Raising Arrows

Some of my favorite Bible verses are Psalm 127 3:-5, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord , the fruit of the womb a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate."

I fully believe the Bible when it tells me that my children are a blessing from God. I take seriously my job as a mother to raise up strong arrows for battle. I want my children to love the Lord with their whole hearts, to know what they believe and why, and to be able to defend their beliefs with boldness and gentleness. I know that when I'm raising my children, I'm affecting generations to come because how I raise my children will affect how they raise their children and so on.

Parenting is a serious task, a hard one, a not always enjoyable one, but a blessed one. It's the most sanctifying job I've ever had. I'm not always a great mom, most of the time I'm probably a pretty crappy one, but I'm thankful for God's grace and His new mercies every morning.

I pray that my kids will see Jesus in me, that I will image God well, that I will live and show a life of grace, love, and forgiveness. It's only by God's grace that I can do this.

And since no blog post is complete without pictures, here are some pictures of my newest tattoo that I took with my phone. I recently got this tattoo for my 31st birthday. I got an arrow for each of my kids. Each arrow has a different feather, a Roman numeral for each child's birth year, and the colors used are my kid's birthstone colors. I love it so much, and I have room for a couple more arrows on my arm for future children. :)