"And my God will meet all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
I am often asked how I find enough time to do everything. (Obviously, with my track record on this blog, I DON"T!) People say things like "I can barely keep up with laundry for my 2 kids. How in the world do you keep up with life for 8???" The pat answer I give is, "Well, one child takes all your time, energy, and money, so what is the difference between one child and ten children? Once it is gone, it is gone." That is tongue in cheek, and not really true, so I thought I would take a moment to give an honest answer.
Henry and I were married for just 9 months when we became pregnant with Hope. That was easy! Then a short 9 months later, we became pregnant with Hank. (Hey, we were still newlyweds, okay??) 2 years, two babies. They were so fun! I didn't even notice the "stress" of life, including starting a new business, moving from TX to AZ to TN, buying another business, and generally living a life full of transition. Hope and Hank (and Henry) kept me busy, and I LOVED it. Henry and I had been led from the beginning of our marriage to adopt, so with Hope and Hank getting SO much older (at ages 3 and 2), obviously it was time to get the ball rolling. We began the process with the State of TN, and it was a laborious one. No pun intended, but it was a very long labor, 2 years total, before Walt (2 and 1/2 years old) came home. What a happy little family we had! We were living in our tiny little rent house, and life was good. We did need more space, so we bought our first home. Our sprawling ranch felt like SO MUCH space! How could we EVER need more space than this? Well, about a week after we moved into our house, and less than 6 months after Walt came home, we got another call from the state of TN. Within a week, Tiger (2 and 1/2 years old) came home. We had 4 very young children. No problem. I've got this. We merrily went on with our home-schooling and busy life. God was good. He knew what we could handle.
A couple of years later, we felt God leading us to adopt again. We were hoping for a girl, to sort of even the gender score in our very boy house. A sister for Hope, and hopefully a baby for me. Faith came home, through a private agency adoption. Maybe in about another 18 months or so I will blog her homecoming story... a story of God's faithfulness in provision when we didn't see any earthly way. Faith was 3 months old, and was so cuddly and sweet and wonderful. I was admittedly selfish with her. My poor mother and mother-in-love, and Michelle... I am sorry for never letting anyone else hold her! And Henry, I did too let you hold her, even though you say that I never even let you change a diaper!
We were rolling along. Okay, so maybe we slowed down a tad. We filled every seat of our suburban, and trips to the grocery store were more like vacations than trips. With five young children, outings had to be planned. I was often stopped by curious people who wanted to comment or ask questions about our obviously "different" family. I was starting to be able to tell a difference in the laundry and meal prep load, but I counted it all joy.
Then one day, about 15 months after Faith came home, we got a call from guess who... yes... the State of TN. Had we ever considered adopting a child with Sickle Cell Disease? They were just "wondering," they said, because they were "updating their files." We researched the disease, and it looked like it could be a serious condition. We trusted God though, and if He chose for us to have a medically fragile child, then we would trust Him. A day after we called back and said, "Okay, we could do that. Sure check it off inour file," we got the call. Would we be open to adopting again? Oh, and by the way, how about TWINS???? Wow! Identical two year old twin girls! Beautiful girls, and both of them with SS disease. Their foster family was moving to FL that weekend, so they could either go to another foster home, or come home for keeps in just 2 days. After our hearts did a leap of joy, reality set in for me. When presented a child through our state, one must take at least 24 hours to consider before giving an answer. Those waiting hours (or weeks with Faith) were filled with a little praying and much shopping the first 3 times around. But this time felt different for me. This time I felt the weight and gravity of our decision. What was this thing I was feeling? Yes, I wanted the twins. But I had 5 children and a husband who also needed my time and attention. My bottom line question for God was, "Is there enough of me to go around? HOW WILL I DO IT????" Henry and I had a night of praying (Henry), crying (me), and agonizing (also me) over this decision. Here is what God spoke to me that night:
1. It is not about you, Sunny. This is all about ME, your God. Trust Me. At the end of the day, I am all your children and husband need. I am all you need. TRUST ME.
2. I own it all. All resources belong to me. You can only see one well from which to draw energy, love, time, patience, compassion, wisdom, and all those things you are worried about having "enough" of to give to your family. There are more wells! I will give you NEW wells to draw from that you don't even know about yet!
Soooo... we said yes. Joy and Grace came home two days later. Whew! The SS disease is definitely something to be managed, but that is the least of our everyday thoughts about Joy and Grace. They are two creative, musical, ENERGETIC (did I capitalize that????) girls. 8 years later, I can say that twins are a different parenting ballgame altogether. They are crazy awesome.
Hope, Hank, Walt, Tiger, Joy, Grace, and Faith. 13 years of marriage and 7 children. We were busy, but we were happy. The "little girls," Joy, Grace, and Faith, were 5 years old, and when the "big kids" were home I could occasionally make a run to the store alone for a shopping trip, or if the girls were napping, I could even relish a haircut or manicure! Only I was going through a slightly irritable time. Weird, I am generally pretty stable. The last time I could remember feeling like this was about 10 years ago, when I was.... pregnant.?.?. As soon as the thought dawned on me, I was off to Walgreens. Positive. The test was positive. Henry and I had never stopped "trying" to conceive. We were very happy with God's plan for growing our family. This was a surprise, but a very welcome and exciting surprise! When we sat the kids down for a family meeting to share the news that we would be having a baby, their first questions were, "brother or sister?" and "When will they be coming home? Tomorrow? Next week?" When they realized what we were telling them, Hope literally fell over on the floor with laughter and surprise. What a weird way to have a baby!!! Others were surprised, too! We received assorted reactions when we told people that we were expecting another baby. Generally, people were nice, but often gave the vibe that we were a bit crazy. Eight kids. Really? How were we going to do it? We had learned a few things by this time, though (although we still have much to learn.) What we knew was that God's economy does not look like our economy. He is the one who created time. He is the one who makes the first last and the last first. He blesses those who the world disdains, distorts, and dismisses. He cares about us, and He cares about children. "Let the children COME to Me" Jesus said, "for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
So nearly five years ago now, Glory was born to us. Can I tell you something that you might not believe? She has not added one bit of work, or any little draw on my time, energy, compassion, or patience. As a matter of fact, she has done the opposite. She is rest to my spirit.
So that is how I find the time to "do" everything. I don't. But God is sufficient. He supplies all my family's needs according to HIS riches in Christ Jesus. His riches may not include getting our giant mountain of laundry folded tonight, but HE is enough for us. Our God is enough!
