A Lifetime of Love

Packing and visiting with my mom and sis and neices. Loving life right now! Thankful for the many blessings of great family and friends! :)

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” ~Washington Irving As a mother, I have experienced both overwhelming grief and unspeakable love. But, through it all, God is faithful and His word is a comfort to me. I am sure there will be many more tears to come, and I anticipate them with joy that comes with knowing I am in His care. I am so blessed to be a mother! To all the mothers out there, I wish you a happy Mother's Day!

In my last post, I wrote about how I was searching for joy in raising my children... Well, I can happily report that I have finally figured it out. I realized that I can have joy no matter the circumstance or situation, but this joy is only found through Christ. Thankfully the Lord really opened my "spiritual eyes" enough for me to understand what having joy really means. It means that, no matter how much crying Taylor Ann does or how much arguing the others do, I am doing exactly what the Lord has called me to do: mother my children. As Mother's Day approaches, I am so thankful for the opportunity the Lord has charged me with in raising children. I am training them to fear the Lord and to be responsible for their actions. I am also taking time to enjoy my children, making time to play and talk and cuddle and rock and sing and dance and run and all the other things they like to do on a daily basis. And you know what, it's FUN!! :) *"Her children rise up and call...

I am the mother of 5 children. Most days I still cannot believe it, although reality hits when I am being pulled in different directions by 5 needy children. I have been thinking lately about how to "enjoy my children" as I have been told numerous times by well-intentioned, and much wiser, friends. But, honestly, I have no idea how to do that. It is something I have struggled with for years, and as my kids get older, the more I miss out on, or so it seems. I just can't seem to grasp how to balance all of my responsibilities: wife, mother, chef, laundress, chauffeur, maid, and many others that I can't seem to think of off-hand. Don't get me wrong, I love Taylor Ann and am so thankful for all that God has taught me through her short time with our family. I am just struggling even more to find time to do even the simplest of everyday tasks (like showering!!) even more so now that she is here. But today during Sunday School, a thought occurred to me that was very enco...

Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The day God chose for Taylor Ann to make her debut into the world. I started to have contractions just as preschool dismissal began, around noon. They weren’t very close, happening only about once every 10-15 minutes or so. Once I got home, I told TJ I wasn’t feeling well. He offered to take the afternoon off but since the contractions weren’t unbearable or close together, I assured him it was okay to go back to work and I would call him around 4pm to give him an update. Plus, Teagan has therapy on Wednesday so her EI, Crystal, would be here with me for an hour if something drastically changed and I needed to go to the hospital. He agreed and off he went! During Teagan’s therapy, I mainly sat on the couch and relaxed because I just did not feel well. Every movement caused me to have a contraction and as anyone who has had children knows, they are painful! =) Crystal left about 2:30 and I loaded the kids up in the van and we picked up Th from school, returning...

I have to share how good the Lord has been to TJ and I over the past couple of weeks. . . About a month ago, I found out some friends from church were planning a baby shower for me. I was utterly surprised, to say the least. The shower was a couple of weeks ago and was wonderful! It was a scrapbook theme in which each guest decorated a scrapbook page, and at the end of the shower, I had a complete album for Taylor's first year. The scrapbook is gorgeous! Some of the pages are very elaborate and others are very simple; it is a nice balance and something I could have never completed on my own. The best part of the album is that each lady signed her name on the back so I know who created each page. I love it and will cherish it always! I will admit I got emotional during the shower simply at the thoughtfulness and planning of each person in attendance. Each guest not only created a scrapbook page, but they prepared dishes to share and just the fact that they came meant so much to me!...

I found this article on my friend Renee's blog and I thought it was very true, so I wanted to share it here, too. I copied the article and included my thoughts in italics. ;) From the National Catholic Register By: Matthew Archbold Why Big Families Might Be Easier A woman said to me recently that my five children were very well behaved. It’s one of the best things I can hear so I thanked her. Then she asked me “how do you do it with so many?” I told her that I don’t think I’d be a very good parent of one child or two. She didn ’t believe my answer but honest to goodness, I sometimes think that having many children is easier than just one. Why big families are easier: Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms. Depending on the time of day, I may or may not have a baby in my arms. However, no matter what time it is, I often find myself saying, "You're going to have to wait." And than...