The Blessings Rise

I've been thinking a lot about Proverbs 31:28 these days.  The first half of it says, "Her children arise and call her blessed."  What I've been wondering about is when the blessing will come?!  Because right now, I'm in the stage of life when my children just arise and call me.  In the middle of the night.  In the middle of an argument.  In the middle of a new discovery.  "Her children arise and call her..."  And in reality, they usually want me to "arise."  They're comfortable right where they are and have no regard for whatever I might be engaged in.  In that moment, I'm expected to rise and come to them.

So, it's helpful to remember the blessings of this season...even though the verbal blessings of my children will likely come (way) down the road.  Blessings:  The opportunity I have to comfort in the middle of the night.  The opportunity I have to influence in the middle of an argument.  The opportunity I have to celebrate in their new discoveries.  The fact that I have children to interrupt and disrupt me in the first place is a blessing I try not to lose sight of...because "I prayed for this child (these children, in my case), and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."  (I Sam 1:27)

And I can take immediate solace in the remainder of Prov. 31:28.  The whole thing reads, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."  For the blessings that often seem absent from my children, my sweet husband more than makes up for them!  Truly, I am blessed.