Tale of Three Women

This weekend I had the privilege of giving the devotion at a baby shower for three friends, two of whom have just had their fifth babies and one who is about to have her fourth baby.   Since I am fresh out of writing material I thought I would post the talk here, though I am so bad at never really sticking to what I write if I am speaking that it may not really be what I said at all.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent. :)  If you already sat through this feel free to check back in with the next post!

Here we have 3 women, Heather, Julie, and Lisa. Two of them have recently given birth, and one may give birth at any minute. They may all be getting about the same amount of sleep. But not one of them is new at this baby birthing thing. These are experienced women.

All 3 of them are close to 40 years old (2 are closer than the other one!) and have been married 10 years. Soon, they will have 14 children: 9 boys, 4 girls, and a little mystery child yet to show his or her face. They see these children as blessings from the Lord, which of course they are. But did they just wake up one morning and find they had 14 children? No.

First, they were pregnant for 3935 days (and counting). That’s closer to 3 years for Lisa, and closer to 4 years for Heather and Julie. If you are wondering, Julie was the big winner at very nearly 3 years and 11 months. I’d say I can’t imagine, but, actually, I can. While pregnant all of those days these 3 women gained 450 pounds. That’s like a man, woman, and child all put together. Then after 3935 days they gave birth to 109 pounds of baby (so far), which is like a young teenager. By the way, that left them with 341 extra pounds to deal with!

Happy Music

Here I sit, at the library, in a too-small chair in front of a computer in the children's area.  My i-pod is playing happy music in my ears and I am content.  We are here because it is drippy and nasty outside, and my children are easily cheered by the chance to sit at the computer and play games for an hour - something that never happens at home (especially all five of them at the same time!).

I guess I am a very simple person.  I downloaded some new music last night and I can hardly sit still or keep from smiling (dancing in my mind) while sitting here listening to it for the first time.  It's the new, improved "happy music."  I have always enjoyed having a moment to listen to my happy music.  When I was a pharmacist in Florida I had an especially stress-inducing partner, and I soaked up the happy music on the drive to and from work every day.  It stuck in my head and really helped.  At that time it was a mish-mash of praise music that played on the Christian radio station.  Now there is still some of that, but a better description would be a little bit of everything!

Another use for happy music is filling time during super-long drives on family vacations.  Each year we make some new mix cds for the big drive, and it's very fun to learn the songs together and sing to the top of our lungs.  Last summer we even impressed (?) the relatives with a big singing/dancing moment (some of which was recorded on video, unfortunately), and we were all inroduced to some music that was a bit out of our normal listening range. Hello Black Eyed Peas!

These days my life is not usually stressful, and there is no commute.  Now the happy music fills time as I run miles on the treadmill or pedal miles on the exercise bike.  I did enjoy listening to music when I ran outside in the summer, but I almost could not live without it during the boring monotony of the treadmill.  The songs motivate me. "Just don't look at the control panel till this song is over," runs through my mind a lot, as well as a few very useful Bible verses I've memorized.  I have been amazed at the sheer will-power it takes to run on that treadmill, but so far I am usually glad I did it once it is over.  So I will continue to listen to the happy music until, and probably even after, spring comes. 

Then, like always, will come a new time and place for some new happy music.


Psalm 40:1-3
 I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the LORD.