Thoughts on Sweetness.
Iowa is famous for its sweet corn. Today the Reynolds crew took a little outing to the downtown Farmer's Market - sweet baby in tow. Alex enjoyed a snooze in his stroller/carseat and Jason and I just enjoyed being "out" for a bit. Since all of our Iowa friends say the peaches 'n cream sweet corn is the very best, we bought some of our own. So far we've put it to use as a great backdrop for a photo. We are also planning to cook it later to see if it lives up to its sweet reputation.

Lately I have been thinking about the sweetness of life... Yeah, I guess the sweet corn and sweet baby have gotten to me.

Mostly it is that each day I am purely overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Just last night I was talking with Jason about the dimensions of our faith that have grown at each new stage. Before I married Jason, although I had a wonderfully full single life, I had no idea how sweet married love could be. I believe God's goal in marriage is to give us a glimpse of His glorious character as He reveals it through our spouse. Jason's love for me is a very real reminder of a God who never leaves me or forsakes me, and always deals me more grace than I deserve.

Parenthood has brought a new dimension. More than ever I am challenged to trust God with everything concerning Alex. When I am tempted to stand over his crib for the third time in 20 minutes just to see if he's breathing...I have to trust that God is taking care of him. Probably where I'm most challenged though is to constantly ask God to remind my heart that no gift that He gives me here on earth is better than the eternal gift He's already given me. Oh how easy it is to look at a sweet baby and love it more than the One who gave it...

I'm learning more and more each day that my job is not to hold on white-knuckled to everything God's given me - even though they are all wonderful gifts. Instead it is to accept each gift (and each new dimension of faith) with a grateful heart, knowing that God does not owe me good gifts. He just gives them.

And I am grateful for His overwhelming sweetness.