"I love my family"

"I love my family." That's how my two year old ended the evening tonight after I sang to him in bed... made my heart swell with pride and love... :)

We had a family prayer time tonight after dinner that was amazing, awesome, and should happen MUCH more often than it does... :) We prayed about our family's future, since we're feeling unsure of the local structural engineering industry/job security right now. It was so wonderful. We explained to the boys what we wanted to pray about, and how we want God to have His way with the future of our family.

We prayed, everyone took turns. My two year old would chime in between some of our prayers and just pray for each of us by name then say "Amen." :) My 5 year old prayed some really beautiful prayers. He always amazes me with his sensitivity to the spirit of God.

Then after we finished I said I wanted to go get my bible so that we could pray through or search for some scripture having to do with our family's future. I went to get my bible, and both boys then said "Me too" and went to get theirs. We all came back to the couch and I reminded them about how God will lead us to scripture when we need direction, guidance and hope. The story that my 5 year old opened to first was the story of Ruth and Naomi.

Beautiful.

The scripture I memorized for the response to Steve's proposal when he asked me to marry him was from this story. Let's see if I can quote it more than 10 years later... "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so unto me, and more also if anything but death separates you and me."

I love that he found this story, of all stories in the Bible at this time... This story is about a family with an uncertain future. Where will provision come from? Where will they go? What will they do? And in this account, they proclaim the faithfulness of God by declaring their dedication to one another. They stay together- and by the direction and leading of God given to Naomi, carried out by their obedience even when they didn't understand, they are redeemed and live under Boaz's protection and provision.

So, Father God. I recognize that this scripture that you gave to my son who hears and knows your voice, is indeed from you, for us, in this moment. We're fearful. We don't know what the future holds in regards to your provision and earthly security. But we trust you implicitly to lead us, provide for us, and speak to us as to what to do and when to do it. Help us to follow your leading even when we don't understand it.