chamomile tea and river of delights

Psalm 1:3--"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

I'm being spoiled today.

My husband is one of the hardest working men I've ever known. I've been so thankful for his work ethic over the years. His dedication has kept him from being unemployed even once when the company he was working for went out of business. Others from other companies knew him from his work and hired him immediately to work for them. He's been blessed, but blessed because he's remained steadfast in faith and work. He's taught that same work ethic to our kids. He reminds me of "a tree planted by the rivers of water", stable and fruitful. Many people give me far too much credit for good things they see in our kids. We are definitely a team in the effort. Preach is the rock of the family keeping things stable while I'm more like the fluttering butterfly bringing fun and life into the picture (although lately I'm not sure I've been up to par on my end!).

Back to my being spoiled. His work has him out of town much of the time, but if he works within two hours of home he drives back and forth every day. Recently, he's been working about two and a half hours away. Usually that means the hotel for him and us doing without him till Friday night, but when the "fluttering butterfly" wife went into a nosedive recently, really needing her "rock" man around, this man started driving back and forth from the job everyday. That's five hours driving each day, not even counting the hours he spends driving everyday from one job site to another. He's a special kind of rock, diamond quality. Now my spoiling is happening because this week he is staying away in the hotel, but he invited me to come.

I split the children up between both sets of grandparents, well, the oldest is in Honduras. So here I am at a very nice hotel, nicer than where he usually stays (he did that for me!). Right now, sitting in a very peaceful dining area with a large waterfall fountain, I've just been thinking about Psalm 36:8, "...thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures." It's 9:30A.M. and I'm sipping chamomile tea, indulging in some much needed Scripture reading, and if the chamomile relaxes me too much, I can take a nap. Yes, this setting is temporary and tomorrow I head back home and gather up my sweet arrows up. Then when we wake up Thursday, by 9:30 in the morning I'll have answered tens of questions from little ones, changed diapers, made some breakfast, cleaned dishes, started school and juggled whatever else comes. His river of pleasures follow me wherever I go. I get them at home with those precious ones, I get them on a special trip away with "rock solid" man. Even when I have my most desperate moments, thinking I don't have strength to continue, I look around me and if I really open my eyes, I see his blessings and I cannot deny them because they're there.

Psalm 36:9--"For with thee is the fountain of life..."