Naps and such.

Occasionally, a giant ellipses is needed to sort of catch up on life.  Consider this post to be such.

On my last post, we were just starting school, and I was extremely pregnant.

...

And so our life as a family of five has been wild and fun.  My two older boys have become wonderful big brothers, and my littlest one's smiles makes all the exhaustion worth it.  Seriously, I can't even remember what a full night's sleep is like. 

One of the cruel tricks of life is the imbalance of sleep and the desire for sleep.  Right now, for example, I'd do about anything for the opportunity to nap.  Such opportunities are completely wasted on this little one. Just wait, kid, someday you'll miss these chances.

Just the other day, I tried to put him down for a nap.  I tried to tell him it was nap time.

"Wait, you want me to do what?"

"You say you want me to SLEEP?"

"Haha, that's funny."

"Oh man......Can't.Stop.Laughing!"

"Ok, I give up........."

Mom, what are we doing this afternoon?

Such was the opening question from one of my boys the other day.

Not sure where this was going, but assuming it had something to do with playing outside, I easily responded, "Not much.  Why?"

"Well, since we have free time this afternoon, I was thinking we could go down to the shelter and get a couple of kids to bring home."

I took a second to digest that.

He continued.

"We have plenty of room, Mom.  And those kids need homes.  Please Mom, can we?  Please?"

I didn't immediately know how to respond to his request and help him connect with the reality that it's not as easy as picking up a dog from a rescue center, or getting a new cat, without crushing the spirit of the request.  

And my word, I loved the heart behind it.  Carefully, I told him that there is more of a process to adopting kids, to help make sure that the kids go to good homes - processes that are intended to protect them.  But I encouraged him to continue to pray that God would bring the right kids to our home in His perfect timing.

God has placed within the souls of my children a heart that is broken for kids who need homes.  I love it, I'm challenged by it, and I'm blessed by it.