One Day . . .

It's funny how easy it is to brush off a string of occurrences as a strange coincidence, even when you don't really believe in coincidence. For the past week or so, Ps 84:10 has come into my field of vision many, many times. The most recent was in a blog by our pastor's wife, in regard to her son, which prompted me to read the entire song (text color & bold are my emphasis):

1How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
2My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

3Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!

Selah

5Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah

9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

10For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you! - ESV

It's funny that even though I had heard the Chris Tomlin song many times, I had no idea what the word "courts" was; I simply couldn't make it out. Then I heard it clear as a bell one day, and it made perfect sense. Amazing how God shows his hand at seemingly odd moments. But back to the meaning of verse 10 . . . How awesome will it be to be in the presence of God, even for one day? From the brief glimpse of heaven I had one night in a dream (SO intense!), I cannot imagine what it will be like. Nothing else matters but the fact that I will be in His divine presence, basking in the light of His glory. The intensity will be far beyond any "high" we could possibly reach here on earth. Just thinking of it often sends me into tears of longing for that day.

Lord, help me to keep this in mind as I go through each day. Help me stay focused on YOU, and the day when I will no longer have to seek your face, because we will be together in heaven!

And Baby makes . . .

Happy Mother's Day: Woman pregnant with 18th child

By JILL ZEMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri May 9, 5:25 PM ET

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child. Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins.

"We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing.

The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in northwest Arkansas in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

Duggar has been been pregnant for more than 11 years of her life, and the family is in the process of filming another series for Discovery Health.

The new show looks at life inside the Duggar home, where chores — or "jurisdictions" — are assigned to each child. One episode of the new show involves a "jurisdiction swap," where the boys do chores traditionally assigned to the girls, and vice versa, Duggar said.

"The girls swapped jurisdictions, changing tires, working in the garages, mowing the grass," she said. "The boys got to cook supper from start to finish, clean the bathrooms," among other chores.

Duggar said she's six weeks along and the pregnancy is going well. She and her husband, Jim Bob Duggar, said they'll keep having children as long as God wills it.

"The success in a family is first off, a love for God, and secondly, treating each other like you want to be treated," Jim Bob Duggar said. "Our goal is for each one of our children to be best friends, and everybody working together to serve each other makes that happen."

The other Duggar children, in between Joshua and Jennifer, are Jana, 18; John-David, 18; Jill, 16; Jessa, 15; Jinger, 14; Joseph, 13; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 10; Jeremiah, 9; Jedidiah, 9; Jason, 7; James, 6; Justin, 5; Jackson, 3; and Johannah, 2.

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On the Net:

Duggar family Web site: http://www.duggarfamily.com

Discovery Health site: http://health.discovery.com/convergence/duggars/duggarfamily.html

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