Nowadays...

Went to my first doc. appt. today and got a great ultrasound of the newest munchkin. There is only one in there, much to Colin's disappointment, but he/she looks very healthy and is kicking around happily. I'm about 12.5 weeks and am starting to feel a little more human again.

Colin's about to start traveling some to do some movie interviews. He's got Phyllis Schlafly's next Monday up in St. Louis.

I've had an answer to prayer for a Mother's Helper! If you don't know what this is, it basically involves a young unmarried, an older lady whose kiddos have left the building, or maybe even a wife who doesn't as yet have any littles to keep up with. They will come and help out a mother of littles in the busyness of running a household. This could entail, holding a fussy baby so mama can mop the floor, or mopping the floor for the mom, folding laundry, baking, helping to cook dinner, etc, etc, etc.

I feel very strongly that young mothers are a lost area of the church's ministry opportunities. So much of the outreach of the church to these women involves mother's day out or mother's night out, i.e. getting the women out of the home and away from the family. While this is a nice idea for women to occasionally get a break from her duties, it is in those duties precisely that women need help.

I used to think it was just me that was crying secretly over the sticky kitchen floor or the pile of unfolded laundry. After talking to many moms, I've realized that most if not all, are struggling with feelings of fatigue and being overwhelmed. So, the result is that many moms will stop having children in order to cope or to feel that they are successful in their roles as wife and mother. I don't think this is the best answer to the problem. After all, if God calls children a blessing, we should believe that is true even though our need for a nap or some relief makes us want to say it's not. What's the answer? God calls us to bear one another's burdens, and what better way to do that than to help promote the strength of the family. Children are a reward from God and raising them, while a physical and spiritual challenge, is the highest calling a woman can have. Raising up the next generation of Christians is an honor and privilege and a sacrifice that we do not for ourselves, but for God and the rest of the kingdom. What an amazing difference the church can make by ministering to moms in this way.