At the close of a sweet day, I just sit quietly, glance around the room at my different children, as my husband and I chat about tomorrow’s plans.
I saw a family picture earlier today. The kids were all so much younger, but it seemed so short a time since the picture was taken. That reality. That time is passing quickly, their baby faces growing more mature and very soon, they will be men and women. Ah! It stings a little.
When I only had two children, I never dreamed it would be like this to have nine. To keep loving so deeply. I guess I thought they’d all run together, that the “thrill” of it would weaken with numbers, and “too many children” would just be a chore.
I had no idea how wrong I was. I had no idea the thrill each one would give me–not just the day they were born, but every day. I still get giddy over the baby testing out his first sounds, like a new mother.
I can’t stop staring at their faces, they’re so beautiful to me. Oh we have days when I’m mad at them and they frustrate me; I’m not talking about rainbows and marshmallow days, no, we have real days like you do. But I see the gift in them. Every one of them.
And I am in awe of this realization tonight at the close of Valentine’s Day: God has given us these children as physical reminders and rewards of our marriage-love. And they help hold us together as we see that love–His love–reflected in each face, each personality, each embrace.
Most people think we just have too many children from some careless lifestyle or extreme religion. I think we have just the right number because it’s the number He has given us and He doesn’t count like we do.
To Him, they are people, not numbers–souls, babies becoming men and women, each another glory-reflection.
30 comments
What a lovely post, children are indeed a beautiful blessing 🙂
Kelly, what a beautiful and tender love you have for your children, and for the Lord who blessed you and your husband with them. What a sweet testimony to read at the end of the day…so peaceful and uplifting! It makes me so thankful and filled with joy for God’s rich blessings to me with the gift of my husband and our six arrows 😉
A perfect Valentine’s Day post!
And I should have added how beautifully apparent your love is for your husband, too, Kelly…didn’t mean to leave him out of that sweet picture you painted of love for your family! 🙂
Very nice post. I offer though that in our case, God gave us our three children in a different route, not biologically. By doing it the way He did – via adoption, not unlike the route your children came to you – He found three individual children and their personalities, to hone us in ways we would not have been honed otherwise.
God used the adoption of our children to teach me more about Him and His love for me than sitting in church for 50 years did. When the light came on for me – Christianity made perfect sense.
We knew our children before they knew us.
God knew me before I knew him.
We prepared a place for them before they knew us.
God prepared a place for me before I knew him.
At some point we went and redeemed them.
2000 years ago, Jesus came and redeemed me.
They came to live with us, their forever family.
One day I’ll go to live with Jesus, in His forever family.
Adoption thus is a perfect picture of Christianity. He has used each child to polish my soul a bit more. Now we stand on the verge of bringing home our 4th child in 4 years and while it will be good for this child to have a forever family and meet Jesus one day, we still need more polishing.
Thank you Jesus, Savior of my soul, for being my Valentine.
*LOVE*
I agree with you, Tim. All five of our children are adopted and the lessons learned through adopting are wonderful and valuable, since we, too, are adopted by our Heavenly Father. I love thinking about how God saved our children out of their circumstances and placed them in our home for His good purposes. I love thinking about how He chose them specifically to bring glory to Himself.
This is so beautiful and timely! I also can’t believe how big your baby boy has gotten!
So truly inspiring and beautiful. I especially like your words about God not seeing them as numbers but as souls…
This made me cry because this type of love is not modeled in society very much. To God’s glory, thank you for sharing your thoughts in such a positive way. It seems like I hear from so many moms just how stressful life is and how crazy their kids make them. We can all relate at times, but thank you for showing me that there is also another way to speak about our kids.
Thank you Kelly. With 9 children and another on the way I was so encouraged by what you wrote “I think we have just the right number because it’s the number He has given us and He doesn’t count like we do.” It’s hard sometimes to not get caught up in worldly thinking about children and numbers. I don’t feel overwhelmed but I do often feel inadequate to raise these children how He wants me to and also be the kind of wife He wants me to be. I sometimes feel like I’m faking it…like one day people will find out I’m just a regular person just trying to do life the only way I know how…just surviving and not that “super home schooling mum with 9 children” that no one knows how on earth she does it. Sorry I’m rambling now (one of my many vices.) You are truely an inspiration to me (and Michelle Duggar…just had to add that ;-D) I’ll try to remember to keep you in my prayers more regularly, particularly in relation to the online ministry (I think you’re so brave.) Love, Hayley.
In re-reading my comment I realised that the bit about Michelle made it sound like you’re an inspiration to her as well as an inspiration to me LOL. No doubt you would be an inspiration to her too, but I can’t say that with certainty as I don’t personally know Michelle. I just meant that you and Michelle are both women who inspire ME. Sorry I am a little tired and it shows in my muddled typing.
In my case, the more babies I have had, the more I have loved. It’s not what I thought it would be like either. I know more of what to appreciate, more of what to enjoy, more about what to take time for b/c that fact that it won’t be like this forever is REAL….it’s fleeting…
Each child is very sweet, even where they make bad choices a mom this see the good in them.
Kelly ~
LOVEly post. How true…it is He that has given each one…each one given for the purpose of giving Him glory. The fruit of marriage LOVE {weather biological or via adoption, such as it was for Tim above}. Tender hearts to nurture in loving Him and glorifying Him with their lives {and ours as we seek to train them up}.
Blessings ~
Beautifully expressed! I only have 3 living children but God has increased that to 9, thanks to a son in law, a daughter in law and 4 precious grandchildren!
Amen!!
Beautiful post! As I am expecting my 6th in May, and I also see my other children growing so fast. I am encouraged today by your post. Thank you.
So wonderfully put. This is an encouragement to me too, although I only was given 1.
Yes children are trully a blessing. Sometimes I forget, and get frustrated, but He always reminds me. I like the part where you wrote that He does not count like we do, that children are not just numbers. So true. Thank you for reminding me. 🙂
I enjoyed reading this!! One of the reasons is I just gave birth to our fourth Blessing yesterday. 😀 Children are such blessings, no matter how many HE gives us or how. Thanks for your post!!
Congratulations, Bethany! Oh, those first days of skin you could just drink in…enjoy them!
Children really are such a Blessing!! I laughed when I read your last comments about people thinking you just have all those kids from some careless lifestyle or extreme religion..I can remember when people thought that about us..and by the Grace of God we never had to ask for any help.Come to think of it..when we decided to trust him with the size of our family..my husband’s job got better and we never lacked anything.He resigned his job two years ago due to lack of work and now works for himself and we lack nothing.One of the things that the Lord also taught me through each child was that there seemed to be some new lesson or wisdom I have learned from each child.Sometimes I feel like he gave me these six kids to teach me lessons I needed to learn in life..lol.
Amen!! They are all blessings.
Hi, Kelly. My comment is totally unrelated. Just wanted to let you know that the facebook button on your “suscribe, follow, and share” in the sidebar is not working…
Bless you!
Thank you, Linda…I think I fixed it.
I feel the same way about my children!
His website has very good content. So I am sure this website will form the well-known in the future.
So very well put. I often think this same way. Now, if we had even stopped at 7 children they would be all out the door now…thank God we still have 8 at home! Each day is so precious with them, I enjoy and cherish each day more than ever before.
Hush my soul…. Listen to the Lord speak thru His babies. Hush my soul…listen to the voice of the sanctified home. Hush my soul…listen to the wisdom of the Lord thru my godly husband. Is my soul delighting in Him? Am I deeply accepting even His tiniest blessings each day? Hush my soul and know that He is God.
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