Monday, November 15, 2010

Secrets Revealed, Loneliness Healed

On Friday, I let you know I had a secret.

My husband had kept a secret from me,
and he's usually not good about doing that.
If he buys a really good present,
he can't wait until the holiday to give it to me.
He giggles and dances around like a little boy
who is expecting to get a present.

Except, he loves to give.

Wednesday, around noon, I had just finished homeschooling.
I was multi-tasking on the computer and the phone.
I heard a knock on the door and
Beka raced to open it.

I am over protective.

A strange man had been in my driveway about 30 minutes earlier,
and I didn't want Beka to answer the door alone.
I chased her down the hallway, trying to get her to be quiet,
telling her we didn't even have to answer the door.

Since we weren't expecting anybody,
it was too soon for neighbor kids to play,
I explained  it had to be a salesman.

The knocking persisted.

I finally answered the door, with phone still in hand.
There stood my oldest daughter, Jana, her husband, Aaron,
and their two little monkeys, Brookelyn and Brayden,
who had flown in from California.
I kinda' said, "HI," all casual, 
but secretly trying to remember if I had forgotten their visit.
When I finally figured out it was a SURPRISE
I started screaming and crying.

They had video footage to prove it.

Thursday night, we took Jana and her husband out for coffee,
but it ended up being a trip to the airport to pick up Daniel,
the second born who lives in North Dakota.

My "Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other" were all together,
for the first time in several years.

Other than being puked on,
the worst thing about parenting is when they move out.

Well, I guess moving back in after moving out is more challenging,
but that's another blog.

I just miss my crazy kids.

I really, really, really miss my kids.



This is just our children,
we left out the son-in-law, (photographer)
and the sleeping grandkids.

With work and nap schedules,
it was challenging to find a time to take group pics.


The motto in our family is
"You Wake 'Em, You Take 'Em,"
so nobody wanted to wake up the Crazy Babies,
even for pictures.

A can of Pirouette Cookies became a comedy routine.

As you could see on Friday,
my house isn't clean when all the kids are home,
and it isn't quiet.

But it is the most beautiful mess and noise for a mom.

We had our own Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday,
cooked by my children.


I got to set the table.
That's my favorite part of a meal.
As we gathered around together,
laughing, sharing and thanking the Lord
for His goodness to His children,
our hearts were so full of love and gratitude.

We've already made one trip to the airport,
to return Dan to his regular life.
Jana and her family will leave today.

I will start a new week missing my kids.
Really, really missing my kids.


But I will choose to rejoice, because,
my children are all serving the Lord where He has called them.
My prayers can follow them,
guide them,
encourage them,
uphold them.



3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy
 than to hear
that my children
 walk in truth.


That's the only balm for a Mommie's achy heart and empty arms.

*****

MomsTheWord


15 comments:

  1. The table is gorgeous! What an awesome surprise. Happy Early Thanksgiving =)

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  2. Okay... nothing like making me whell up with tears (again). You're good at making me do this. ;)

    That is beautiful... and what fun. You're family looks like they're a hoot.

    Happy Days... Happy Memories.

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  3. Ah... that made me cry. I'm so happy you had that weekend. What a great husband.

    I loved the part where you opened the door and were trying to remember if you had forgotten their visit. :-)

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  4. Wow! That was so beautiful. I'm just sitting here crying! Love the foot picture -- it's the best!!!!!

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  5. TOO WONDERFUL! :) I'm sure the grandbabies will miss Grandma too.

    I love that you have been putting so much work into your Thanksgiving decor and then get to enjoy it all set up with people enjoying it TWICE! Your hard work sure has paid off.


    Shawn is JUST LIKE SCOTT about giving gifts. He and I always do our gift exchange for Christmas alone and he can hardly wait 24 hours after buying it before he JUST HAS to give it to me. I think our earliest Christmas exchange ever was Dec. 11.

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  6. How fun!!! Now you have me very very excited see my family and to go home for Thanksgiving :)

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  7. What a wonderful surprise! I can't imagine my kiddos ever being old enough to move out...it's nice to know that they come back for visits!

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  8. Oh, what a lovely surprise! I can only imagine the fun you all must have had!

    My oldest is coming home from college for the holidays and I can't wait!

    Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday.

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  9. Forgot to say that I loved seeing the pictures. Look at all that blonde hair!

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  10. Oh your post was so touching. I think alot about those days when my children will be gone and how much I will miss them.

    I am so happy that you were able to spend tht precious time with your children! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  11. Aw, this is so sweet! None of us kids have left home yet, though I know it won't be do far off. We were just talking about that at lunch last week, all of us telling each other "You'd BETTER come home for get-togethers!" :D

    I <3 your blog!

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  12. sweet surprise for a beautiful mothers heart.

    glad you were blessed by your hubby!

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  13. What a blessing and sweet surprise! Kudos to your hubby!

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  14. For some reason, this post brought tears to my eyes. I am still in the midst of the diaper stage...almost done...but still there.

    I closed my eyes and thought of that day when my big kids will one day get together. It made me cry.

    So glad you had your whole brood under your roof, even if just for a moment.

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  15. What a great surprise. Thanks for the tip on the target tank tops.

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