(*Belated) Nov. 6th - "I'm Thankful for: "

     The fact that God granted me my hearts desire and allowed me to be a mom.
     November 6th was our eldest son's birthday. He chose to take a few days off and come home for his birthday. That thrilled this mom's heart to no end!!!
     See, I ALWAYS wanted to be a mom!!! I was going to be the kind of mom who's kids wanted her around. The kind that always made things fun for her kids. The kind that made meals they looked forward to eating. The kind that ran a home smoothly. The kind that kept an orderly home. The kind who made sure love reigned in their home. To be honest, I wanted to be the kind of mom that every kid wished was their mom.
     I've often used the line, "I was going to be a perfect mom - then those boys came" o;-p.
     I don't think I did too bad in some of the a-fore mentioned areas. But others didn't go any-wheres near the dreamed of results. And while it's easy to blame 'the boys', I must honestly admit that I know it wasn't just their fault. I definitely failed 'the perfect mom' test! In-fact, there were many a time that I was sure our sons were going to grow up, move away, and never come home just because they wanted to. So the fact that they want to - thrills my 'mom' heart!!!
     I not only always wanted to be a mom, but I wanted lots of kids. Eight seemed like a good 'settled for' number to me. Then I got pregnant. My body and pregnancy did not mix. Not at all. They always told me that 'the boys' came out alright (I have frequently questioned those statements over the years since their births o;-p), it was just my body that had the challenges.
     So after having had some pregnancies go full term and having lost some along the way, we took action so that I would not become pregnant again. Well technically, Brian took the action part. We figured our little family was very complete with four birth sons. God had other plans.
     Our first 'part time' child had entered our life the same summer we were married. Silly us thought that was just a once in our married life occurrence. Like I said, God had other plans. Over the years, we have added many 'children' to our family. And we can honestly state that God himself brought each and every one of them to us. Never once did we go out 'looking for' them.
      Also to be honest, we share that if we had (gone out looking for them), we would not have chosen numerous ones of them. You know how your own kids sometimes have 'issues' that make them challenging to deal with? Well, the mass majority of our 'part-time kids', have/had more 'issues' than you could shake a stick at (an old expression my dad uses, which I've often pondered over, and don't fully get, but it does seem to fit right here o;-p). They had 'issues' due to their parents. (oh how I've often wanted to get a-hold of some of those parents ears and give them a good talking to while I was shaking them!) They've had 'issues' because of their responses to their parents. They've had 'a-typical' teenager 'issues'. And they've had 'issues' due to society. All of those 'issues' combined to make them not necessarily the type of people we would jump at the chance to make a part of our little family. But God had other plans.
     And to be honest, we had learned long before these kids started coming into our lives, that God just doesn't take it very nicely when you tell him "no". No-o-o He doesn't. (I'm shaking my head while typing this). So we accepted them the best that we could. Over the years, five of them actually lived with us. Several others never officially lived with us, but they did have their own designated bunks, which they were frequently in. And still others (girls) could have a room available for them without even 'the drop of a hat' (another old saying there ;-p). The boys whom usually occupied the room would end up elsewhere, whether it be on a couch, or on a bedroom floor.
     We also got to witness God's provision for us and ours in many many 'only God could time this out' ways over the years. He has promised to supply our every need, and supply he did! How we were blessed for following His leading! Thanks again Lord!!!
      So in the end, while I might have only birthed four sons, God granted me my heart's desire to be a mom of many - w-a-y more than my originally 'willing to settle for' number of eight! And I am thankful that He did!!!


The 2010 "I'm Thankful for: " Challenge   - if you don't know what this is, follow the lead on our side bar. 

about the * by belated - I posted the reason some of these are late HERE.