"Be careful what you wish for..."

At the end of this week we shall have a new addition to our family. No I am not about to produce a tiny bundle of joy to keep me busy in my old age! Rather than go to all that trouble I have managed to get myself another daughter in law! I can't express how excited I am at the impending nuptials and at welcoming another beautiful woman into the family.

As I was contemplating the changing family dynamics yesterday and chatting about it to a friend of mine I was reminded about the days when my life was full of babies, toddlers, dirty nappies and sleepless nights. Being a mother to three boisterous, but incredibly gorgeous young boys and a beautiful daughter with special needs, I was always very busy and often exhausted but I always made sure that I spent time praying for them and their futures.You see it was always very clear to me that these children were not mine to keep! They had been given to me for a time and one day they would have lives of their own to live. My role was to prepare them for that day.

One of the things that I often prayed for was their future wives. I have enjoyed a fantastic, loving marriage that has brought me more joy than I could possibly have dreamt of. I have always wanted the same for my children.

Whilst they were growing up, so were the girls that would one day be my daughters in law. So I prayed for them. That they would have good relationships with their parents, that they would come to know Jesus as their Saviour, that they would be filled with fun and laughter, that they would be everything that my boys would need in the future. At the same time I prayed that my sons would be great husbands and together their Dad and I sought to teach them Godly ways of conducting their lives and treating other people.

So next Saturday my second son will promise to love and cherish his new wife- "for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and health, till death do they part" and I know that he will mean every word of it. And we will welcome Lizzie into our family with open arms knowing that she is the one we have been praying for since Phil was tiny.