Transition.

Everyone always says that life is crazy, busy, hectic, and moving too quickly.  I guess it makes us feel important or valuable to fill out time with activity and then accomplish it all by the day's end.  We like to be intentional about our family calendar.  Things work best for us when we are together - a lot.  Brad and I work best when we are sharing the same "space" on a regular basis...we get "frazzled" when we are apart from one another for too long.  This is not to say that our "togetherness" is always sweet or pleasant.  {snicker}  Our family just works best when we are not running around from event to event...we are homebodies.  Maybe your mind is full of images of agoraphobics or a family of recluses.  Honestly, we're not that far gone.  We go to church, we have friends, the boys have occassional playdates with friends, we have lots and lots of people over to our house for dinner or to hang out, we go to the library story hour, and we go to the park.  However, our calendar is pretty simple.  It reflects what we value most: relationships with people.

Just the other day, it occurred to me that leaving our home used to be incredibly difficult.  When the twins were very young it was much easier to just stay home - too much effort required to load everyone into the van.  I can vividly remember the stress of gathering coats, hats, shoes, etc... for all four boys and then wrestling helping them into said items.  Then, I would strap the twins into their infant carriers and take the big boys (ages 4 and 2) downstairs (to our basement garage) to the van and strapping them into their carseats.  I would come back upstairs to grab the babies and deliver them to the van one at a time.  Somewhere in the midst of all of this activity, someone would fuss or cry or scream or wail or...you get the idea.  It was hard.  I can vividly remember the effort involved in grocery shopping with all of the boys in tow.  It was quite a spectacle: Sam walking beside the shopping cart, Luke in the front (seat) of the cart, one infant carrier in the basket of the cart, one infant strapped to my chest in a sling, and pulling another cart behind me to carry my groceries.  People looked at me as if I had three heads instead of four young children.  {grin}  It was time-consuming and labor-intensive...but, so worth the effort.  My boys learned to work together, be tolerant, and to entertain themselves.  I learned that I am more capable than I had imagined.  God had given me every gift I would need to mother these little men...and His Holy Spirit to empower me to do it!

So, I am recognizing that the Johnson Tribe is in a time of transition.  We're much more mobile and it requires considerably less effort to move the Tribe from place to place.  For the most part, the boys are capable of behaving themselves and are very confident that I am not afraid to discipline them when we are in public.  It's mostly a pleasant experience to go places with them....I look forward to it.  {sigh}  There was a day I couldn't have ever imagined thinking that.

So, this summer Sam will attend a basketball camp at the local University.  He is super excited about it and we're eager to cheer him on as he learns about the game.  Luke, Caleb, and Matthew will be enjoying some swimming lessons and to say they are excited doesn't begin to describe how they feel about it!  Matthew squeals everytime we mention it!  They are growing up and ready to spread their wings a bit more...I hope their parents can keep up.  I am praying fervently for God's wisdom in keeping a proper balance with this new "busyness" in our lives...to keep loving Him and loving His people at the center of our family life. 

So tough to take a picture of four squirrely little boys!  Sam (5), Luke (3), and Caleb & Matthew (11months)

The Johnson Brothers - Christmas 2011  (incorrect date stamp)
Caleb (3), Sam (8), Luke (5), and Matthew (3)