A Wonderful Gift of Faith

My precious husband surprised me today with the most beautiful Mother's Day gift I could have imagined.

I am the one whose spiritual gifts survey listed Faith as her greatest spiritual gift, yet when my own faith is waning, my husband comes through with enough for both of us.

I casually mentioned to him at Christmas that I wanted a mother's pendant for Mother's Day. At the time, we expected that D & K would be here with us by now. As the months drag by with delay after delay, I sometimes forget the clear call of God in our lives and the many ways in which He's done the impossible to bring us to where we are now, and I allow myself to slip into moments of doubt. I've never doubted that He has called us to parent these two, but sometimes I doubt if it will ever happen. How dare I! Hasn't God brought me through greater difficulties than these?!

Karl will not be home for Mother's Day this year; he will be serving our country elsewhere. (We've actually only spent one Mother's Day together since our marriage.) Tonight, after dinner, he presented me with the beautiful necklace above. It was exactly what I had explained that I wanted months ago. He found a jeweler that would custom make a journey necklace with six stones rather than the usual seven and do it with birthstones (from the top: Garin, K, D, Matt, Karl, Me).

I am incredibly humbled by this gift....by the beauty and meaning of it, by the effort and thought that went into it, and by the love and faith that it represents. I can hardly wait to show our children what their Daddy did!