Thorburn Family

Baby Reeve arrived home today!   He screamed the whole ride, but as soon as he was taken out of his car seat, he was happy again   Reeve is 1 month old today and doing a lot better than he was.During our little hospital stint of a few weeks, we felt the Lord’s hand close and dear to us.  I could never list them all, but here are a few of the things for which we are praising God:

1. Baby Reeve’s life; he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

2. God’s hand of protection upon him in the midst of many trials.

3. Excellent medical care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  The nurses and doctors were outstanding.

4. Many, many opportunities to share our gratefulness to God and hope in HIM w/staff and others involved w/baby.  The answer to our hope and strength is simply life lived in Christ Jesus, and the knowledge of all He has done for us.   Forgiveness for sins and being “transferred from death to life” is the answer to all the world’s problems, and the answer for the hope that is within us.

5.  Emotional and physical strength, and the fact that things kept running very well at home!  It would not have been the end of the world if our house and schooling fell apart during these weeks.   But what a blessing that schooling stayed on track, housework got done (including a couple extra projects!), and we remained generally functional and sane beyond our capabilities  That was God’s great grace.  We also were not sick for an entire month.  After a winter of being chronically sick w/everything that came along the pike, we are so grateful that we were not hit w/any colds or bugs that would have hindered our involvement at the hospital.

6. Grace from God in dealing w/the “powers that be.”  We are thankful for trials in this area, as it refocused us on the fact that God alone is in control and holds the “hearts of kings in his hands.”   

7.  The knowledge that God’s will will be accomplished in Reeve’s life.  God will fulfill his purposes on this earth, unfettered.  Whatever happens, whether Reeve is with us weeks, months, or many years, he is in God’s hands.  

“Contentment should be natural to those who are born of the Spirit of God; yea, we ought to go beyond contentment, and cry, ‘Blessed by the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits.’”   C.H. Spurgeon 

We have neglected our family blog in the past couple of months.   Lydia is our primary blog-ress, and while I do a lot of the writing, I don’t usually get around to publishing something unless Lydia is involved, particularly w/pictures.   Lydia has completed her seven weeks in Texas w/my brother Dan’s family, and arrived home a week or two ago.

So, the latest news is that we have a newborn foster baby in the hospital.   He is just wonderful, so perfectly designed by his Creator.   Because he is a foster baby, we are limited in what we can share, especially on the internet, about him and his situation. We can tell you that he is about three weeks old and has been given some significant difficulties early in his little life through no fault of his own, of course.   We expect he will be hospitalized for at least three more weeks.   We are spending a lot of time at the hospital during the day, and have worked out a little schedule that allows school to continue on track, the house to run, etc.   Needless to say, this requires that ALL of us work together and stay on track.   We are thankful that we are in a position to do this, because of the ages of our children and their ability to take care of things here, and their desire to be helpful. This is God’s grace!  Some past experiences with children and medical issues have also been helpful to draw upon in advocating for this precious baby boy.  

We don’t know how long he will be with us.  It could be weeks, months, years.   The “system” seems wholly disheartening, and if we were looking at that, or other aspects of this baby’s world, we would be brought down in despair.  There are moments in which I will start to focus on the wrong things. Our eyes must remain on Christ, who holds the world in His hands, who turns the hearts of Kings, who orders all things after the perfect counsel of His will, and whose ways are higher than our ways. He is not only wholly sovereign, he is wholly good.  

Rich and I always wondered how we would “process” a situation like this if it ever came up. We’d said in the past, “We just couldn’t deal with that, it would be too hard, too discouraging.” Seeing the general results of a world that does not love or obey God, in this situation and others can start to be overwhelming, but we don’t want to hide ourselves from it either. “As your days, so shall your strength be;” He gives grace to keep our emotions straight day by day. We reminded ourselves recently that our duties remain the same today as any other day:  to “do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God” for His glory on the earth, no matter what happens.  Pray for us to keep our eyes looking up and to not “lean on our own understanding,” but to “acknowledge Him in all our ways, trust in him w/all our hearts,” and to “be still and know that He is God.”    

As I mother our five outrageous, delightful kids, I am always trying to examine and test my inner “starting place” for my impulses, feelings, and decisions (both big and small). Sometimes I have to correct myself on a daily basis!  I have done “good” things for the wrong reasons, and the same thing for the right reasons, at different times. This little blog post by Nancy Wilson so clearly articulated something I have been thinking about that I thought I would post it. 

Smother Love

Love thinks of the other person, not of itself, and unfortunately, smother love is all about mom and not about the child. The mother who cannot bear to part with her child for any reason (say when it comes time to send him to school) is not thinking about whether the separation would be good for the child; no, she is thinking about how sad she will feel and whether she can handle the separation. She may have deluded herself into thinking she is more essential than she is.  But the mother who sets her child free to grow up and learn will find that her children count her very essential indeed.

One last thing. Grandmothers can be smother mothers as well. In fact, they can be notorious offenders.  They can be guilty of all these same things, but they express it by being critical of the parents who are trying to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What an opportunity grandparents miss when they become critical of their kids and sentimental about their grandchildren.