Blessed Beyond Measure

Once upon a time there was a little girl who thought a lot about her future. Some days she wanted to be an actress, some days she wanted to be a world traveler, and some days she thought a pharmacist sounded exotic. This little girl had lots of questions and possibilities concerning her future, and there were many things that were undecided....but there were two things she knew for sure - she wanted to be a wife and mother.

Since the girl was sure of these things she did the one thing that she knew to do - she prayed. The girl prayed daily for the boy that would one day become her husband. She asked that he would be safe, and that God would look out for him while she waited. The girl also prayed for the family she would one day have, and the mother she might one day become.

As time went on many things changed in the little girl's life. Some moments were happy, and some moments were sad, but as she grew she learned and became stronger. She continued to pray.

One day she met a man, who had once been a boy, and she knew he was the one that had been in her thoughts and prayers for so long. With each story of his childhood, she was happy that she'd asked for protection, for he'd had quite a few close calls. Soon the man and woman were married and they began a life together.

Then, one day, years later, the man and woman discovered they would become parents. The woman remembered her wishes and prayers of long ago and she was so very, very thankful. There were many people that joined in praying for the little baby that the woman was carrying - even the young students she taught would pray each day that the baby would be safe. And the baby was.

Unexpectedly, before anyone was ready, the woman got sick and the baby needed to come early. The woman was frightened, but when she awoke her husband was there to tell her they had a daughter, a beautiful little girl. The woman was happy, thinking about all the possibilities that awaited her exquisite child.

It wasn't long before the man and woman received news that their daughter was sick - very sick, and that she wouldn't have the future they'd imagined. The woman mourned the loss of that future, but before she knew it she fell head-over-heels in love with her daughter, and nothing else mattered.

Today the woman is so very, very thankful. She is thankful to be a wife, and she is thankful to be the mother of a truly amazing little girl. She long ago realized that the imaginings of the girl she once had been pale in comparison to what her life has become, and it is because of this that she continues to pray - but where once her prayers were heavy on the requests, now they are filled with thanks, for she is blessed beyond measure.

So very blessed.