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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Meaningful

Summer has been a blur. Well, it's not technically over yet, but there are only 4 weeks left until the first day of school. How is it going so fast?

I suppose having had a new baby just 1 week before school let out for the summer has something to do with how fast the days are flying by. It seems like just yesterday I was wondering what day we would be meeting her and at the same time, it seems like she has always been here.

I remember after having our third baby I felt very frustrated in the beginning. Each new day was, well, not a new day. The days all ran together and I could sum them all up like this...wake up, get everyone through the day to bedtime, sleep, wake up, get everyone through the day to bedtime, sleep...you get the picture.

This time around, we have 5. I don't know if my hormones are being kinder to me or maybe I'm just wiser, but everything these days seems deeply meaningful. The task of each day is not just getting to the end of it. It's not just about surviving.

I've loved that the kids have been out of school for these first weeks of Emily's life. I love that they are not missing all the little things. We've had a great balance of being very busy and just hanging out.

We had a blast at VBS a couple weeks ago. I ran the craft station and Emily spent her mornings being loved on in the nursery. She was so good, she only called me away a couple times. We had a record attendance this year and tie-dyed t-shirts with 150 kids! Aidan even prayed to accept Christ at VBS! He said, "I was 90% sure before, but today I was 100% sure." And Rachel loved the preschool VBS, they had I think 60 preschoolers! Just today, Rachel sat at the computer doing the motions to the VBS songs.

For all that I am accomplishing this summer there is plenty falling by the wayside. Like our library summer reading club. We signed up. We've even made a few trips to the library this summer. But we never did set our reading goals. Oh well.

But I'm not worrying about getting everything done. There are things we'll do and things we can't and I just want to make sure that we accomplish what is most meaningful. Eternally meaningful.

God has been stressing to me this summer the importance of praying for my children. Praying that they will draw close to God. Praying that He will reveal to them their need for Him and that they will come to know Him early in this life. Praying that God will reveal to me what each of their needs are because He knows them more than I ever will.

I pray that our days are meaningful.

Even when we are just sitting at home wondering to each other "when do you think Emily's hair will start to lay flat?"

Saturday, July 4, 2009

You're Gonna Miss This...Moment...#3




It's been a long, long, long time since I blogged regularly.

I miss that.

I used to have so many thoughts running through my head that I could not wait til the kids went to bed so I could put them into print.

I miss that.

I used to crawl into bed late at night with my laptop and work on a book I was writing.

I really miss that.

These days?

These days, I rarely blog. Most of the thoughts running through my mind are thoughts like "when did Emily eat last?" and "where is Rachel?" and "what day is it today?"

These days, I crawl into bed late at night with a sweet little girl who needs to eat, and sometimes her 3 year old sister who needs apple juice!

These days are filled by countless diaper changes. Feedings and burpings and figuring out whose turn it is to hold the baby. These days I make meals with one hand and am impressed with myself if I shower before lunch...or at all.

But I have been blessed with baby who likes to sleep at night. From just a few days old she has been in the habit of only waking up hungry once in the night. She has even slept all night a couple of times.

I have been blessed with great kids who fill my days with the awesome responsibility and opportunity to train them up in the way they should go and teach them about the God who gave them to me. In addition to that, they fill my days with much laughter. And we have been filling our days this summer with tie-dying t-shirts. Decorating sugar cookies. Taking Emily to her first movie. Visiting Grandma. Making homemade donuts. Swimming. Watching Emily smile and making her laugh.

These 5 little people have left me with little time for blogging and writing.


And I'm gonna miss this....because they won't stay little for long.



And to read about the moments other bloggers are gonna miss, check out Pam's blog!