“For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.
Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
Samuel 1:27-28

Children are an answer to prayer for many, and an unexpected surprise to some. But throughout all of scripture, children are always referred to as a reward, blessing, or gift from God, no matter the circumstances surrounding their conception or birth. It often seems like our culture today paints a different picture of parentage, viewing children as a burden that will get in the way of achieving our hopes, desires, and dreams. Don't listen to this! Children are never referred to as a burden in scripture or anything short of something amazing! There is nothing that you can do in the kingdom of God that is greater than raising up a family who has a Holy Fear of the Lord!

The story relating to the passage above is about a woman named Hannah who passionately cried out to God in gratitude after many years of praying for a child but remaining childless. She acknowledged that the child she had was from the Lord and an answer to her persistent prayer. In her gratitude, Hannah declared that this child belonged to the Lord and would serve God all his life. The child's name was Samuel, which is interpreted as “God has heard". Samuel would later be the one who would anoint David as King of Israel.

I want to encourage you to continually remind yourself of this perspective of gratefulness, God has heard you and blessed you! Something wonderful has come into your lives and despite; long nights with little sleep, no amount of messy diapers or even poor, worldly advice can prevent you from having joy in our hearts, whenever you think of this amazing bundle of blessing from above!