A Lasting Legacy

I want to take a moment to thank my parents for one of the best gifts they have ever given me (only after teaching me about the Lord). It started when I was a Junior in high school. I still remember very clearly Mom and Dad telling me they were expecting a baby. There were three of us at that time, two girls and a boy and we were all either teens or pre-teens. A baby?!? I don't think I was nearly as excited as they were.

But that was the gift. Not the brother (sorry Andrew!), but the joy. You see, they were thrilled! And it was contagious. Throughout that pregnancy, we all anticipated and anticipated, and when Andrew was finally born, we had the most fun with that baby. I was a Senior in high school during most of his babyhood, already dating Robert. And we thought little Andrew Simon was awesome! We all did! He had something like six parents. And he got cuter and cuter.

And then when he was about 2 or so, it happened again! We're having another baby! Woo-hoo! Mom was thrilled, Dad was thrilled. Robert & I were married already, but thrilled. By this time, Cindy was in high school, but she was excited. And when little Benjamin was born, we were all on hand. Now the family had a 3 year old (by this time) and a baby. By the way, Mom was 40 by this time, but I don't remember her complaining.

We were blessed again three years later, Mom and Dad's last. There was no less excitement, and this time we were rewarded with the most precious little girl. My little sister, Abigail, is now 13 years old and is a huge blessing to my parents.

So what exactly is the gift? My parents taught us to view children as God views children, as gifts and as blessings. From the very beginning of our marriage, we had that excitement, that perspective. Lord, please send as many as you want, because frankly, they're a blast!

We've been married just short of 19 years and the Lord has blessed us with six children, and we are expecting our seventh. Each one has been terribly fun and I can't imagine life without them. When we found out we were expecting our seventh, you should have heard the cheers from the children! I hope we are passing down the same perspective to our children. I hope they know how great they are, so great we'd gladly take more!