Walk with Him Wednesday-Parenting

 I confess that I am, at times, at least once a day, overcome by the volume that life gives off in our home.  God blessed us with boys, amazing, happy, crazy, wild from the earth, BOYS!  As a sign of God's grace and Mercy He then blessed us with a sweet, precious, amazing little girl, our only brunette baby with earthy eyes instead of crystal blue like her brothers.  And now, as she approaches 2 we find that she too has been created from the earth just like the boys and lives in a world where the Louder is the Better! And again, out of His abundant blessings, comes our 5th child....A BOY!!! 

I did not grow up with brothers but I was a tom boy, rough, wild, rugged, engaged in boy activities with boy-friends from the neighborhood.  It was only expected I suppose that the Lord give us Boys!  But, as I said, I confess that the noise in our home sometimes pushes my patience beyond what I think I can bare! 

In an effort to encourage our children to be happy, funny, and to enjoy laughter and play I pray each day for that extra ounce of patience I will need to endure the volume that comes with such activities.  I find, of course, that there are times to encourage and teach them to speak with soft, inside voices, and to refrain from screaming and squealing at every turn. I mean they have to be able to exist in the real world someday and that is a part of that process. 

They are true BOYS, through and through and that little, tiny, precious girl, I'm pretty sure she thinks she is a boy also!  For now, my husband and I allow her to think that and engage with her in those things she find of interest which often happens to be sword fighting, laughing loudly, dancing to music, wrestling, and the rest of the things she sees those CRAAZY BOYS doing from day to day.

Somewhere inside their extremely loud behavior and wild times there is an innocence among them all and a sweetness, although a noisy one, that we find irresistible.  This was an unexpected part of parenting for me and although I'm often reaching into the depths of my ability to withstand the noise, I find that this part of parenting can often also bring the greatest moments of joy!