It is Saturday, and we are about to embark on house cleaning. I did not do any on Wednesday other than the necessities such as dishes and clothing since we had taken Monday off from schoolwork. Tomorrow night we begin our Life Group here in our home. It is a getting-together with other believers to do life together that is strongly encouraged at our church. Pray that all will go well and God will be honored. Chad and I have tried to lead a Life Group in the past and we let circumstances stop us from sticking with it. This is a difficult area for me, especially, because I tend to let myself get overwhelmed with the idea of "entertaining" people in my home, which is not what the idea is about anyway. So pray that I will keep my eyes on the Lord and follow through with this and therefore reap the reward He has in store for me by communing with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We will be meeting with about two or three other couples weekly for about two hours on Sunday evening. We plan on starting it out with food and fun until everyone feels comfortable with each other. We know all of the couples but they do not all know each other yet. And we don't even know them intimately ourselves except for maybe one or two. In the past, I had tried to keep the kids "not seen and not heard" but that sure did increase the pressure, so this time we will try to keep it pretty free. The kids will be directed to stay to their rooms and play for the most part, but I do not want to be like a dictator about it. That is not any fun, nor does it represent life in my opinion. Speaking of life, it is getting close to the anniversary date of Roe v. Wade. Please be praying about abortion in our country. I believe it is one of Satan's biggest lies. I hate abortion, and I really feel sorry for women who are tricked into believing it is the best thing for them. I think that they really suffer for a long time afterwards in many different ways. Three years ago when I got pregnant with Esther, I wasn't expecting it as I had in my three earlier pregnancies. It was hard for me to accept because I hadn't "planned" it. I cried the whole first week. And it softened my heart toward women who have abortions because prior to that I definitely would judge them as hard-hearted women. I never considered abortion in my life, but there I was- a married woman with a family struggling with the hardships that another pregnancy was bringing. By the way, Esther is such a blessing! But I had a loving husband, financial resources, and so forth when I found out I was pregnant and it still hit me like a brick wall. I can just imagine how someone without those benefits must feel when finding out about an unexpected pregnancy. So now I pray for women in that situation rather than condemn them as I had before. God really opened my eyes in this area, and I am so thankful that He did. Anyway, with all that said, I am very pro-life. I always have been, but now I am also understanding of women who have made that choice and feel empathy for them.

"And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32

This verse has spoken to me so many times in my life- I love it!