Children....lots of children.....

I've come to the realization that I'm good with kids. But the thing is...I really only wanted 1 child and not until I was 26. So of course, I have 4 kids born when I was 19, 21, 28 and 4 days after my 30th birthday!!

I babysat all the time growing up. I knew I could be a good babysitter. But I never wanted any more than 1 child. Being a Christian, I knew that God ultimately called the shots and knew what I needed and was capable of. So 4 kids it was. Four girls to be exact. All of them different in many ways and all of them mine. Did I mention they were girls??

I have drama, I have blonde moments, I have funny, I have "good thing you're cute", I have emotional outbursts, I have hair accessories out the wazoo, I have lines for the bathroom, I have a husband who is determined to walk us down the boy toy aisle at Walmart when the girls just want to go to Bath Junkie!! And I have breakdowns, I have fights, I have yelling, I have crying, I have "I'm running away"-"No you're not! You're scared of the dark".

But on the flip side of all of that, I have hugs, I have amazing conversations, I have clothing tips, I have borrowed scarves, I have make up sharing and questions, I have adorable outfits, I have a thousand different hairstyles, and I don't have to shut the bathroom door!

But then God went beyond just my kiddos. Six years ago, God put an idea into the heads of our childrens ministry guys for something called Treehouse. It's the praise and worship service for the kids at church. I was blessed to be part of that ministry from the beginning to about 2 years ago. Singing, dancing, drama, prayer, watching kids worship from their hearts and truly understand what a Christ centered life was...Amazing!!

But it didn't stop there. Two years ago, I began working for the Mother's Day Out program at our church. I teach 2 year olds. I didn't think I would want to do this. But in the first year, those kids stole my heart. They learned more and changed more than any other age there. And I've fallen in love with working with them.

But wait, there's more!! He gave my sister 3 kids. And this past Christmas break, he gave her a job! So I pick the kids up from school and let them stay with me on the days she works. And since we have been so fortunate to have all of these snow days, they've been here with me. I know it seems as though I'm losing my mind sometimes, but really I look at it as research. I learn a TON from having them with me. Plus, I really, really, truly adore them.

I love that Cameron is my little buddy and just wants to make sure everyone is happy and getting along. I love that Carson just wants me to give him a job to do so that he can be helping. (he also wants me to pay him! ha ha) I love that Chloe and Linzy are becoming BFFs...they will always have each other and they will always be friends.

And just like the cherry on top, I keep a precious little one every other Friday and Monday. Her name is Hope and she just cracks me up. Everything from saying "Psycho Baby" to running away from Mat because she emphatically does NOT like him!!

So I'm feeling like God put me here just to be with kids. I complain about it but in reality, I know it's how He wired me. And I love it...regardless of what I say on the bad days...I LOVE IT!! So now, I'm going to go and get snack food and clean the huge mess made today. But they are happy, so I don't mind the mess. It was made while they had a day at Cakkie's...the gal God created to be with kiddos!!