I came across this picture the other day and it has been fun to reflect on what life was like last time we had a baby compared with now. In this picture Peter was just 6, Kate was 5, Maddie was 3, Ella was 1 1/2, and Charlotte was 4 months and I'm not sure we had really started thinking about adoption yet (that's my sister, here husband, and their oldest with us). My days were busy in a completely different way than they are now. I had to do almost everything myself during the day. Meaning, the kids' "help" wasn't always so helpful. Those were the days when people gave us strange looks everywhere we went because they couldn't imagine why anyone would want to have 5 kids in 6 years (people still give us strange looks but it's because they can't quite figure us out). I think we were at the point when many people say "enough already. no more babies. this is too much work." Well, we plugged onward and starting the adoption process sometime in the next year. That led to a period of waiting for our family to grow as we looked forward to bringing Teshome home. Then when Charlotte was 2 1/2, he was here and we were 8. Here's the first picture of all 8 of us. We had a period of adjusting that was often painful, but also a great joy. Then 2 1/2 years later, Silas was born. At that point it had been 5 1/2 years since we had a baby and it is so amazing to me how different it is now than when we had so many "littles." It is so much easier to have a baby now that we have older children who are such a great help to me. And it is so incredibly beautiful to see the love they have for our precious baby. I have time to enjoy him in a different way than when everyone needed me for everything. I see this even in the little things. When I'm feeding him I can just watch him and enjoy those moments of him discovering new foods- instead of feeling like I need him to hurry up and finish so I can tackle the next thing. There's always someone available to help. All this to say, if you feel overwhelmed, it does get better. When we work at training the littles during those crazy years, before we know it they are a very important part of a home running smoothly. As our children grow and mature, we are seeing in so many ways how they truly are a blessing. Don't let the world's lies creep in and convince you that having a large family is too much work , too expensive, too much of a commitment, or will keep you from personal happiness. The rewards are far greater than a peaceful existence, travel to faraway places, earthly possessions, or anything else the world says that children get in the way of. We are storing up treasures in heaven and these treasures bring great joy and delight to our lives on this earth!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
All
December 2017
|