God builds the house

I have spent the last two days, looked at pictures doing three things. Fighting the "crud" (crouping, sneezing, running nose; no I am not going to chase it), looking through pictures and loading pictures on my new digital frame (I may be technologically challenged, but I finally got the silly thing to do what I wanted it to do.) In order to do this I had to go through all our extended family pictures. It took a LONG time, but the blessing was worth the time.

As I sat and looked through, pictures, picked out pictures, organized pictures (more times than I care to count. (Ask for patience and God will give you a reason to use it.), and then watched the finished product. I got to relive how our family grew from grandparents through our grandchildren. I also got to watch my sister's family grow for the past two years. Granted, all the memories are not good. We are unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) a "normal" family with all the ups and downs that come with it.

Yet through it all (isn't that a song title?) God has been there even when I felt deserted and alone. He stood beside us when we took our vows. He was holding my hand at the birth of my two sons. He stayed with me through their teenage years, through their marriages, the birth of two grandchildren and the addition of two more. He has comforted us through the death of three of our four parents, and the losing of my mother's sister through the painful process of dementia . Yet, He has blessed us with my 76-year-old mother for a while longer.

"They" say January is a time to take stock and reflect back on the years past. I guess that's what I have been doing, reflecting, but not just reflecting. I have, also, been looking to the future with a heart full of anticipation and assurance that God will be there no matter what happens, good or bad, working daily miracles on my families behalf. And isn't that the way life is? Sometimes I think if bad things didn't happen, how would we recognize the good?

Psalm 127:1a says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it..." As a family we have not been perfect, but I can honestly say that God has definitely built our house and we have been greatly blessed because of it.