life changes

A friend asked me how my life changed with a baby in the house.

well…..

we have had new babies before, Tyler doesn’t make life harder…..

we have lived with kids for 21 years ~gasp~…..and before the ones that lived with us, we were in Youth Ministry…..so, the question really kind of caught me off guard. I did not know just what she was asking, or how to answer….

until I was driving away.

And then I knew.

Tyler has changed my life FOREVER.

I am a different person. My heart grew to hold this sweet one with a space that only he could hold.

And not once, but eight times have I been blessed to have my heart grow with the birth of a sweet little one.

God is Good.

So many times we focus on the external changes…the extra laundry, the time it takes to pay attention to each child…how to stretch that dollar a little farther…but none of that would deter me from the changes to my heart that each one of these precious souls has made. Each day I am blessed by smiles, kisses, hugs….grumpy kids who come to me for some attention, angry kids who tell me how mean I am when I won’t let them do something (for Ron it usually involves salamanders and some sort of habitat), I am blessed by kids who share their faith with me, question everything with me….laugh and cry with me. I am changed forever each time one of the older kids begs to hold, snuggle Tyler or even just sit next to me while I am feeding him.

Is life with 8 kids easy peasy? No. But it is not as hard as some might think…and it is so TOTALLY WORTH IT!