Thankful to be at home

Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to be a mama. When asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I would always come up with a different answer. It seemed that I needed to put something down, but none of them really fit. I'd say I wanted to be a dance teacher or a school teacher, maybe a nurse. Maybe I'd try my hand at the business world, though I knew nothing about it and had zero interest..... it seemed like a good response. But I've always wanted to be a mama. Even when I went to college I didn't have a goal in mind. I was certainly working on my Mrs. and switched majors 4+ times in 2.5 years at a junior college. Yeah, I didn't know where I was going with all of those classes. Albert and I started dating after my third semester in college. At that point I was pursuing Elementary Education. It is still something I am interested in. I switched my major one final time to "General." Exciting huh? I could use all of my credits and graduate a semester early. I finished my associates about two weeks after we got married. I finished teaching dance the next semester and headed out to Oklahoma. Since Albert was in training, we both thought a part-time job would be good. So, I worked at 0ld Navy. It was a good pass time. We talked about me staying at home with our kiddos before we were even married. Or maybe it was something that we just always agreed on and never really discussed. I'm not sure. Either way, I really wanted a baby when training was coming to an end. I was five months pregnant when we moved and have been at home ever since. I love this job.

There have been several times that I have felt bad or weird about staying at home. I've been asked, "Do you work? Outside of the home I mean." Or, "What's your degree in?" One friend told me that I could finish my degree on-line through a great program she was doing. I just don't feel like that's for me. I'm not against having a degree and maybe one day I'll go back to school, but at this point it's not on my "Bucket List."

A couple of weeks ago I felt that God was really assuring me that this is where He wants me to be. On a Wednesday night Albert called and asked if I could take care of a friend from the squadron's little boy the next day. I watched him before and knew it would be a bit of a challenge, but how could I say no to a friend in need? The little boy came over and all of the boys had a great time. About lunch time I was waiting for Albert to call (There was a chance we'd get to see him for about 30 minutes) when the doorbell rang. I answered and it was a dear friend who used to live right down the street. They have moved about an hour and a half north and we have not seen them in over a year. What a blessing a surprise to have her and her two little boys visit. We welcomed them in and had a 4 month old little girl and boys ages 1,2,3,4 and 5 play for about a half hour. Albert called right after T and her boys got here and we both decided it would be best to visit with them. We had a great time and tried to catch up as much as you can with all of those little rascals running around, 30 minutes and over a year worth of missed time. It was an awesome day.

None of my cleaning was done and the house looked a bit more like a toy store or daycare center than I'd like, but I feel like we were really able to share the love of Jesus. If I worked away from the home, our family would not have been able to help a friend and I would have missed the opportunity to visit with an old friend. God is really showing me the many ways to be hospitable and use our home for His purposes. What a blessing!