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?"