Holding onto Hope, Anticipating Joy...for our little olive shoots

When my husband was a young man, around 17, he begin praying for his wife. First of all, how blessed am I, that my now husband was praying for me before he even knew me.

During his prayer time, God gave him a chapter that he held on to, and now as a married couple, we continue to hold onto it.

Psalm 128

A song of ascents.

1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
for the man who fears the Lord.


5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—
peace be on Israel.

Little did he know, that this scripture he was holding onto as the promise of God for me, would be the same one we would hold onto for the promise for our children.

Verse 3 says,
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.

The exciting part of this verse, is that God blessed Aaron with a wife…and He will bless us with olive shoots around our table! Notice that there is more than one olive shoot!

For me, as I continued to read the rest of the chapter, verse 4 reminded me again of His promise to us.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
for the man who fears the Lord.

The word “THIS" in the verse is very significant to me. THIS encapsulates this entire promise…for us. We are walking in obedience and THIS represents the promise God gave to us that we will have little olive shoots around our table. THIS is a blessing, THIS is a promise, THIS is the hope in knowing that God will indeed bless us!
*Thank you all so much for your kind words of encouragement and private messages you have sent. Some from friends, some from complete strangers and some from other women/couples struggling on this journey as well. We are traveling this week, so my thoughts and feelings are a bit short, but know that we are encouraged and excited about what God has promised us.

~Julie
(Here’s a photo from our city!)