Family Time

These days are good. They take a lot of constant work, energy, and patience because all day is spent with kids who have the same needs day in and day out. Go figure that even though they just took a bath yesterday, they need another one today! Sometimes it gets tedious and some days Andrea and I wake up in the morning and really want to stay in the peace and quiet just a few minutes more. But we are a part of the family in a literal sense and in the spiritual sense, so peace and quiet is not what we signed up for. Instead of coming in and serving for a few glamorous hours, we get to deal with family stuff- with kids crying because the other kid took their shoe, with the same dishes that we swore just got washed, with the same kids who seemed to have forgotten how to listen to you since the last time out. This week has been a sweet reminder that God is all about the family stuff, and therefore he is very present in the family stuff.

Tuesday of this week was the most discouraging day. The house mom’s needed a good break after they had been with the kids for a long time and I was excited that they trusted us enough to take care of the kids for the entire morning without them. It was eventful as I learned to exert authority in Spanish and had to put 6 of the kids in time out, take Claudia’s shoes away, and mediate between crying kids constantly because someone took someone else’s something. My throat hurt at the end, and I came to lunch completely dry. I called Tommy that afternoon and ended up hanging up because I was so exhausted and discouraged. I wanted the kids to listen to me. I also did not enjoy being the disciplinarian for 5 hours, dealing only with the crying and angry kids. Like I said it dried me up.

So I took a two hour nap and got up and did not want to go back to the house. I wanted to cry and do my devos and eat chocolate and drink coffee. But as I started to pray I was gracefully reminded that God did not have me here working because he expected me to do my share. He had me here because he loves me and he has good things for me here. As I prayed I was reminded that God is not just the dad of these kids, he is my dad too. And these kids are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and God wanted to use them to love me just as he was using me to love them.

I prayed with Cressia and Allison and went back to the house. I told God I was weary and I needed rest, and he challenged me to let him give me rest. I walked in skeptical, but gave control over to the Lord and sat down on the couch with kids. Then Hector, one of the little boys who is too energetic to sit still for more than a second, came over to me and crawled up in my lap. He was smiling the whole time he was sitting there and we started to play a game where he eat my nose and I took it back and put it on my face. And then he sat on my lap and wrapped my arms around him for a half hour. Andrea was watching us amazed that he was so content. Rest.

God wants us to be a part of the family because he wants us to experience a deeper love. When you are a part of the family you experience the tedious stuff, but you also get the privilege of moments sitting on the couch with the kids in their PJ’s where all they want to do is cuddle. God knows this. He knows that I am his daughter and I am limited. He knows that he wants to show me love within the family because it means the most.

When I give over control and let the Lord give me rest, he does. I’m learning that no matter how hard it is, I don’t want to trade family time for anything.

Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!