Watching a dear daughter struggling through the nausea and fatigue of early pregnancy while caring for a two year old has made me sympathetic and even a bit nostalgic! Certainly bearing and raising children qualifies as “travail”, but it also brings great joy, and we agreed it was absolutely worth what it cost. The joy I feel watching my children, grandchildren, and now great grandchildren grow makes the whole labor and delivery thing, and all the angst of terrible twos and teen conflict, seem tiny, and so worthwhile

We think often about the Savior’s anguish and suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary. Perhaps not often enough, we think about other sacrifices He made during His short earthly life to do His Father’s will. At least during the time we know most about, He was homeless and dependent on the generosity of others. And for all His love of little children, He lived without seeing his own, much less generations as many of us do. So sad.

That’s what I love so much about Isaiah 53:10-1 “…When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed…. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied…”

It gives me great joy to know that when I repent and accept His atoning sacrifice, He sees me as His child! And, he counts all the travail as worth it! How grateful am, and how I love Him!

~Nita Smith