My Shoe Fits Me

This would have been a better visual had I taken a photo of all five boys...because really, sometimes I do feel like the nursery rhyme about the woman living in a shoe.... (notice I left out "old", although I'm turning 40 in less than two weeks, but that's a post for a different day. ;) )

I feel like the nursery rhyme woman but not in a bad way. I mean, sometimes it is overwhelmingly loud and it gets a bit cluttered and flat out messy sometimes. BUT life is messy and loud and overwhelming..even if you live alone. (At least that's what I hear. ;) )

So back to the shoe...

The arrival of baby girl #1 is approaching. (I can't say "quickly" without rolling my eyes...I have a feeling she's going to be fashionably late.) When we found out that we had a Miss arriving and not a Master, one of my friends warned me that people were going to comment that we must be done now that we "had our girl". She was right.

When the Husband and I hear that, it suggests that the boys in between #1 and now were "trying for a girl" children...and when people say "Are you done now that you have your girl?" it feels a little uncomfortable for us. Because you see, when someone says that, they are suggesting in a backhanded way (probably without realizing it), that having an abundance of one gender is somehow undesirable.

The same friend offered me a good comeback. "No. She needs a sister."

So lately when people ask if we're done now...we shrug our shoulders. Life is what happens while we're making other plans. We've been shown that over and over...and over again.

I'm a work in progress. God isn't finished with me yet. I have much to learn and do and for whatever reason, these children that I never could have dreamed of mothering are part of that journey.

I am learning to take each day as it comes, embracing the tiniest of victories. Whether we live in a 1400 square foot "shoe" or a 3000 square foot luxury boot, we'll probably always have noise and clutter...or be missing it. When *C* tells me we'll probably have lots of grandchildren, my first thought is "not too soon!" and my next thought is, "I sure hope so!" because I think I like the noise and clutter and without these boys, I might never have realized that.

Whatever path we take on our journey, whatever shoes we're wearing..we can choose to be open to the lessons offered us along the way.

-Peace