Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Fashioned in Secret, Revealed in Abundance

A story of quadruplets reminds us that God's creative love is abundant beyond all we can ask or imagine, calling us to respond with awe and gentle care.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 139:13-14 (LXX 138)

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us...

Ephesians 3:20

My dear ones in Christ,

In the quiet of this evening, let us turn our hearts toward a story of astonishment from the other side of the world. In Australia, a mother has given birth to four identical baby girls, a wonder the world has seen only a handful of times. They came not from four seeds, but from one—a single, fertilized egg that, in the secret and sacred space of the womb, divided and divided again, blossoming into four unique and precious souls. The parents were shocked; they were not planning for another child, let alone four. Yet life, in its uncontainable mystery, came forth.

How can we hear this and not think of the words of the holy Psalmist David? “I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” We speak these words in our prayers, but here, in the lives of this family, we see them written in flesh and blood. God, the Lover of Mankind, is the great weaver, the one who knits us together in secret. We see in this single seed, which brought forth such abundance, a small icon of God’s own nature. His love is not measured or restrained; it overflows. His creativity is not predictable; it astonishes us.

This is, as the Apostle Paul writes, the work of Him “that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” A family of six becomes a family of ten overnight. This is a blessing so immense it is also a cross. It brings with it fear, exhaustion, and an overwhelming sense of need. We can imagine the mother’s heart, full of a joy so large it must feel like a weight. And in her quiet strength, her acceptance of this bewildering gift, we see a reflection of the Theotokos, the Mother of God herself, who was troubled by the angel’s greeting but replied with trust, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Every yes to the gift of life, no matter how frightening, partakes in her great “yes.”

These little girls—Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa—are a marvel. But they are also fragile, born early and needing the steady hands and watchful eyes of doctors and nurses. The story tells us of the “huge support team” and the community now raising funds for a van large enough to carry this new, beautiful family. This, too, is part of the mystery. God does not give us these abundant gifts to bear alone. He calls us into communion, to become the hands and feet of His providence. He invites us to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

So let us not just be amazed by the news. Let us be moved by it. Moved to prayer for this family, for the health of these four little ones. Moved to remember that our own lives, too, are fearfully and wonderfully made. And moved to see that the God who works such marvels in secret is the same God who is with us now, holding our own tired hearts, promising a peace that, like His creative power, surpasses all our understanding. Take heart, for the one who fashions life from a single seed is the same one who holds you and will never let you go.