the final frontier

Got a letter in the mail yesterday.
 In part, it read," Thank you for sending AB Ilgenfritz, Noah to join the ranks of the world's greatest air, space and cyberspace force.We invite you...and celebrate as your Airman graduates...and bear witness to the miraculous transformation of ordinary American citizens to extraordinary Airmen..."

Well, knock me over with a feather.  I don't know if I am ready to witness my 6th born child being miraculously transformed.  I thought he was pretty miraculous when he was born.  So, what's a mother to do?

  Parenting, in our home started normally enough. We were young, in love and had a beautiful baby. He threw cheerios and smashed carrots on the floor. His every discovery delighted us and left us wondering what was next. What came next were 15 children. “Close family” was an understatement. 

  Our family is a tapestry. Each member is a different color and texture. Our interactions produce the picture. As we added children, the picture became more complicated. When the children were old enough to leave, some of the threads got tangled.

   Parenting doesn’t come with a manual. 

  Every child that leaves the house leaves a different hole in the fabric. This requires different threads to patch and changes the picture. I hate change. But no matter how I feel, life is full of change and so after fighting it for almost 50 years, I am embracing it and teaching my children to do the same. Surprisingly enough, our house still has 10 children home but it seems I have more free time and I can be creative in ways I couldn’t when all of life was about dishes and diapers. 

 I don’t resent the dishes and diapers, as they grew me in many ways, but there are new horizons now. I’d like to take piano lessons learn a new language, read books and travel, visiting all my children.

 My 24 year old daughter, said, “It’s not an empty nest, Mom, it’s a new adventure. She calls it the “final frontier.”

  Today I hold my youngest and feel his fat sticky hands pat my face and now I realize the time is going to fly past. By the time he is ready to leave, the entire picture will have been rewoven but with God’s grace, we will all be able to celebrate the changes and see how they have woven together to make a work of art.

Singin' the blues

I've been blue- blue with cold mostly.
Okay, its winter.  I knew it was coming.  I got long underwear and a new hat and even a new farm coat , but when its cold, its cold. 
Last week was mostly in the single digits and what was my response? Let the laundry pile up, crawl into bed and read a good murder mystery. Only problem, there's still a hubby outside working hard to pay the bills and 9 kids who want three meals, not to mention clean clothes.
I asked God for more grace, layered on more clothes and said to myself "it's almost groundhog day."
Lo and behold, behind the snow we got today is a warm trend and by Wednesday - 57 is forecast.
I cannot wait.
I'm so glad God doesn't listen to my weather opinions.  By July I will be complaining that its just too hot.  In the meantime,  I'm counting the hours and perhaps I'll hang up my coat and  go outside on Wednesday in nothing but a sweater.

no problems...

While cleaning out a cupboard today, I came across this note from my daughter.  She tore it off a calendar and left it for me to find .
"There is no problem we cannot ignore, confront, plot against, drown in chocolate sauce, or run over with the car" (sorry, I don't know who thought this one up)
She then admonished me to remember these things when I am stressed.   Since I decided today that there is not enough of me to go around, it was the perfect day to find this note.  Personally I am for drowning my house in chocolate sauce and starting over but I 'm not sure I have that option.  On the other hand, tomorrow is Saturday and my entire workforce will be home and at my disposal.  I will carry on.

reflections on boredom

Another Monday, the start of a new year of Mondays.  Today we have  a child going off to college, a child going to Air Force boot camp in a week, a child about ready to graduate from residency and start life as  a doctor, 2 children having babies in the next two months, one kid home sick with a mild case of pnenumonia and 10(yes 10)  2 week old golden retrievers in my basement. 
Whoever thought the 50's were boring. By that I mean age, not the decade. If my life gets any more exciting I am going back to bed and start January all over.
And then, my daughter says,"Mom, seize the day!" And so I shall.  January, here I come. Time to embrace the changes and see where they take our family.
Check back in a couple months for a progress report.

reflections on a new year

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!"
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."

So, I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night
-Marie Louise Haskins

I can't imagine what this year holds for me or our family, but I do know Who holds it and I am confident that His plan is far, far better than mine could ever be.