Life

While I have been continuing to read other people's blogs recently I haven't been writing. We are coming to the end of the boys' first baseball season. Their last scheduled game is tomorrow night. We've also had our annual outreach drama at church a few weeks ago, where I picked up a head cold. I've been continuing to struggle with pregnancy nausea and exhaustion on top of everything else.

This time last year, we were busy painting the inside of our house, getting ready for my parents' first visit to our home, and learning how to host my first Thanksgiving (having never celebrated Thanksgiving before.)It was a busy time of year, and this year is turning out to be just as busy with two teenagers in our home.

The more my darling husband and I learn on this path of host parenting, the more we realise that our convictions about how we will raise our own children are both important and vital. We are living in a society that has such low expectations for children that the only option they have is to keep them constantly busy. There is no time in the schedule for family, and certainly no time in the schedule for the Lord.

Our boys are here at the church school because they can play sports. Both boys play baseball and basketball, and are very good at both sports. This means that on top of eight hours a day at school there is also practice and games after school or in the evenings. Then they are also expected to be at youth group activities, school/youth group fundraisers and still have enough time to complete homework and study for tests. There is no time to just be. When Rob or I comment on how busy the boys are we get told it is normal and that we need to get used to it because "that's just how it is for all the young people."

I am genuinely having a difficult time getting used to this lifestyle. It is not how we will choose to raise our own children. Nobody else questions it, so it must be right. Yet I am by nature someone who asks "why?" I want to know the purpose of what we are doing. I even question if we made the right decision hosting these boys. I have grown to love them, but neither Rob nor I are team players. We don't just follow along in blind acceptance, so we end up rocking the boat a bit too much. I do not like that the boys never get enough rest. I do not like that there is little time for personal or family devotions because of their schedule. I do not like busy for the sake of busy.

Life has a greater purpose than staying busy. Every day has a greater purpose than just filling time until bedtime. I want every day to count towards a greater goal. Each day that my baby grows in my womb there is purpose. Growing closer to the Lord in prayer, and my husband in trials is so much better than just being busy. I want each day to count, and I want that for the boys too. Life is about more than grade point averages and winning ball games. Each day is a precious gift to be cherished and used for the Lord's glory.

Now to just find the time to share that with the boys.