The house is quiet. I woke up this morning to Jerome lumbering out of bed at 6:30 to go feed the cattle. No one had knocked tentatively on our door like Elijah does, no one had woken at 5:30 and stomped heavily all over the kitchen floor like Tadesse does, and no little boy was luxuriating in a long, groggy sleep like Biruk does. We just had silence.
I rolled over and blissfully read another chapter in my John Grisham book, and then I got ready for church in a record 17 minutes. No one hollered my name. No one asked me for breakfast. No one needed help finding socks or matching clothes.
As I pondered this, I realized that this is the life we would be living right now if everything had gone as planned.
There would have been no "Surprise! I'm pregnant!" as an announcement for Elijah's entrance into our lives. There would be no hustle of activity to get our house and our hearts ready for two Ethiopian boys to meld into our family.
There would be no dirty fingerprints all over the wall.
There would be no broken recliner.
There would be no uproarious laughter in the kitchen as one watches cartoons.
There would be no competition over the iPad.
There would be nagging for Dad to go sledding in the middle of the workday.
Schedules would be clearer. We would have no rule about food and drinks being consumed on the new carpet. As we climb into our old Suburban on the way to church this morning (if we would have a Suburban at all), we would be thinking about how many Sundays we have left until Kaylee leaves the house.
We wouldn't have funny moments like this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or even embarrassing times like this.
Today, again, I am thankful for a God who sometimes seems to laugh at our plans, but also to Him who lures us out of our comfort zone to participate in His bigger plan. Even though our lives could have been easier, they wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. Just look at what we would have missed!
I rolled over and blissfully read another chapter in my John Grisham book, and then I got ready for church in a record 17 minutes. No one hollered my name. No one asked me for breakfast. No one needed help finding socks or matching clothes.
As I pondered this, I realized that this is the life we would be living right now if everything had gone as planned.
There would have been no "Surprise! I'm pregnant!" as an announcement for Elijah's entrance into our lives. There would be no hustle of activity to get our house and our hearts ready for two Ethiopian boys to meld into our family.
There would be no dirty fingerprints all over the wall.
There would be no broken recliner.
There would be no uproarious laughter in the kitchen as one watches cartoons.
There would be no competition over the iPad.
There would be nagging for Dad to go sledding in the middle of the workday.
Schedules would be clearer. We would have no rule about food and drinks being consumed on the new carpet. As we climb into our old Suburban on the way to church this morning (if we would have a Suburban at all), we would be thinking about how many Sundays we have left until Kaylee leaves the house.
We wouldn't have funny moments like this.
Or this.
Or even embarrassing times like this.
Today, again, I am thankful for a God who sometimes seems to laugh at our plans, but also to Him who lures us out of our comfort zone to participate in His bigger plan. Even though our lives could have been easier, they wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. Just look at what we would have missed!
