50 Things I Have Learned this Year

As many of you know, I love to write.  Writing is therapeutic to me, giving me an outlet for all the stuff cramped up inside my head.  One day I hope to write a book.  I've already thought of the title:  That Was Not Part of the Plan.  So much of mine & Larry's life has included things that were "not part of the plan", but in the end, those ended up being some of the biggest blessings & life lessons. 

 

I've been thinking about this particular piece for a while now & decided to start working on it recently.  And so, here it is.  These are things that I've learned in the past year (something we should all consider & write down now & then, as God is always teaching us something new!).  I'm sure many of you with large (or small!) families will be able to relate.

 

1.  A yellow crayon on the bathroom floor = yellow crayon on the bathroom walls within the hour.  Better to go ahead & grab it before a pint sized Picasso finds it!  (But if they do, a can of "Oops!" from the Walmart paint section will take it off.)

 

2.  God really is enough.  Enough strength, enough peace, enough hope, enough grace ....enough.

 

3.  Scissors left unattended can create all sorts of havoc... home-down haircuts, pictures cut out of elementary school yearbooks, re-done sleeves & pant legs.  (Shall I go on?)

 

4.  Asking God to grant you patience is not wise.  It's much smarter to ask Him to give you wisdom to deal with a situation.  If you ask for patience, you will have to be tested later to see if you got it!

 

5.  Five year old girls like to feed the fish.  Five year old girls do not know how much food it takes to feed 1 fish.

 

6.  The power of the Holy Spirit is awesome.  Recognizing His nudgings & guidance is the best parenting tool!  Follow your convictions & you will be "training up a child in the way he should go....".

 

7.  Special education ARD meetings & IEP preparations can take as little as 20 minutes or as much as 2 hours.  Come prepared to sit for a while, but listen intently to every word.  You will be tested later.  :)

 

8.  The Word is alive & active.  It can not be spoken to a person (or child) without them receiving something from it.  You may not realize that they're really listening, but they are!  You will be reminded of this later when you hear quotes from them like "Children, obey your parents, for it is right" and "Jesus says it's not nice to hit!" and "Liars will be destroyed by God".

 

9.  JOY comes in all forms....but the best one is the laughter & giggles of a child recovering from a traumatic season in his/her life.

 

10.  Prayer is priceless.  Children need to hear you praying & see you reading your Bible & going to church.  It's hard to lead by example if you're not setting an example.

 

11.  An 8 year old boy with ADHD may be tough to love sometimes......but he can bring you endless happiness if you snuggle with him at bedtime several nights a week.

 

12.  Just about the time you think that no one else in the house could possibly get sick with the stomach virus that's going around, someone does.

 

13.  Children grieve in different ways than adults.  While all people mourn & grieve differently, the mourning of a child is different.  It's all equally painful, but a child can't express grief in the way an adult can, so sometimes it comes out in the form of anger or argumentativeness or stubbornness.  You have to keep your eyes open to SEE it for what it is.

 

14.  Hearing a 6 yr old boy pray for his dearly departed hermit crab is precious.

 

15.  Ceiling fan & closet light pull-strings can be pulled right out of the socket ifyou yank just right!

 

16.  A 10 year old girl is able to cook lunch and dinner & maintain order in the house for an entire day when mom is sick enough that she can't get out of bed.

 

17.  Little boys can make it clear across the room when they dive off the top bunk bed.  Doing so can give their mother a heart attack.

 

18.  Five year old girls who snuggle their pink baby blanket at night can melt your heart when they offer it to a sibling who's crying.

 

19.  Girls who read in the dark, while pressed up against their bunk bed rail, may fall over the rail when they doze off.

 

20.  God will provide.  From the smallest thing to the largest, He is sufficient.  Meals, time, money, labor, materials & so much more have been provided by the hands of the Lord this year.  He is so faithful to us.

 

21.  In a pinch, 5 children can be ready for school within 25 minutes.

 

22.  Watching a 5 yr old girl sleep soundly on the first night she's in your home will move you to tears.

 

23.  The promise of a puppy will NOT be forgotten by children under 10.

 

24.  Realizing how tragedy can bring together the strongest of friends & family is overwhelming.  One box of Kleenex will not be enough.

 

25.  Shelves, mirrors & other pretty pictures should not be hung on the walls of little boys' bedrooms.  After all, sometimes they fall & get broken by the breeze created by the air conditioner.

 

26.  Sometimes it's just not worth it to ask "Who dropped the toothpaste in the toilet?".

 

27.  A new package of gum is as good as gone if left in the side pocket of your purse during church.

 

28.  You really can FEEL prayers being lifted for you.

 

29.  Children *are* capable of sitting through a Sunday evening worship service without having to go out for discipline.  They are not capable of sitting through the service, however, without needing to go potty several dozen times.

 

30.  One never expects to use the words "underwear" and "swingset" in the same sentence.

 

31.  When you take 5 children into a grocery store, you're bound to get asked at least 3 times "Are they all yours?".  Someday I'm going to get brave & answer with something silly like "No, I picked up a few extras just to make the grocery run.  I figured it would be fun to wrestle a half-dozen kids while getting my milk & bread."

 

32.  A vacation of 900 miles in the van begins & is filled with much prayer.  Only God can grant quiet & calmness to the hearts, attitudes & mouths of 5 children all at one time.

 

33.  Trying to count 5 children in a crowd is sort of like trying to count fire ants when they scatter after you step on their hill.

 

34.  An Easter celebration is not complete without Resurrection Eggs.  Children really do listen to you talk when the eggs come out of the box.  Listening to them tell you the Easter story is very sweet when you realize that they sincerely "got it".

 

35.  1 fast food meal for a family of 7 costs a lot!  It is cheaper to buy a gallon of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 2 packages of lunchmeat, sliced deli cheese, ice cream for dessert and a bag of chips.

 

36.  While expensive, going to the movies or the circus with a family of seven is priceless.

 

37.  It takes 2 cans of green beans, 2 lbs of smoked sausage and a box of Rice a Roni to fill up 5 kids.  (Of course, mom & dad have to fend for themselves because the kids ate it all!!)

 

38.  Holidays can be celebrated with a mixture of spiritual & worldly things without losing the emphasis on our Savior.

 

39.  It's really funny when people try to figure out HOW you gave birth 3 times within ten months.

 

40.  At church camp, 8 & 10 year olds learn Bible verses, songs, cheers and how to do a lot of fun things!  They come home with blurry pictures taken with a disposable camera, but the pictures will be cherished forever....or at least til they forget who was wearing the blue shirt (that's all they can make out in the picture).

 

41.  Listening to praise & worship CDs in the car pays off when you hear your child singing "Holy Holy is our God almighty...." while they fall asleep at bedtime.

 

42.  Remote controlled cars have enough power to trip an overweight 30 year old woman when driven under her feet at just the right speed.

 

43.  Laughter is so very important to survival.

 

44.  Watching a 10 yr old girl teach an 8 yr old boy how to play a computer game ever so patiently is heartwarming.

 

45.  In parenting, not everything has to be lesson.

 

46.  8 & 10 year olds can do the laundry with a little instruction....and they think it's FUN!  Six year olds will attempt to help as well, but they can't reach the soap.  When given enough time, they will climb atop the washing machine to reach it before falling off & crying for mama.

 

47.  Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, failure will happen....and when it does, undivided attention can almost always cure the broken heart.

 

48.  Love notes written by children are some of the most precious keepsakes to preserve in the baby book.

 

49.  Little neighbor girls will run quickly if they know an 8 yr old boy likes them & is headed outside to play with them.

 

50.  God really is enough.  Enough strength, enough peace, enough hope, enough grace ....enough.  (Yes, I realize this one was listed above, but I thought it beared repeating.)