If You Were Silas...

...you would have thoroughly enjoyed your first trip ever to the library earlier this fall.  You would have then looked forward to Tuesdays when you and Mommy went to Rhythm and Rhyme Storytime while the babies took a nap.  You would have asked repeatedly on Tuesday mornings if Miss Alexis was going to come while the babies slept.  And you might not have realized it, but your Mommy would breathe in deep each week of the time alone with you, getting to see you and hear you and take time with you.

If you were Silas, you would have finished up your fall tumbling class recently.  You would have shown off your skills on the last day to a room full of moms and dads who are probably a bit like your parents: wondering where this little flurry of activity at age 3 will take us in the years to come.

If you were Silas, you would be loving having your Aunt Tara here to visit this week.  You would have counted down the days on the calendar till she came, anticipating a trip to the airport to pick her up.  You would be making up all kinds of silly games for her to play while requesting that your brother and sister "go see Mommy right now" so as not to interrupt all the game-playing.

If you were Silas, you would be fully aware that another baby is on the way in your home.  After staunchly assuring those who would listen that it was a girl baby for many weeks, you would now be convinced it is a boy whose name should be Tiger.  Good call, sweetie.  We'll think about it.

And if you were Silas, you would not have known that your Mommy has recently been praying for ways for you to see the reality of the world; to grow up knowing that life is not all videos and new toys and playdates and trips to Target.  But on Monday you would have gotten to be part of something that answered those prayers:  you served alongside Daddy and many others from our church to fill and deliver Thanksgiving baskets.  Then when you got home, you would have said, "We gave food to the people because we love Jesus.  And Jesus would give food to people.  Some of them didn't have a turkey.  But now they have a turkey for Thanksgiving!"

I know you're not Silas.  But if you were, you would probably never know how full my life is because of you.


*I feel compelled to add how grateful I was that it worked out for Silas to go with Shane to help with the baskets on Monday.  It really was a last-minute decision but I can see looking back that the Lord was answering my prayers.  Our lives are sheer survival to some extent and I have been begging the Lord to show me how we can teach our children to be the hands and feet of Christ when I can't even get the laundry done or dinner made every day.  So it was a gracious gift that turned out to be the perfect training opportunity for our oldest son.  His understanding of the event was surprising and a reminder that the Lord knew better than I how ready he was for something like this.*