Waiting

I feel as though my family is in a holding pattern lately.  We've come down from the high of adding a child to our family & dealing with his special needs.  He's settled in now.  And we're winding down a year of homeschooling...starting to access our successes and failures.  We've learned A LOT about our selves this year.  Having a large family is a lot like a continuous roller coaster...there are highs where you look out and can see for miles and everyone is happy and gleeful.  Then there are the dips where some of us are out of sorts and life is full of the jaw dropping, stomach lurching moments.  There are the uphill battles and the down hill slides.  Sometimes there are those corkscrew moments where everything is helter skelter and out of control but thank goodness they are usually followed by a moment of calm and leveling out.  That is where we are.  And so I am looking forward, somewhat excitedly, to see what's next.  I've been praying expectantly, hopefully, thankfully.  I am waiting...not with dread....but with faith.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

My heart is open to whatever God's plan is for my family...and I know what gifts I possess...so waiting to see how He will stretch and grow me and my crew is hard. I want to MAKE IT HAPPEN. But sometimes God shines the brightest in the back story...the little details and miracles that happen to lead up to His will being done. And I WANT Him to be the focus...I want Him to get ALL THE GLORY!  The Bible says David had to wait 17 years before Saul died so he could be King...and Joseph had to endure much before he was justified to his brothers that threw him in a well to die and then sold him into slavery...and then there was Abraham who WAITED a LOOOOONG time to be a father.  And during ALL the time they waited...God was working on them, growing them, perfecting them for the task to come.

I have looong been an Amy Grant fan so when her latest album came out...I requested it as a Christmas gift from the kids. And they have heard it played over and over now so even Ruby knows the lyrics.  (Amy sings this song with her daughter, Sarah.)

This song is so applicable to what is going on in my own household...all of us have something we're impatient for...so we wait.  It's an important lesson that can only be learned by living awhile that good things come to those who wait. Waiting is not my forte'. I am a doer and God loves to teach and show me things by making me wait. It applies to my children as well...working hard at track practice to secure a spot on the team at the next meet...waiting to grow up and be able to do "grownup" things...waiting for a boy to like you...waiting for the priviledge of owning your own cell phone...earning that new tri bike...



So- We WAIT.  Lord knows we have plenty to do...5 kids means:

5X the laundry and dirt to clean out of my house. 
5X the reassurance and praise that needs to be given. 
5X the accomplishments to be celebrated. 
5X the strawberries to be picked this Spring Break. 
5X the hugs and "I love you, mommy, mom, mama, mother."(depending on the age of the kiddo)
5X the boo boos that need to be kissed and bandaged (even the big kids)
5X the timeouts to be doled out.
5X the belly laughs that make my heart smile.
5X the deep conversations (even the little kids)
5X the prayers and pleadings for God's Will in their lives.
5X the opportunity to thank God for the patience he's giving me through raising 5 kids...

 ...and I'd gladly raise 10!