We Have Been Invaded

I haven't written anything in a few weeks, which I hate since I have really enjoyed reviving this blog.  But I think once you read what has invaded us you will cut me some slack (as I am trying to learn to cut myself some slack).

At the "family" birthday party for the boys

First we need to go back a few months.  In late fall a little family with three boys moved in across the street from us, they quickly flocked to our soccer goal and trampoline and spent lots of time in our yard.  I was instantly thankful for them since my 12 and 13 year old girls had recently declared themselves too old to play with their 9 year old sister and she had been wearing everyone out with boredom. Our yard was invaded by boys! Not long after, the boys would hang around long enough for supper time and if you know anything about my house, I feel like there is always room for one more plate at the table ( I learned this cherished life lesson from my hospitable grandmother who I, one day, hope to share stories with, about how much her legacy is being lived on with my family and undoubtably my girls' future families as well).  Soon the boys were eating supper with us most nights and spending every waking hour of the weekend with us, including hitching a ride to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Our free time was invaded by boys!  I quickly grew to love them and felt tender toward them.  I am kind of an "adopter" so including random people in our life and family is very natural for me, and said people become not so random and more like family very quickly.  

Fast forward a few months and there is a bad situation that happens and at no fault of their own, the boys and there mom find themselves needing a place to live without the resources to make that happen as quickly as it needed to.  At this point I have never met their mom, only waved at her as I drove by, or said hello when I took the 3 year old home for a dry pull-up, but I could not stand the thought of the boys moving away, especially with only 5 weeks left in the school year.  That would just be so hard on them, so we scrounged around to try to find a quick place for them to stay.  We tried every resource we could think of and came up empty handed.  At that point my husband and I kinda looked at each other and he said "Well they could stay with us"  to which I half excitedly, half hesitantly asked if he was serious.  He was, so the very next day we consolidated the girls into 1 room, cleaned out the third bedroom, found beds and almost double the size of our family. Our residence was invaded by boys! The church that we pastor was great and all pitched in to make sure we all had what we needed and as always we really had an excess.

Now as I said before, I have three daughters ages 13, 12 and 9, so they are fairly independent and we have a pretty good routine in place.  For example, I make a menu every month along with a list and on payday Tommy goes grocery shopping.  Then we have what we need and we have a plan so meal time can happen somewhat easily and normally around 5:30 or 6:00.  I never realized how much I thrived in the comforts of planning like that until it was disturbed by a whole other family who has their own way of doing things.  I also didn't think that sharing a bathroom with Tommy and all of the girls would be a big deal but seriously, why didn't I teach them to put the lid back on the toothpaste and rinse the sink after they brush their teeth.  Needless to say it has been difficult.  Difficult for me as my routines and plans have been mixed up or even completely thrown out the window in some ares.  Difficult for Tommy because he is one of those people (which I don't understand at all) who needs alone time and that is almost impossible when 6 kids and 3 adults are living in a 3 bedroom house. Difficult for the girls because well they are rotten and used to having their space and stuff and both of those things are not where they once were.  Pretty much every corner of our easy, breezy life had been invaded by boys. But as we all have to do when things change, we adapted and although there are the occasional annoyances like when the washer is in use and some one else needs it or when some one looks for leftovers and they are already devoured, but over all it has been better than expected.

Let me be clear this has not been easy, there have been several tense, awkward moments. Meshing two separate families who honestly barely know each other is bound to be difficult.  And let me be even more clear, more than once I have wanted to throw a fit and be selfish and wish I had my old, smooth household back (but if we are being honest there are always so many people in and out around here I'm not sure why it even bothers me now haha but it still does).  

But something truly amazing has happened in the last few weeks, I have seen the people of God come together in ways that amaze me to tears, in order to take care of people who they don't even know.  We have had food and paper goods show up here.  A man from our church fixed their car for free so the mom was able to find a job in Tyler.  A few ladies who stay home with their kids have volunteered to watch the littlest brother while the rest of us are at school or work. They have worked and loved and shared and welcomed them with open arms. Just this weekend the two older boys had a birthday party and so many of the church families came out to celebrate with them!  This is what the Bible means when it says, " Love your neighbor as yourself."  Loving people is very rarely convenient.  Loving people costs us.  Loving people will likely hurt.  Loving people is complicated and messy and hard and crazy!  But if I found myself in a situation and needed a place to sleep, I would pray that some one would help me.  If my kids were hungry I would want some one to feed them.  If I was all alone I would want to be "adopted".  I know how to love myself well, most all of us do.  We should then be able to translate that to doing the same thing for others. Just because we should though doesn't mean that's always what we want to do.  But please take my word for it, loving others in ways that they may never be able to repay you is so very worth it!! God sent some boys to invade us so we can shine His light and love on them and hopefully this opportunity will change eternity for them and ripple out from there. And even better yet is that God sent some boys to invade us to teach us how to better love and serve others.  God adopts us into His family with open arms and showers us with so many things we do not deserve and the most logical thing to do to pay Him back is actually to pay it forward to some one else who needs loving and adopting.  The truth is no matter how much it costs us in comfort or convenience or even money it will never cost any where remotely close to how much we cost Jesus.

You might not have a neighbor that needs to move into you house but you do have people all around you who need you to love them even if its hard.  Its very possible that some of the things you have established for yourself need to be invaded and with the invasion will come lessons and blessings that you never dreamed possible.