Just another manic Monday...

and I really wish it were Sunday. But photos like these will bring me through.

Today could be a little on the busy side. We have school to do, more black plastic to lay in the garden, a guest room to organize, a closet to clean out and my family needs to eat. All in a days work. I am grateful however to have the blessing of being home with my kids. Especially in these times I do not take it for granted.

We received a letter from the government showing social security amounts if something were to happen in our family. It showed my husband's salary for each of the last ten years. It was amazing for us to see God's provision. I used to work outside the home but within a few months of adopting our twins and having a one year old we both felt it was more important for me to be home with them. Financially we had no idea how we were going to make it. We had just purchased our first home and money would be very tight with only one of us working.

I was pregnant again and we felt very strongly that the Lord was leading me home so we took a step of faith. In that little letter we received last week it was fascinating to see that within two years Steve was bringing home almost as much as both of us combined had been making before I came home. Don't get me wrong, that first nine months were incredibly hard financially. We were so grateful for our garden that year and I think we were the healthiest we had ever been during that time. We ate so much fresh produce and homemade items. I learned how to garden, can and how to make things stretch. I began boiling off chickens to make my own broth for soup. Though that time was a difficult time in our marriage and on our pocket books it has proved to be an invaluable time in our lives. The lessons I learned on keeping a home and providing for my family emotionally and physically gave me a purpose I had not felt before. I had always wanted to be a mother. From as early on as I can remember I envied Mary in the bible and how she became a mother so young. It has always been at the core of my being.

No matter how manic my Mondays feel, how messy the house gets or how insane I feel at times that feeling is nothing compared to how I would feel saying goodbye to my children everyday and missing out on so much of the blessing I have been given. I know that in many families both parents work and this is not a condemnation on any of them. I am just so grateful that I get to do what I do and that I have a husband who understands the call on my life and encourages and walks with me in it. That letter last week was tangible evidence of God's faithful provision for our family. Thank you Lord.