Hope.

J.C. Ryle, regarding prayer as the primary task and comfort in all our parenting:

"Without the blessing of the Lord, your best endeavors will do no good. He has the hearts of all men in His hands, and except He touch the hearts of your children by His Spirit, you will weary yourself to no purpose. Water, therefore, the seed you sow on their minds with unceasing prayer. The Lord is far more willing to hear than we to pray; far more ready to give blessings than we to ask them; -but He loves to be entreated for them. And I set this matter of prayer before you, as at the top stone and seal of all you do. I suspect the child of many prayers is seldom cast away."

When we pray for our children, we pray that God would accomplish that which we cannot do. We are praying for a miracle: we pray for the salvation of their souls, for dead hearts to come alive, for rescue from eternal damnation in hell to eternal life in glory. Only God can do this. 

Let us be sober-minded about reality, never lulled or fooled by the here-and-now, the comforts of the world, or the distractions of this life. And let us draw comfort in the goodness of God and his desire to save.

I pray that God would remember mercy when he thinks of us, and I cling to the knowledge that his mercy triumphs over judgment! 

>:<

Heading our into the morning surf.
We miss our summer days.
So much so, in fact, that Andrew and I spent a good part of yesterday pretending it wasn't a Monday school day. He worked ahead all weekend and I followed through on my promise.

Sometimes we soar, sometimes we eat it.

Images: August 2019

~Katherine