Yesterday we were in church in South Dakota where my husband's children live.  The congregation is large and consists of many young families with many young children.  It was so beautiful to be surrounded with the sounds of babies and toddlers cooing and talking to themselves during the service.  This "surround sound" made me feel like I was in a field of buzzing honey bees!  

I wrote this column many years ago and is one of few that stand out in my memory, because the story had such a profound effect on me. 

Bless the children

Psalm 127: 3-5

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior; so are the children of one’s youth.  How blessed is the man whose quiver if full of them; they shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

We don’t generally hear of children as being a blessing these days, especially in the public sector.  We hear that they are expensive to raise, they are an inconvenience, they complicate our lives, etc.  Once the safest place for a baby to be is now be the most dangerous. Men and women along with their legislators decide if a child should have the right to exist in the womb, or if she should be treated as a tumor to be extracted by her parent.

For me this ongoing debate is surreal, especially after recently coming home from a funeral of a little boy who died in a tragic accident.  One minute he was happily playing in the yard, the next minute he was gone.  He left behind a large family whose parents have opened their hearts by adopting other people’s children.  He left behind seven siblings, some who don’t yet understand what happened.

He left behind a bright future, but he went to a brighter today.  He is home with Jesus and he is doing just fine.

Hours before he died, he was tinkering with his CD player. When his dad asked him what he was up to, he replied, “Nothing,” and he walked out of the room.  The following day when friends and family were together at the home of this boy, that CD player, which had been left in the living room the day before, automatically turned on and a song started playing.  The words that were sung were about a family grieving the loss of a loved one and how that loved one was home in heaven and how someday they would all see each other again.  “It isn’t good bye, it’s see you later,” the words of the song said.

Even though he was so young, God used this young man to be an arrow.  He was shot from eternity to the now to comfort his parents and family.  His life and his memory will speak to his enemies in the gate.

We all need to take a good look at those arrows God has given us.  Though at times they can be a trial to us, they give us the opportunity to grow in patience and wisdom.  We need to treat them like the gifts that they are.  We need to guide and nurture them.  We need to teach them well.

We must also remember that even though God has given them to us, they have been given to us, “for a time”, and they are His for eternity.