vacations and baggage
so on the 22nd I left home to work at Columbus Area Kids Camp. it killed me to leave my 4 loves behind. however, this is always one of my favorite parts of summer. camp ended on Friday and Saturday morning our family left for the beach. so naturally, my living room looked like this:
we came home from the beach the following Saturday (yesterday). it was really a wonderful trip. I came to a funny conclusion that I told Aaron last night. I love our home and it was nice to come home to. but I have never been one of those people who loved coming home to my own bed and my own house. in 13 nights I had only slept at home once. you would think one would be happy to be home. I wasn't unhappy about it. but given the opportunity, I would have gladly packed another suitcase and left again, preferably with my family of course :) you see, I have always spent a ton of time on the go. especially as a kid. by the time I started high school, I had been to Florida at least 10 times, South Carolina probably 12 times, a couple trips to Pennsylvania, NYC, DC, Texas, Baltimore, St. Louis, North Carolina, Tennessee, and lots of places in Georgia and Alabama. probably about half of these trips were without my parents. and I loved every minute of it. between high school and my wedding I went to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Louisiana, DC, Philly and NYC again, California, Vegas. I think you get the picture. I have had so many opportunities and I have loved each and every one.
but one thing I took for granted when I traveled, was always knowing that I would have a safe place to land.
this was the boys first real vacation ever. they were so funny. they thought we were all 11 moving in to the beach house. for good. 3 days in, Biggie, out of nonowhere says, "we don't need to go to church anymore?" "huh?!" I replied. "we don't go to church or school now cause we live at the beach!"
I took them to visit friends and family within weeks of them coming to live with us. they quickly fell in love with my best friend, "Melnanie". who wouldn't? and they kept saying "you brought us to live here? see ya later!"
these kids have no healthy sense of what a vacation is. and yet they have so much baggage.
our princess. where to start. she is so cute and sweet. I love her so much. but I am genuinely concerned that her head and fingers are going to shake off. she is constantly wagging them at the boys telling them they are wrong and that she is right and that they are last and she is first and they need to do what she wants. it can be quite frustrating.
she has a pink car seat and their's are blue. naturally, for symmetry purposes, her car seat is in the middle. one hour in on our ride home yesterday the boys needed us to stop so they could go potty. I had enough of her arguing with them and being in the "middle" so I switched her carseat with biggies. she naturally did not agree with this. she doesn't agree with anything we do. I decided we needed a little CTJ (come to Jesus) right then. it was just the two if us while the boys were inside so I seized the opportunity. I explained that I love her so and really want her to live with us, but I have to understand why she has to argue with all of us so much and why she thinks she always has to be right and the best and first? I started crying and so did she. "why are you so mean to your brothers?" and that is when we had our break through. she immediately replied,
"because I want to live with my mommy!"
she had never said that before. I explained that I wish she could live with her mommy too. I didn't take her away. and her brothers certainly didn't either. and it wasn't fair to be ugly to them because she is sad.
I think this conversation really helped. or it could have just been moving their car seats.
I am thankful now, more than ever to always have a safe place to land. I pray that I can help these children feel this way while they are in my care. "At all the times [I] can... as long as ever [I] can."
but one thing I took for granted when I traveled, was always knowing that I would have a safe place to land.
this was the boys first real vacation ever. they were so funny. they thought we were all 11 moving in to the beach house. for good. 3 days in, Biggie, out of nonowhere says, "we don't need to go to church anymore?" "huh?!" I replied. "we don't go to church or school now cause we live at the beach!"
I took them to visit friends and family within weeks of them coming to live with us. they quickly fell in love with my best friend, "Melnanie". who wouldn't? and they kept saying "you brought us to live here? see ya later!"
these kids have no healthy sense of what a vacation is. and yet they have so much baggage.
our princess. where to start. she is so cute and sweet. I love her so much. but I am genuinely concerned that her head and fingers are going to shake off. she is constantly wagging them at the boys telling them they are wrong and that she is right and that they are last and she is first and they need to do what she wants. it can be quite frustrating.
she has a pink car seat and their's are blue. naturally, for symmetry purposes, her car seat is in the middle. one hour in on our ride home yesterday the boys needed us to stop so they could go potty. I had enough of her arguing with them and being in the "middle" so I switched her carseat with biggies. she naturally did not agree with this. she doesn't agree with anything we do. I decided we needed a little CTJ (come to Jesus) right then. it was just the two if us while the boys were inside so I seized the opportunity. I explained that I love her so and really want her to live with us, but I have to understand why she has to argue with all of us so much and why she thinks she always has to be right and the best and first? I started crying and so did she. "why are you so mean to your brothers?" and that is when we had our break through. she immediately replied,
"because I want to live with my mommy!"
she had never said that before. I explained that I wish she could live with her mommy too. I didn't take her away. and her brothers certainly didn't either. and it wasn't fair to be ugly to them because she is sad.
I think this conversation really helped. or it could have just been moving their car seats.
I am thankful now, more than ever to always have a safe place to land. I pray that I can help these children feel this way while they are in my care. "At all the times [I] can... as long as ever [I] can."
Happy (late) Independence Day!
may you always feel free and safe...
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