A Solid Foundation

I'd like to take a minute (or two or twenty) to introduce myself and my family and share my vision of where I want this blog to go.

First of all, I am a born again Christian and have chosen to live my life according to God's holy word. As parents, God has given us an important role in our childrens' lives to teach them about Him and to raise them up in the way of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." By the way, I can hear the children singing this in my head from my son's Steve Green CD and I'm sure it will be stuck in there for the rest of the day! I believe that God has blessed my husband and I with this wonderful yet often scary task. Yes, we will make mistakes along the way but that is why God's redeeming grace is so important. It is our job to lay a foundation for our children to give God an opportunity to work in their lives. He doesn't NEED us to accomplish this because Almighty God can do anything, but He CHOSE to include us in His great plan for our children. Children are a blessing and I am very grateful that God has chosen me, a habitual sinner, to be a mother to each of these beautiful little gifts.

My husband and I met online nine years ago and will have been married six years in January. We have a five year old son, a one year old daughter, and are expecting twin girls in early February. We plan to homeschool our children, just as my husband and his siblings were, and I always wished I had been. Currently, we are renting a house in the city but it is our desire to one day live in the country and have enough land to give our children room to run, have a large garden, and raise some animals. We would like to be as self-sustaining as possible but we are still a long way from accomplishing that goal. Everyone has to start out somewhere and we are happy with where God has put us for this stage of our lives.

Okay, so I have two reasons for starting this blog, which by the way, I hate calling it a blog but don't know what else to call it. I get a lot of questions about my twins. "When are they due?" "Are they identical?" "How are you feeling?" "How are you going to manage?" "What does it feel like when they move?" "Do you have everything you need?" "Wow, you're going to have your hands full!" Yeah, so that's not a question, but I hear that A LOT. It's amazing how many questions I get but I know that those questions and statements will only increase with the birth of the twins. I think that it would be nice to have a place to answer some of those questions for those who are curious.

I would also like to use this new-found "celebrity" status as an opportunity for ministry. I know, it sounds weird to say that but I feel like everyone wants to talk to me and meet me once they find out I am having twins. I am sure that going out in public after they are born will draw a lot more attention as well. I used to see this as one of the annoying things about becoming a mother of multiples, but I am starting to see it as a tool to be able to share that children are, indeed, a blessing from God and that I love the job that God has given me to raise my little ones to be followers of Christ and productive members of society. I have read a lot of blogs and articles about twins and mothering in general and have noticed a theme in a lot of them. This theme is that children are difficult and you have to simply survive them the best you can until they are old enough to venture out on their own then you are free. You love them, of course, but you have to try to find ways to fit them into your life. It seems to be such a common idea in this world that most people don't notice this philosophy forming in their minds and how damaging it can be. Even to those who view children as a blessing from God! I honestly didn't notice the impact that it had in my own life until a very wonderful woman whom I respect and love dearly pointed it out to me recently. I want to be able to remind people that even though parenting is hard, it is the most rewarding and amazing and incredible job anyone can have. I do not want to simply fit my children into my life, I want to create a life around my family. A life that is devoted to God and living out His principles, and it is my prayer and hope that this can influence at least one person to start to change the way they view parenthood.

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him." Psalm 127:3