He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

Psalm 47:4

Not all pride is sinful.

Today my heart is full; I am proud beyond measure.

Our twins have turned sixteen!

Today we celebrate sixteen years of God’s goodness toward us. We prayed for twins. We prayed for boy-girl twins. And I hesitate to share that, because I know many others have prayed before us and will pray long after us and are praying even still for the same kinds of things, and yet their prayers have not been answered, not yet, not in the ways they most desire. I know we didn’t have a magic formula or special words. I reject any such notion.

And yet. On this side of the prayer and the answer, I can only praise Him for what we have received. And be humbled.

We’ve learned much together these sixteen years. In the beginning, it was simply a war of attrition, seeing who would descend to the threshold of exhaustion first. Sleepless night after sleepless night; diaper change, bottle, burp, and bed. Repeat again and again and again.

The toddler years were wild and, just for fun, we decided to add another little one to the mix. Three children under the age of three….those days are a bit of a blur in my memory.

Then we started school and homework and sports and all of a sudden we’re here. Teaching them to drive has been an exercise in prayer and letting go — which is only training for what’s to come in the next few years. Today, after we got home from the DMV, they each took off to drive around the neighborhood and I thought of something a friend of mine said years ago that still sticks with me: “At some point, you just have to trust your prayers.” Come to think of it, I think this is the one bit of advice that has governed my approach to parenting teenagers.

Today my heart is full; I am beyond proud.

Not all pride is sinful.