Last month on Facebook, I did 30 days of thankfulness. I loved writing each one and wanted to do something similiar in December. This month, I am doing 31 days of "Count Your Blessings" My status today is going to be short but I wanted to expound on something that comes up quite frequently in my life and I'm sure it has come up in yours if you are a parent or a sibling.
My children are a blessing to me, everyday. I love seeing their faces, hearing the funny things they say, seeing them grow and change, and watching them succeed. I have 6 kids, 6 very different kids who all make my day brighter in their own unique way. I did not choose to have 6 kids, God chose for me. He knew I would need each one of these little Blessings to help me be a better person and to draw me closer to Him. I am trying to enjoy each stage such as it is and try not to look forward too fast to what is to come.
More often than I want to count, people have made comments that stuck with me in a negative way. They saw my children as a hindrance, a background noise that needed to go away. One day we were at a bank and the teller was commenting on the number of children I had. Here's how it went down.
lady: "Wow! You have 6 kids!"
me: "Yes I do".
lady: "I bet you can't wait til school starts!"
me: "Maam, I didn't have 6 kids to send them to school. I actually like being with my kids and in fact, I homeschool all of them."
lady:"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!"
Sure she did. She saw children as a status symbol and while they are in free babysitting (school) all day I can pursue my own interests. She didn't see them as a blessing, a gift from God to my husband and me.
Another time, we were fostering 3 boys so we had 9 children 11 and under. I took all 9 somewhere and some lady walked up to me and said in a snoddy voice, "Please tell me they are not all yours!" I retorted : Ok, they're not all mine. And I walked away. She did not see children as a blessing. She saw them as a problem, a horde of bees maybe. Eww, kids.
My children are mine and I love them. Even when they are rotten little brats, I love them. Even when I resolve to be mad at one (or a few), I can't stay that way. I love them. They are a blessing to me in so many ways. I am willing to put my life on hold, to put my dreams to the side so that they can have as much as me as possible. I am willing to put my plans to the side if necessary so that they can do their thing. And I love them doing their thing. I love seeing them play their instruments, draw their pictures, bring home a good test grade, pick out their own funky outfits, try out new hairstyles, sing songs, and decorate their rooms. It's my job as a parent to make sure my kids feel loved and accepted by me, not as an aggravation or a hindrance to my life.
My favorite place to tell people I was pregnant was at church. Out in public people would yell out, "You're pregnant again? Don't you know what causes that? How are you going to afford 6 children? What were you thinking?" Etc. At church: "Congratulations! It was about that time, you had gone a whole 3 weeks without being pregnant so we knew it was coming. Oh, your children are so sweet and beautiful, we can't wait til this one is born. I am so happy for you." My church (and my family) see children as a blessing. An individual gift to unwrap and enjoy.
How do you view children? As a Blessing, a joy, an addition to your life? Or an 18 year blight, a curse upon mankind, a distraction to what is really important?
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