Home

Home- how I love that word. For me home isn't just where I happen to live but where L.I.F.E. happens. I am blessed to have parents that have created an incredible environment where six children are able to happily live, learn, and thrive peaceably together, (peaceably...most of the time.)
I fear that for too long I have taken for granted how extremely blessed I am to live in their home. I know many families that require their children to leave and make their own way after high school, but my parents have allowed me to stay. Not only have they allowed me to remain in their home, they have continued to encourage, equip, disciple, and prepare me for whatever the Lord has in store.

My mother is my source of inspiration in so many ways. She is a very organized and disciplined individual, and even though she runs her home with precision she does it in love. Momma thrives on cleanliness and orderliness but she never puts it before her family. She realizes that with the blessing of children there comes MESS! Instead of losing it when a certain girl leaves a trail of hay across her living room floor, a toilet over flows, or when seven different "little people" call her name all at once (more on that in a second) she takes a deep breath and calmly addresses each situation. Everything momma does is out of love for her family.

Yesterday, we babysat for two different families children. The first family dropped their two little girls off around 8:00 and the other family brought their little boy around lunch time. Needless to say, Momma and I were kept quite busy and it was a little crazy. Every family that we babysit for always tell me the same thing: "Our kids love coming to your house! They would rather be with you than me."

I began babysitting for the family with the two little girls when I was about 12. They are precious children and have such a desire to please. Over the years that I have been keeping them it has been very sad to see how unimportant they are to their parents. I am sure the parents love them, but they have bought into the lie of career first and children second. Most of the time the girls are either in school or with a babysitter. Their mother is all about furthering her career and making sure she doesn't miss an activity with coworkers. The other day, she frantically called me and asked if we could keep her girls because they were out of school and she didn't have a sitter lined up. She went on to tell me that she was representing her county at an educational conference, as if I would be impressed.

Perhaps most people might have been impressed but I wasn't. Her children were dropped off at our home and she hadn't even thought to pack them an extra pair of clothes. I watched as my momma warmly welcomed them and made them feel like part of our family. When they cried she comforted them, when they were hungry she fed them, when they were disobedient she firmly yet lovingly corrected them. While playing outside the older of the two girls accidentally broke a spindle on our porch banister. She ran around to the side of the house and began crying hysterically. I went over to talk to her and she kept telling me that her parents were going to be so mad at her. I assured her it was alright and that we could fix it. She calmed down and went and sat down on our back porch and watched the other children play. Momma watched the little girl from the window and then looked over at me and said, "She has a wounded spirit, she doesn't feel loved." Momma took some popcorn to the back porch and knelt down beside the hurting little girl. She lovingly told her that she really wasn't upset about the broken spindle because it was just stuff and stuff can be fixed. We don't have any extra spindles to replace the one that broke, so it is probably going to cost a little bit to fix it but Momma wasn't worried about that. As I watched her give of herself and take time to comfort a little girl that wasn't even her own I was...impressed! My mother wasn't off furthering her own career or representing her county at a conference. Instead my mother was doing Kingdom work and representing her Saviour Jesus Christ!

When I have a home of my own I want it to be like Momma's. A place where children want to be...where they feel loved.

The other day at work I was sitting next to one of my nine year old students while grading her theory. She leaned against my arm, laid her head on my shoulder, and said, "Miss McKenzie, you would make a great mommy." That was the greatest compliment anyone could have ever given me.