Why a Water Birth and Assembling the Birth Pool.

The births of my first two children were traumatic experiences!  I still have to write their birth stories, but for now you can believe me, I never ever want to experience it again.  Both were in hospital, an over-exposed, public place, with many distractions and stresses, due to electronic fetal monitoring devices, results in less effective labour. Now in retrospect,  it isn’t difficult to understand why I needed the assistance of oxytocin drugs to stimulate (in CJ’s case) and induce me (in Heidi-Mari’s case) in labour, and an epidural to block the pain and an instrument assisted birth (CJ).  Praise the Lord that in my foolishness He protected me with CJ and Heidi-Mari from caesarean sections!

Giving birth is a very basic involuntary primitive instinct, controlled by the hypothalamus (the most primitive part of the brain) rather than controlled by the mind.  A successful, natural birth is all about the highly sensitive balance of hormones and it was only after I’ve understood this sensitive balance between birth hormones, that I could help my body functioning optimally to bring on labour and have a ‘relaxed‘ birth. 

God designed our bodies so amazingly!  

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.”

Ps 139:14

If we would only listen to our bodies and allow our bodies to function the natural way, God’s way.  One of the biggest drawbacks of unnatural (evolution based) medicine, specifically in labour, is that it works against the natural workings of the body. This is the reason it’s called allo-pathic medicine - meaning against the natural body.

This is also part of the reason why I, ever since those first births, now choose water birth.

The Birth hormones are Prolactin - the ‘mothering hormone’; Endorphins - natural morphine-like chemicals that bring pain relief in labour; as well as Oxytocin - the main birth hormone.

It is very interesting to know it is the baby that decides when it is time for his/her birth! As I’m currently getting closer to my due date, my body is automatically increasing the secretion of oxytocin, the main birth hormone, preparing my uterus for contractions (I’ve already experienced this numerous times over the past few weeks!) by triggering the release of estrogen, while prostaglandin softens and ripens the cervix. 

But it is ONLY when the baby’s lungs are fully matured and ready to breathe, that they produce a hormone that reaches the mother’s bloodstream and sends a message to her brain that it’s time for labour to start.   This message has the physical result of more oxytocin, released in pulses into the mother’s bloodstream - each pulse resulting in a contraction. 

Emotionally, the effect of high levels of oxytocin during labour, is to make the mother draw deeply into herself, as she concentrates her energies on the overwhelming sensations she is experiencing.  During this stage it is extremely important to protect the laboring woman from disturbances such as bright lights, talking and asking questions or giving her a feeling of being ‘observed’.  When the mother is disturbed, feels anxious or becomes afraid, her body is likely to produce adrenaline, the ‘fight of flight hormone’.  During labour adrenaline counteracts the release of oxytocin and can therefore slow or even inhibit labour.  We should aim to keep the level of adrenaline as low as possible during labour, by giving the mother a protective, intimate place of birth.  Woman in labour have a need to withdraw and cut themselves off from the world of ordinary events, and one can tell that a labour is going well when this is observed. 

In a modern hospital setting and sometimes even at a home birth, adrenaline is likely to be released in response to too much noise and activity, emotional stress, unsympathetic surroundings and in more extreme cases fear and distress.  In this situation, the halting or slowing of contractions may lead to the need for a arsenal of medical interventions to deliver the baby.  

Towards the end of labour, there is a sudden shift in the mother’s hormonal balance as the birth approaches.  A kind of ‘hormonal storm’!  I’ve experienced it every time just after full dilation of the cervix. It may also happen just before or at the time of full dilation.  The high oxytocin levels produce long, intense contractions with only brief intervals between them.  At this point a high level or rush of adrenaline is released, which now, paradoxically, has the dramatic effect of stimulating contractions instead of slowing them down, as would have happened earlier.  As a result of this, you might notice a new restlessness in the mother in contrast to the relative passivity of late labour. In my case I experienced my body going in a spasm.  Christo then normally supports me from outside the pool, allowing me to float in the water. The rush of adrenaline, combined with the mechanical pressure from the baby’s descending head on the pudendal nerves deep inside the pelvis, has the effect of stimulating the rapid birth of the baby.  

But a rapid birth, due to adrenaline rush, doesn’t occur in all labours.  In particular, when there is too much well-meaning ‘support’ for the mother, the necessary primal anxiety is suppressed.  In this case the mother need to consciously make the efforts to ‘push’ the baby down the birth canal.  Christo and my midwife help to make the birth as easy as possible for me and baby by minimizing disturbances to help along a spontaneous birth.

And this is the main reason why I prefer a home birth.  I need to feel secure during labour, spontaneous and uninhibited, dominated by my involuntary primitive instincts, rather than controlled by my mind, afraid of what people might think.

Since I’m a very private person, the birth pool gives me a sense of privacy.  I feel enclosed in my private space, protected by the gentle barrier of the water and secure from unwanted contact and more in control of my body.

The warm water helps me cope better with the pain during labour.  The water has a relaxing effect on my heavily pregnant body.  The buoyancy of the water supports my weight, enabling my body to relax.  The warmth of the water also has a relaxing effect on the muscle fibers, helping to dispel tension throughout my body.

I also experience a huge sense of relief when I enter the birthing pool.   The birthing pool is designed to hold sufficient water to provide buoyancy to support me comfortably and effortlessly in whatever position I choose, providing a feeling of weightlessness.  Since I’m free from the effort of supporting my body’s weight, the buoyancy also helps me to conserve energy so that I’m less likely to become exhausted.  The support of the water allows total relaxation between contractions, which are blissful and restorative.

While in labour I want to move my body spontaneously into the most comfortable and beneficial position at any given time.  In water, mobility is much easier to achieve and involves much less effort.  I am free to find the positions that alleviate pain, whether lying, floating or kneeling leaning forwards.

These are only some of the many reasons why I choose a water birth.

This weekend Christo and the boys assembled the birth pool. I periodically have heavy contractions, so Christo thought it safe to assemble the pool just incase the contractions become the ‘real thing’ and he doesn’t want to be caught off guard and cause extra stress on me.

CJ and Josua helped Christo fit the 4 fibre glass panels together to form the structure of the birth pool.

The pool doesn’t have a glass fibre bottom, only a piece of foam rubber inside.

They also checked the warm water urn and it’s placement.  Boiling water from the urn is necessary to regulate the pool temperature, after it had been filled with warm water out of the geyser. This size pool needs two fillings of a normal household geyser. 

I normally get into the pool when dilated 6-7 cm and then it takes about 2 hours before I’m fully dilated and ready to give birth.  The temperature of the pool needs to be exactly the same as body temperature for baby to be born safely.  Thus the need for boiling water to heat up the pool, incase the temperature had dropped under 37 degrees C, during the second stage of labour.

Oops!  They forgot to put down the plastic, to protect the carpet from spilled water, underneath the pool.

Building me a comfortable ‘chair’ inside the pool.  I’m a very strong believer in immediately after giving birth, finding a comfortable position in the pool to put my baby on my breast.  Baby’s first contact with the breast or first sucking, minutes after birth, stimulates more oxytocin secretion, as do all the interactions that happen between me and my baby at this time - me falling deeply in love with my baby!  This results in massive contractions that ensure the delivery of the placenta, the retraction of the uterus and the sealing of the blood vessels at the placental site.  Thus being in a comfortable position, having my baby at my breast, adoring his/her small fingers and toes, is part of the natural way to prevent hemorrhage and ensure the safety of my baby and myself.  We never allow the injection of vitamin K to prevent hemorrhage.  God put everything in place for a healthy body to ensure it’s safety and I don’t want to interfere unless otherwise advised by Christo or my midwife. 

‘Testing... testing...’  Don’t let the smile mislead you.  This is normally a very traumatic moment for me - getting into the pool to test the comfortability of my ‘chair’.  This is the moment when I’m confronted with the reality. There is now NO turning back. In here, I will go through the biggest trauma, as well as the biggest joy, of my life - giving birth and holding the baby I’ve carried for nine months under my heart!

Christo and the boys put the plastic cover inside the pool structure.  Only now the pool is ready to be filled with water.

Inside the pool, you will see another piece of blue plastic. This is special bubble plastic that will keep the temperature of the water, while I’m not ready to get into the pool yet.  If you get into the birth pool to soon, in may case before 6cm dilated, the soothing effect of the warm water can cause contractions to stop. 

The birth pool ready to be used.  The pool will be filled with the hose from our bathroom, as soon as I’m sure I’m in real labour. 

One of the biggest benefits of a water birth is the gentle welcome effect on my baby.  A water birth results in a gentle and sensitive entry into the world and thus a calmer, less stressed, more settled and content baby.  

I have no words to describe what it is like when my baby is born from the water of the womb through warm water into the world, and then gently lifted up and put into my arms. Every time I brought my newborn to my heart, tears of joy ran down my face.  All this, in a matter of a few seconds, seems to happen in slow motion.  These were the most moving moments in my life and I’m in so much anticipation to experience it again.

With every pregnancy I experienced roller coaster emotions during the last two weeks - emotions of fear and impatience.  Starting this pregnancy I promised myself to be patient and not to allow these emotions to spoil the last few days of my pregnancy.  But now I’ve realized it must be hormonal, I just can’t help it.  I’m ready to give birth, I want to hold my baby and it has nothing to do with impatience!

First Blog Anniversary and a Give Away!

Today is my blog’s first anniversary!  I’ve started this blog on the 12th of January and had hours of joy writing revelations from God, remembering incidents in my past, telling about my family and reading your comments!

Thank you to each one that took the time to visit my blog and leave comments.

To celebrate the year, I’m giving away three DVD’s.  

To qualify for one of these three DVD give aways, I would like to know which posting during the past year meant the most to you, and why.  

You can leave a comment on my blog or you can send me an e-mail if you have a hard time submitting a comment (I know how difficult it can be to try and submit a comment on a blog) or if you want to stay anonymous.  Look at the side bar on the right for contact me - a new option I’ve added to my blog.

Leave your comment by next Tuesday the 19th of January, on this blog posting.  

If you prefer an e-mail please put “First Blog Anniversary” in the subject line and send your e-mail not later than Tuesday the 19th of January.

I will announce the winners on Wednesday the 20th of January.

The DVD’s I’m giving away:

Nancy Campbell’s The Family Meal Table

Nancy Campbell, from Above Rubies, sets forth a triumphant vision for families by focusing on the wonderful opportunities for family enrichment that occur around the family meal table. 

Nancy Campbell offers studied and challenging insight into why the family meal table carries profound Biblical significance for families. The loving manner in which she shares will encourage families as she offers highly practical advice for how to reclaim and optimize the family meal table.

Colin Campbell’s Raising a 21st Century Patriarch

Colin Campbell (Nancy Campbell’s husband) challenges men to return to Biblical patriarchy! All men will be challenged and inspired.

Understanding the Health Puzzle

Understanding the health puzzle is an interactive humor filled teaching on modern day health issues. Often you hear conflicting statements by health experts and doctors. How do you as a lay person view this, or how do you make sense of all the books and contradictory theories out there. Furthermore, how do you interact with your doctor and what do you accept as the truth. These and many more issues are addressed in this professionally produced set of 3 DVD’s with six teaching sessions and a total running time of 278 minutes. It’s produced by Christo Lues, who has been a consulting nutritionist for the last ten years.

Add to your comment if you have a preference for one of the three DVD’s.

I am looking forward to hear from you. Your comments will guide me through the next year on what topics is most relevant and encouraging to you!

Lots of love

Baby You Are Most Wanted!

In December I read a posting on one of my favorite blogs, on how wanted this 3rd baby was, the first after a vasectomy reversal.  It really touched my heart!

This week everything we did was centered around the preparation for our little baby, who is due to arrive very soon! As I pondered on what we had accomplished during the week, I realized how wanted this Baby is!  Every one in this house of nine is playing, working and planning around the reality of a baby who will soon enter our lives!  Little Daniel (17months) would sit next to me, due to a lack of space on my lap, tap on my tummy and say: “Baby!”  Andrew (4 1/2 years) will tell me numerous times during the day how much he loves this baby.  Danika (6years) and David (3years) constantly asks me how many nights before baby is due.  Josua and CJ are looking out for me constantly, not allowing me to do any heavy duty work and ready to help. Heidi-Mari is always checking on me physically, reminding me to go and rest a little, bathing the little ones, finishing a meal or making my bed! Christo is currently driving us  everywhere we need to be and want to be, as I experience heavy contractions if I drive. He even does all the shopping for the house, in between a very busy schedule at work!

This baby is most wanted!  Every one is looking forward to his/her arrival in great anticipation.  Last weekend I realized that I still needed to do a lot before this baby could arrive.

On Monday morning CJ and I re-organized the main bedroom. Partly because the main bedroom will also serve as the delivery room.  We need to create space for the birth pool, but mainly because my nesting instinct is motivating me to spring clean every single space in the house!  We also needed to clean and re-organize my dressing room, as it is also my store room for sewing projects and clothes not currently being used.  Over the past few months, everything that had no specific place, was dropped in my dressing room.

On Monday afternoon we finished sorting out all the boxes of newborn clothes packed away from previous babies. Over the past few years we accumulated quite a lot of baby clothes so Heidi-Mari and Danika had a ball looking through everything. They had a hard time deciding what clothes are still soft and new enough for our newborn baby, while I was resting on the bed and and I even fell asleep at one stage.

On Tuesday we washed everything.  I didn’t know there were so many, until I saw the washing line.  Since we don’t know if baby is a boy or a girl we are prepared with blue, pink, white, yellow and green clothes, blankets and towels!  Many of the pink stuff, had been accumulated during the past 5 years, since we had no baby girls!

On Tuesday afternoon Christo took me and the girls to Tygervalley Centre to get some last minute stuff for baby.  The girls was looking forward to this afternoon for weeks!  Danika just wanted to buy everything pink she could lay her eyes on! CJ and Josua looked after the 3 boys and prepared dinner!

By Wednesday my nesting instinct was in overdrive and we spring cleaned the bedroom of the 4 boys!  Now, my boys, are REAL boys.  They don’t know how to keep a room tidy - especially David (3years) and Andrew (4 1/2 years) - most of their toys are underneath their pillows or under their beds! My big boys struggle to keep their bathroom clean and they find it most difficult to keep their horse riding equipment separate from their beds and closets.  So Heidi-Mari and I dug into their room, while Josua and Danika played with the little ones - preferably in another room or outside, since there is no way to clean a room and sort out junk when the owners of the junk are in the vicinity!  CJ went to the horse riding school to check on Silverball and arrived back just in time to move everything (beds and closets) back to where they belong! It is so nice to have a strong, young man in the house to move heavy stuff around and make it look like it is as light as a feather!

Over the festive season, Christo and Heidi-Mari took care of all our shopping, but I needed to go to a supermarket myself so Christo picked me up at 15h00.  CJ and Heidi-Mari prepared supper and Josua and Danika played with the little ones, under the supervision of CJ and Heidi-Mari!   I got a little more than the usual groceries, to make sure we would have enough during the first few weeks after baby’s birth!

Thursday morning we headed out to the vegetable garden.  CJ made me a 6th raised bed, filled it with compost and planted grass (taken from the space where the 6th raised bed, now stands) in a dead patch in the back yard!   Heidi-Mari and I planted the 5th raised bed with 2 trays of beans and 8 trays of lettuce!  I’m making sure we’re not running out of lettuce after baby is born!

In the afternoon, I was still not satisfied with deep cleaning the house and started on Daniel’s room, while Heidi-Mari and Danika cleaned their room.  Daniel’s room actually only needed to be dusted and vacuumed. The main work was sorting out toys!  It took me the whole afternoon, since Daniel didn’t want to leave me alone, and as soon as I put a toy in a certain bucket, he would take it out again.

Friday morning Heidi-Mari and I finished planting in the vegetable garden.  We planted four trays of carrots and three trays of tomatoes, in the 6th raised bed.

By now I was exhausted, but still needed to get the boys’ hair cut before baby was born.  So Christo picked us up in the afternoon and drove us to the hairdresser.  

I feel quite satisfied with what we accomplished during this week.  We still need to do a few things, but at least we are getting there. 

I have the tradition to croquet all baby’s receiving blankets.  While I’m croqueting I pray for baby’s safe birth, for the first few weeks of transition in a new routine in the house, for the new dynamics in the house - every member of the family automatically gets new responsibilities and have to adjust to their new position in the family hierarchy. I also pray that God would have a personal appearance to this child at the right time and that he/she would start a relationship with Jesus as his/her personal Savior.

This time Heidi-Mari could help me croquet.  

She does the first layer and I the final, second layer.   We’ve finished three pink and one blue receiving blanket.  

We still need to finish two blue ones and a green one! I love to dress my newborns in green!

This weekend I’m taking it easy. We had friends over for dinner and had a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement. 

Tomorrow the men will assemble the birth pool and next week we will do the final finishing touches.  Will keep you posted.

What if there is a Drought?

I received a comment on my last posting, Will there be Enough to Feed a Hungry World?, making a comparison between drought and the harvest.  What if there is a drought, no finances, how can you still expect a big harvest, have many children?

I want to say before I answer this question: Many of the remarks and quotes in this posting have the potential to offend.  I am sorry if it offends you, the Truth can offend people! Jesus’ truths offended many people during his three years of ministry on earth. We must however not be offensive in our delivery of a possible offending truth.

I could immediately answer the question out of my own experience. During the past 7 years, since we started ‘sowing with the purpose of a plentiful harvest’ by giving over how many children and the age-gap between the children to the Lord, I’ve had countless personal testimonies of God’s Faithfulness in providing enough rain for our ‘little seeds”. But that is my experience and my opinion and that is only my testimony and not worth much if you are in a different situation. We believe strongly that our opinion is as worthless as yours, if it is not aligned with God’s Word.

So I dug into the Bible!  God’s opinion is timeless and always applicable in every situation!  I love to ask God’s opinion in everything I do, and when He answers me or  gives me an answer out of His Word, go out in faith and do as he says. I once read there is a difference between believing IN God and Believing God.  Even the demons believe IN God, but they don’t BELIEVE God.  The oldest strategy of Satan is to bring doubt in your mind and heart about the trustworthiness of God and His Word!  

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Gen 3:1

Firstly God took me to the Parable of the Sower.

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”….

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Matthew13:18

In this parable it is clear that the reason why there was no harvest was because either Satan would quickly come and sow doubt in your heart and you don’t even try; or lack of endurance in times of tribulation and persecution; or because of cares for this world and the deceitfulness of riches.  When the seed fell in good ground, one who ‘hears the word, understand it’ and believe and go out in faith, he will bear fruit, thirty fold, sixty fold, hundredfold.  I don’t read about plagues when the seed fell in good ground - faith.  The plagues is, just as in nature, because of sin. Thus it is not for us to decide if their is ideal conditions for a harvest or how big the harvest should be, we should go out in faith and sow and leave the rest in the God’s Hands!

Then He reminded me of John 16:33

3 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

And Matthew 6:31

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

These two above verses reminds us that tribulation and persecution will come.  It is normal that we worry about tomorrow, cares about worldly things, but in all this, God said we must be of ‘good cheer’ and that we should not worry, He has overcome evil, He will always provide, He knows what we need.

That brings me to what do we think we need.  Most of the time our expectations of what we think we need, are different from what God knows we need.  Especially in this modern world, with the media reminding us as many times as we allow them, of what we need to be content. It is really not a need then but a want.

There are so many things our family ‘needs’.  We don’t have a fence in front of our house – giving the children little space to play in a safe environment; we only live in a three bedroom house, with an attached granny flat, which we use for the 4 boys as a bedroom. The second bedroom is the girls room and the third bedroom the baby’s room.  Every time when a new baby is moved out of our room, we have to carefully plan how we will put our children in the available rooms.  We only have a single garage and no “school room” or a study. Our dining room can only fit a round table for 6 people; still we all fit in for breakfast and dinner.  Two years ago we drew up plans to build on an extra room (school room and study), enlarge the dining room, improved the kitchen to cook for a large family and a double garage to give the boys room for all their projects.  We’re still waiting for the finances, we don’t want to go into debt.  We know if God thinks our family needs these ‘improvements’, he will provide it.  At this stage He thinks it is better for our family to live in a smaller house, being more in each others faces, building character!

In my previous posting I testified of how God provided me with an Apple laptop.  I really thought that was a want, not a need.  God clearly differed from me and miraculously, within Christo’s budget, provided me with my heart’s desire. God alwats knows the best.

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say:

 “The Lord is my helper;

 I will not fear.

Hebrews 13:5

When we became convicted of surrendering my womb to the Lord, we were in a terrible drought!. You can read it in Josua and Danika’s birth-stories.  It was after we’ve experienced God’s miraculous financial provision the year after Danika’s birth, that we’ve start to really seek God’s will in family planning and start to trust God to provide for ‘all the little plants’ He wanted us to grow! We didn’t know if He would give us a thirty fold, sixty fold or hundred fold harvest.

And that reminded me of Deut. 28 (The blessing and curse verses of the Old Testament):

 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Did you notice the level at which God will bless you if you obey His commandments?

First the fruit of your body, only then the produce of you ground and the increase of your herds.  God wants you to first step out in faith and obey His first commandment to the Man and his wife. 

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Gen 1:27

On the other hand if you do not observe all His commandments there will be calamity and plagues. You can read it from Deut 28:15.  I especially want to highlight Deut 28:61: 

 "You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess."

Strong words from a Loving God, but just a few verses before (verse 58) we read:

“that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,…”

Do we still FEAR our God?  Or did we bring Him down to our level of thinking and understanding?  

Our family can testify of this truth.  We fear God more than anything on earth.  Since Obedience to God is our first priority, Christo and I don’t allow each other to fear that He will not provide in our needs. Every now and then one of us will fear; will God provide, but then we remind each other of His promises and we will step out in faith again! Sometimes  he does not answer the way we would like, but He knows what is best for us and we surrender under His Will!

Lastly God reminded me of the famous family psalm, Ps. 127

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,

 They labor in vain who build it;

 Unless the Lord guards the city,

 The watchman stays awake in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early,

 To sit up late,

 To eat the bread of sorrows;

 For so He gives His beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

 The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

 So are the children of one’s youth.

5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;

 They shall not be ashamed,

 But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

God is building our house.  Christo can work as hard and as many hours as he likes, but if God’s Hand of blessing isn’t on it, it is all in vain.  We can only testify how God has increased the produce of  ‘our ground, our herds, our cattle, the offspring of our flocks and my kneading bowl’.

Be obedient to the Lord. Present yourself available for His harvest and leave the size of your harvest to Him!