Today as I was cleaning up the kitchen before putting Silas down for his nap (the babes were already sleeping away upstairs), I put him on the potty for one last time. As he sat, he was looking through one of our story Bibles. It was so sweet to hear him look through the pictures and tell the stories in his own way. At one point he must have turned a page or looked at a different picture because he said, "And there's Jesus again!"
It wasn't profound or anything. It just hit me. That's what this whole year has been. God showing up and showing off and showing Himself to us over and over again.
On Sunday nights I take all three children with me to our high school worship service. It is a way for me to stay connected with our students, to see Shane in his element, and to expose our children to ministry. I love going. But it's getting harder. Every week I wonder if we're going to be able to do it another time. But we keep going because I just can't bring myself to give it up. There are always little things that remind me how important it is. And thankfully, I always have help.
That's one thing about this season that I never anticipated. I simply cannot do it alone. On Sunday nights I have sweet Laura, whose husband leads worship for us, to wrangle and entertain along with me. But before her there were a host of others who helped us get through...
Like Miss Leigh, who took Silas more times than I can remember when I was pregnant. He knew their whole family by name and after we moved away from Louisville, still talked about going to "play trucks at Miss Leigh's house."
And Miss Janet (on the right below), who was always willing to take Silas along whenever I needed something for him to do. He talked about the ice cream she got for him and the DVD player in her car for days on end. Janet even kept Silas all day long on the babies' birth-day.
I was also blessed by friends like Tiffany (sorry, friend, I couldn't find a pic!) and April (above on the left) and Anna (below on the right), who let us drop Silas off with only a moment's notice when something unexpected came up.
My Louisville community wouldn't have been complete without my friend Julie, who was also pregnant at the time. She gave loads of emotional support and prayer, and was the dearest of friends through the long weeks of my pregnancy. I did find a picture of she and I right before we had our babies, but we promised to never share it publicly. So here are our firstborns, taken the last night we were all together before they became big brothers.
From a distance, my sister was a part of our community, too. She even made a couple trips late in the pregnancy to help out. I'll never forget calling her one night in tears and asking her if she could come. She did.
After Simeon and Lieren were born, you know what a big part my parents played in our lives. And since they left, Shane's mom.
We couldn't have done it alone. These eleven months (and even before) are teaching me how we are not meant to do it alone. We are created for community.
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