Thankfulness

They were out the door and on their way to church by 8:42 with cheery faces and pleasant attitudes! Just how many weeks ago was it that I thought this could never be possible?

I am at home with Christina. She had a sudden episode of vomiting in the night. She thinks she caught it from her cousin :-) He lives all the way in the Yukon and had a similar trial the night before and, of course, they'd been visiting each other via skype... I've heard of computer viruses before, but this has to be the first virtual transmission of the stomach bug. {I looked up virtual.  Virtual being such in  power, and effect, though not actually. She might be on to something. So, get off the couch already!! I really want to hear Tom's sermon.}

Back to my thankfulness;

A few months ago we decided we had had enough of being so isolated. It was time to start having people over. It was a hard decision to commit ourselves to weekly having people over for a meal and reading the gospel stories from the Bible, singing and praying together. The twins were so unpredictable and I was unused to preparing for company anymore. Our schedule was busy, etc... We had a lot of reasons to do it, but just as many excuses not to. Finally, we just took the plunge and invited people. You could say we stayed on the safe side when we invited people with foster kids.

It took me two days to prepare for that first evening. There were numerous difficulties, some major behaviors leading up to the hour when the guests would arrive, etc.. I was exhausted when it was over... but the next morning was even worse. Preparing for church was more disastrous than ever. The twins were tired and as uncooperative as they come. Oh, the trials!!

While we had enjoyed our time with the guests it was hard to see its worth in the trouble leading up to the event and the aftermath, but we persisted. We had three families joining us every Friday night and slowly it got easier. Each of the twins had their turn being put to bed before company arrived for tantrums and such. They LOVE having the friends over, so they never want to repeat that again.

I'm glad we persisted. It's been so worth it. HARD at first, but the twins have learned so many things by this. Preparing the house and the food takes us a half a day now and, for now at least, we have licked the Sabbath morning trials. We've learned to just put the kids to bed when it is time, whether or not people are still here. They understand why.  We really enjoy the fellowship very much and we actually had a couple of different people join us last night.

I let the children know how very proud I was of them this morning getting ready for church, eating their breakfast and being by the door ready to go before everyone else. What a great morning!!

I know that we will still have some bad church mornings. We'll still have trials just before company arrives, but the less we have of it the more the children will realize what is normal and what is not and I am pretty sure they also appreciate the good times.

One of the big things I noticed in Buster last night was that he mingled with the other children - just like the other children. He was not needing to be front and center. He was not manipulating the conversations with the adults. He was content to color the Bible story picture during the Bible reading just like all the other kids. He sang his heart out holding the battery operated candle while we sang This Little Light of Mine just like the other children. He prayed a very beautiful prayer when we were having popcorn prayer praying for each of the children who had come by name. There was nothing random or strange about his conversations and interactions. There was little stuttering. For all this, I am THANKFUL!

{She did get off the couch and got dressed for church. I guess I get to hear Tom preach after all. Let's hope it was a virtual bug and nothing serious....}