When Eight Seems Lonely

Starting today two of my kids are on mission trips very far from home. That means that our home will have "only" six kids running around. For many people having that many kids in the house would be overwhelming but for us having two kids missing leaves a huge hole. I take some comfort knowing that each in their own way is serving God but it still makes it hard to see empty beds and empty chairs around our cramped little table, although it does make it a little less crowded for the eight of us who remain.

My wife and I find ourselves entering that transitional phase with children who are adults while at the same time with little kids still at home. For so long it has seemed to be somewhat static with our kids, the number went up but how we lived didn't. Now we have a son who works 50-60 hours as a farmhand for the Amish while going to school so we rarely see him, two daughters who are on mission trips and have lives of their own. It is not an easy place to be as a parent. We have never been those who look forward to and encourage our kids to run off and make their own way. We try to have family be the anchor in their lives rather than people you visit on holidays while still balancing their need to spread their proverbial wings.

This all makes me rather melancholy and full of regrets. Time has started to slip through my fingers like sand and other circumstances make me feel more than a little helpless. These are not easy days for me. If not for the gift of faith in and from Christ and the helper He has provided in my spouse I am not sure where I would be. Perhaps I am but I don't like to contemplate it. If you feel inclined or led, please do pray for me and my family. These are days full of uncertainty. Pray most especially for my daughters, for safety and for fruitful times of service.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. - 2 Cor 1:3-6