quiver full

I've thought a bit about your last post and it must be very overwhelming to be thinking of how you are going to look after 4 in a few months, when 3 at the moment feels like a lot. I think you are totally right in saying that some of what you are feeling may be due to being pregnant. Having a constant headache and feeling tired makes the easiest tasks, such as doing the dishes, feel like serious work, much less looking after three little souls. I remember when I was first pregnant with S, that it felt incredibly overwhelming just looking after E. I wondered then too, how would I manage with two, so I can imagine you would be feeling that all the more thinking of four.

With that said, I've thought more too about what you said about resting in God's sovereignty, and I'm so glad that you are finding comfort in that. I wanted to pass on another verse and a quote from a woman that has ten children.

The verse comes from Psalm 127:3-5

3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them! ...

I'm hoping that this verse encourages you in that, God knows that you desire to give each of your children the attention that you desire to, and that it is a blessing to you and E that He is filling your quiver with children.

The quote comes from the woodshed website that I've talked to you about before. The quote is responding to a question about how to handle the amount of time spent feeding a newborn, and the person asking the question felt as though they were neglecting their two year old. Here is the response given:

"The way I look at it, a new baby is SUPPOSED to need a lot of extra attention the first few months (it usually gets a lot better after the third month) and mom needs to give it in order for her and baby to bond well. That's the way God designed it. Since God also designed siblings, I can only assume He had a plan for how we moms are to handle them too. I've found that for me, the trick is to include the older children.

Don't try to divide your time, instead, share it. When the baby needs nursing, say to your toddler, "Come on, let's feed the baby". Use the word "let's" a lot instead of "I've". When you nurse the baby have your toddler cuddle up next to you. Make him part of the process by going to get diapers for you and so on. Make it a "we" thing whenever possible.

Don't worry about "alone" time with your toddler. If you emphasize the need to be "alone with mom", your toddler will expect it, and be jealous if he doesn't get it, but if you focus on togetherness (all 3 of you), then your toddler will easily accept and enjoy that instead. I think this is one of the main reasons that we have never had any problems in our family with jealousy or sibling rivalry, even though we've gone through the "new baby" experience so many times. "

Obviously this is this woman's opinion and experience. I believe that we are all different, and God gives us much freedom in how to respond to His word in how we look after our children. I personally found this encouraging mainly because she talks about how God designed siblings and will provide a way for us to look after each of them. For me there is great comfort in this.