Joy & Gratitude

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Today our home was filled with the pitter patter—or rather “stomp stomp stomp” of 14 pairs of little barefoot feet. Laughter, yelling, dancing, singing, running, hiding, seeking, eating, drinking, playing, reading, learning. My heart was full of joy. This is our hope for our home. That it would continue to be filled with these sounds. From our own children and from their friends. That families would come and be comfortable, opening and closing the fridge, washing dishes, doing laundry, moving about as if it were their own. That we would be together and have everything in common. Breaking bread in this home with glad and sincere hearts. Looking to the One who holds us all together. 

At one point all the children were outside and one of the parents remarked how eerily quiet it had gotten within minutes. My heart sank as I thought of one of our elders and his wife as they are sending their youngest child off to college in just a few days. How for 18+ years they too heard the “stomp stomp stomp” of little feet and enjoyed the laughter, yelling, dancing, singing, running, hiding, seeking, eating, drinking, playing, reading, and learning. And now their moment of eerie silence isn’t just for a moment. 


Thank you Father for these times and these seasons. I cannot imagine what it will be like when they’re over, and I don’t want to. I want to be here. That the fullness of these days would fill my heart with joy and gratitude that I might come to the end of them, with joy and gratitude. 


*pictured: three families worth of children. Not pictured:  the children of another family who joined us earlier in the day for breakfast. 

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