The Portion of my Inheritance

Spring time in Texas can only mean one thing to so many. Crappie fishing!   

After Martin and his daddy return home from a successful trip on the lake, their catch is inspected carefully.

This is the prize catch of the day!   

Each fish is counted and transferred over to the bucket to get cleaned. The conversation is centered around the fishing trip.   

It was a good afternoon for father and son!   

Times that get less and less as the years pass on, as the busyness of this life interferes with what really matters.

And these are treasured times that will carry on with time.

And pops leaves the fish for us, and we save it for the weekend, when we can extend the blessing with our own children, the third and fourth generations of the tradition. 

And it’s a celebration, for time together for all of us gets less and less as the years have passed on, as the busyness of this life interferes with what really matters.

It’s a group effort, everyone sharing in the preparations, working side by side.

The feast is on, and we not only feast on the fresh catch but on the company and presence of each other.

And these are treasured times that will carry on with time.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Matthew 7:7-11

The years have slipped by so quickly, with much ease. Quietly . . . gently pushing through, with an abundance of joy and gladness.   

It has been 29 years since I have been given a most treasured gift from the hand of God.   

“Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”(Gen. 2:23a), hearts beating together as one. Us, merged together within the dwelling of my womb, growing and expanding under the shadow of  His wings.  

 And the most beautiful sight I have ever been witness to has been the blessings of watching this gift blossom and grow.   

From baby to toddler into beautiful girlhood.   

Gracefully unfolding into the radiance of woman, wife and now . . . mother.   

And you have grown into this ‘gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of the God. (1 Peter 3:4)” And we have also grown together through the years. Mother and daughter, friend and prayer partners, sharing our hearts, dreams, delights and the very great joys and victories of this walk.

 And we have been carried along this stream of life, always moving and branching out, extending and growing, flowing together, moving as one. Being carried tenderly along on this spiritual journey by the One that holds us all together.   

 And it’s a retracing the heart leaping moments and resurfacing the still frames of time through the faces and laughter of your own treasured gifts. A look . . . an expression . . . a gesture, precious smiles and contagious laughter and I have traveled back these 29 years through my granddaughters, the extension of His gift, that plunges deeper and wider still. You are my infant daughter once again through Aniyah’s toothless grin and my little girl as I hold Aria in my arms and see you, her momma looking back at me.    

This gift goes on and on and on through the mercy of our Lord, and “He crowns the years with His goodness and His paths drip with abundance.(Psalm 65:11)” And I am the recipient of these amazing gifts, and “every good and perfect gift come from the Lord.(James 1:17a)   

 And you, my dear daughter have been a joy and a delight to me from the very first instant I beheld you. I have learned so much from you and I am a much better person because of you and my heart has known and held the sweetness of a daughter’s love through the joy of you.  

Happy Birthday to my beloved Andrea!  

Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:4