There is a beautiful story about kids in the Bulletin Digest. On June 1st, Ann and I wil journey to Montgomery to pick up our great grand daughter. She is to be our house guest for about one month. I thought about her when I read this story.

    “One day a family went out to Pizza Hut for lunch. As the mother went back and forth to the food bar, fixing first one plate and then another, the father watched the kids and tried to keep them in their seats. When Mom went to get their drinks, she noticed that her kids had captured the attention of a man sitting at a corner table. He especially kept watching the little girl. As the mother passed the table, the man politely asked, “How old is your daughter?” “She’s two,” replied the frazzled mother. “She sure is a handful! She keeps me running and there’s never a dull or quiet moment when she is around.” The man only smiled.
    Finally after the children were situated, the mother went back to get her own plate (Dad always insisted on being last). She bumped into the same man again, the one from the corner table. “When is your daughter’s birthday”, he asked. With a questioning look, the mother replied, “March 26th.” (Men don’t usually pay attention to such details about a stranger’s children.) “I had a little girl”, the stranger went on. “She was born April 26th, and would be about the age of your little girl. We lost her to cancer in Spetember. I always notice little girls, about this age and wonder what it would be like . . .”
    By now the mother’s eyes had filled with tears. She remembered how much she had complained about the stresses of having a two-year-old. Now the trials didn’t seem so bad, compared to the blessings. When she got back to the table, she told her husband what had happened. They both looked down at their plates. Food seemed so unimportant, as they realized the seriousness of their mistake. Kissing their two lively kids, they made a silent promise to themselves and to God. “We will not let the frustrations outweigh the joys; We will count our children a blessing every day.”

    The psalmist writes, “Children (including grand children, and great grand children – JHE) are a heritage of the Lord. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them” (Psalms 127:3,5). Paul admonishes, “Do all things without murmuring or complaining” (Philippians 2:14).