Psalm 127:3-5 says: “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

…… I was looking back at some of my old columns, and I came across this one from 2012 that I’m sharing with you today. I was writing about children being “a heritage from the Lord.”

I thank God for my children and my grandchildren.

Everyone of them bear the bloodline of the Northern Dezotells and the Southern Freemans (Lynn’s side of the family). What a wonderful mix.

Looking back when granddaughters 1 & 2 were just babies, I read the following:

…… I was sitting in my chair this morning with Charlie on my left side and Kori on my lap. Charli was busy playing a game on my iPad and Kori, with a big smile on her face, was watching her older cousin at work.

It was a wonderful moment. I was all wrapped up in the love of my granddaughters. It was a very special morning!

Yesterday, I spoke with my oldest son, Gabe. He called from his beautiful mountaintop perch in northern California to tell my wife and me that he loved us.

In fact, I spoke with all three of my children yesterday, and every one of them said, “I love you!” It was a good day!

This past weekend, my wife and I played hosts to our friend, Linda Thompson and six of her children. We had kids all over the place from Friday afternoon through Monday morning. It was a great weekend!

Linda is the founder and director of Native American Outreach Ministries, Inc. (NAOMI) in Jackrabbit, Arizona.

Last month I took a group of fellow “short-term missionaries” out to NAOMI for a week of ministry.

Every one of our team members had a memorable experience as they shared their love and the love of Christ with the children there in the high desert just south of the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona.

King Solomon wrote in Psalm 127 that the person who has a “quiver full” of children is blessed.

I know that my wife and I are blessed with our three children and our two grandbabies. They are our heritage from the Lord.

Sister Linda has served as a foster mother to hundreds of Indian children over the years at her home outside of Joseph City. She has had her quiver full and running over for many years now.

She knows that the children that she has cared for are her heritage from the Lord as well. She has never given physical birth to a child, but she has carried hundreds of babies, infants and toddlers, tweens and teens close to her heart throughout her years of ministry. And Linda has been blessed of God!

My children all live in their own homes and apartments now, and they are raising their own children. So, Lynn and I have the house to ourselves most of the time.

We share this little house with our dog, Buster. The three of us are getting older and set in our ways.

We have gotten used to the quiet, and having everything in its place. Much of the time it’s just Lynn and Buster and me; all calm and peaceful; the house all neat and orderly and tranquil. Ahhhhhhh!

But, we love the explosion of noise when our house is full of laughter and shouts from the babies and the kids.

Buster runs around the house chasing and being chased by little ones.

Shoes and socks and dolls and blocks litter the floor. My TV is not on the news channels I watch throughout the day but on Nickelodeon or Disney or Sprout.

There are strange noises and loud voices and unfamiliar smells. We dodge children and step over stuff on the floor as we walk from room to room.

And then, before we know it, the house is cleared of people, the floors are once again cleaned up. Buster is back napping on his rug. I’m in my chair and Lynn on her sofa.

And quiet returns for the moment to the Dezotell home. Ahhhhhhh!

I thank God for our children. I thank God for our granddaughters. I thank God for Sister Linda and her children that she shares with us.

Yes, children are a heritage from the Lord. We have been blessed! Ahhhhhhh!

….. That was written 10 years ago this month, but now two of my children are back living with Lynn and me. Gabe had moved home from his adventures in California; Laura and her daughters are here as well, Kori and her sister, Jojo.

Jojo was born after that column was written.

Buster has gone to Heaven, (All Dogs Go To Heaven as the book says) and he has been remembered, not replaced, with seven new additions to our furry family: Dreamy, Bandit, Baby, Baxter, Oreo, Simba and Diva.

As I shared in that column from 2012, we love the explosion of noise when our house is full of laughter and shouts from the grandbabies and the kids.

Now dogs and cats run around the house chasing and being chased by my granddaughters.

Shoes and socks and things still litter the floor. That is, until Lynn and I pick them up momentarily.

Our TV is not always on the news channels, and Nickelodeon, Disney and Sprout have been replaced by iPads set on YouTube or TikTok.

Quiet returns to the Dezotell home early in the morning, when everyone is asleep, and Lynn and I take time to be alone with the Lord. Peace and quiet… Ahhhhhhh!

I thank God for our children, and I thank God for our granddaughters, and I thank God for our fur babies.

Yes, children are a heritage from the Lord. We have been blessed! Ahhhhhhh!