

People say, "Bless you!" when you sneeze. "Bless" has turned into a bit of a feeble word. But in the bible it's much stronger. (And it has nothing to do with sneezing!)

When God promises to bless you, he is saying, "I'm going to make you into everything I ever meant for you to be!"

It means that God is taking every day and every single thing that happens in it - good or bad- to make you stronger, to mend whatever is broken inside, to change you into the person you were always meant to be.

Just as a caterpillar is totally changed into a butterfly, being blessed means being totally transformed. God is transforming everything- his broken world- and you. 

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing pages 48-49

As Eloise would say "He [God] bless youd on us"

Her sweet little phrase comes to mind as I think back over the past year.

I have loved writing " the happenings at the Nest" to accompany our annual Valentine card but this year I just wasn't feeling it. I sat down a few different times and decided that if I had to start it with February 2015 it would include weeks of a stomach bug that wreaked havoc on our family followed by finding out about baby #5 in the womb which brought about another four months of vomiting for me. That was a rough start to 2015 ; ) Fast forward to this Valentine's Day, no one was sick & the one who made me sick for months on end was staring right at the camera with his baby blues....

In our little Nest, EVERY day with the five pictured above is filled with a combination of exciting, stressful, delightful, anger-filled, laughable, disappointing, rewarding, tearful & joy filled moments. I constantly struggle with losing sight of eternity & instead feel stuck in the here & now.

The devotion says "[Bless you] means that God is taking every day and every single thing that happens in it - good or bad- to make you stronger, to mend whatever is broken inside, to change you into the person you were always meant to be."  Philippians 1:6 says "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus." 

Believing the promise that this transformation will one day be complete not only fuels a deep longing for what's to come but also a longing to persevere well through each moment. I say "moment" instead of "days" or "years" because it is literally every single moment that needs to be invaded with the Holy Spirit.

The bits & pieces documented in our family blog make up a smidgen of our life. The greater picture of the "Nest" is people that struggle daily to love God & others. By His grace Robby & I are being transformed into the likeness of Christ & pray that He would also transform the hearts of our five little Valentines.

Thanks to our dear Eloise, if I were to have written a letter for this year it would have been titled...

"He bless youd on us"