With the Addition of Each Child...

I have become more rude. Before I had children, I was thoughtful. I spent lots of time at the local card store, scouring the aisles looking for the perfect verse to encourage, uplift, thank, or celebrate an accomplishment of my family members and friends. I searched high and low for just the right gift for weddings, birthdays, and baby showers. I sent a thank you note for every kind act received - I probably even sent a thank for note in order to express my gratitude for a thank you note I had gotten. I was thoughtful.
When Sam was born, we were showered with generous gifts from our family and our church family. I remember weeping as I wrote over 70 notes to thank these kind people for their generosity to our little family. Sweet memories.
When Luke arrived two and a half years later, we were once again showered with generous gifts and yummy meals. It's overwhelming to be loved that extravagantly. It took a few months, but I eventually wrote the "thank you" notes.
Fast forward twenty months later, when the twins arrived. We not only received yummy meals and generous gifts that came two by two, but also help with moving. We moved to a bigger home just weeks after Caleb and Matthew arrived. I was recovering from a c-section and lack of sleep. I was helpless in many ways. I was unable to lift boxes, I was busy nursing little babies, I was recovering from the flu. ugh. I have never felt more vulnerable in my life. I don't like to be needy. I love the thought of living in "community" with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I love to help take care of their children, prepare meals for them, pray for them, support them...but, I am not very good at receiving that. One wise friend encouraged me to "Say thank you and then shut up." {grin}
Our friends, some of Brad's students from the seminary, and even people I had never met came to help us move. Some kind women even packed the remaining items in my kitchen and the contents of the cabinet under our sink (aka the "black hole" in my house - everything that doesn't have an obvious home ends up there)! It was humbling and the most generous act of love I have ever received.
I have never been more thankful to be loved, to be part of a community of believers, to be numbered among God's children. I saw God carry our family once again. I was so overwhelmed by gratitude. So overwhelmed that I didn't send one thank you note. Not a single stinkin' note. There simply wasn't time...unpacking, chasing children, feeding children, doing laundry, bathing children, and trying to get dressed before noon. Now, I feel like there is enough "space" in my daily routine that I have a few moments to begin to write some notes. However, I am too embarrassed now. It's been over a year ago! What would Emily Post say about such behavior? {grin}
So, I have never been more thankful or more rude. What a combination.