Patient Hope

I’m not sure if I ever told you this but if so you’re just going to have to hear it again.

My kids are THE best.

God was so good to Julian and me when He chose these three to be ours.

For the last two months we’ve been staying with friends while we attempted to make the state of Texas our new home. Our kids are intimately acquainted with all that a cross-country move entails. They know that it takes a while before you feel like where you now live is home. They know the feeling of shifting allegiances from your old school, sports teams, and burger joint to the new. This moving thing, they’ve done it before. A few times, in fact. And I have to say, they’ve done it well.

This move though was the first time they had to wait months before they even began to settle in. We had no idea exactly where we would end up. Our search for a house took us as far as even a few hours from where we are staying. Hours would have meant a different life than the one they were already beginning to get used to here. They didn’t complain though. Instead we heard from them, “Just go where God leads you.”

They’ve accomplished something else they’ve never done before. For the last two months they’ve managed to live, nearly complaint-free, in a 12 x 14 foot room. All.Three.Of.Them! Think about that for a minute or twelve. Niko is eighteen, Kyle is 16, and Chloe is 12 and they have been nothing but patient and hopeful as they lived together in that one small room. They actually get along better today than they did when this adventure began oh so many weeks ago.

The moral of this story is the same one I’ve told countless times before. Pulling the rug out from underneath our children is an invaluable tool for the parent who will dare to use it.

I’ve seen this happen each time we’ve moved.

They grown, people. They grow up a bit and they grow closer too.

And that my friends is just one of things we as parents are supposed to be helping them do.