Day 9

Ah, I saw so many beautiful things in a short time on Day 9! We spent the evening visiting with a dear family, and the whole evening was beautiful. There were the windows full of little heads as we pulled into the driveway. There was the “log cabin” playhouse constructed under the stairwell for them to play in, with lots of handholds and footholds so they could climb all the way up to the beams supporting the floor above. There was the baby swing suspended from the ceiling right by the kitchen area. The little girl ladling apple bread batter into loaf pans—she made the batter all by herself and my, was it tasty! There was the way that the little children played together and loved on the baby. The diagram that one of the boys had drawn of how to build a fire “the way that Daddy does it.” The delight on the faces of the parents as they interacted with their children, and the obvious respect and love that the children had for their parents, and the parents for one another.

I left that home thinking how rich they are, rich not in earthly things but in God’s best gifts, of love, and joy, and peace, with God and with one another. They are a living demonstration of the verse that “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” (Proverbs 10:22). Or as the New Testament reminds us, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1Timothy 6:6)