When My Book No Longer Holds Their Story

     Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a dream of writing a book. She sat up high in the tall pine tree overlooking the yard with her friend and shared her desire to not only write a book, but to get it published someday. It seemed like a far-fetched idea, because none of her stories seemed any good at the time. but little did she know that she was indeed writing a story...a story with her life. A story that would stretch into the years to come, with lots of chapters full of tales of happiness, struggles, joyful memories, marriage, homesickness, new babies, change, and more change. It was a book that she took for granted and never thought about the story changing. 
     See, another dream she had always had was to get married, have children, and be a homemaker. She had not spent many days of her life without a child around, whether it was her own siblings, (she was one of 6), or babysitting the many families in the town she lived in. She felt comfortable with little ones in tow or on her hip. It was the older kids her age that frightened her. Little children never misunderstood her or made her feel uncomfortable. She could freely talk to them and never feel judged. So, she stuck with little ones.
       God was good to her. He gave her a good husband and they eventually had five little ones of their own. Life was full of adventures, boo-boos, tears, laughs, potty-training, toys all over the floor, and crazy shopping trips where people asked her odd quesitons like if she knew where children came from or if she was even old enough to have that many children of her own. But she was right where she had always wanted to be. 
     Then something started to change. Those children began to grown up. They began to enter their teen years. The years that had always frightened her and felt like it was the great unknown. How was she going to raise teens when she couldn't relate to them? Or to their friends? That scared her more than anything. She had known they would grow up, but in the midst of daily life of changing diapers, breaking up fights, and playing Legos on the floor with the children, it always felt like it was a million lightyears away. 
     But here it was....there was no stopping it. It was coming whether she liked it or not. And she held onto the verse from Isaiah 41:13, that God would be right there holding her right hand through it all. She trusted Him to guide her and her husband through these challenging years, because they had no clue as to handle the difficulites that might come their way. 
     Before she knew it, her first son was 18, graduated, and making plans for a life as an adult. Not long after came the next son, who graduated and was making plans for an adult life. She found that when you have five children close in age in the beginning, they stay close in age in all they do, including growing up. One of the sons found his soulmate and got married in 2023. He moved out of the house and began his new life with his bride. Seeing his room empty of all his stuff made her break down with the realization that he was just beginning his own story. While he was always going to be her son, he needed to leave his mother and father, cleave to his wife, and they would become one flesh. A new story. The beginning of a new book. 
     Then the third child, their first daughter, found her soul-mate and got married in 2024. She moved out and began her own story. With three children still at home, their mama could still fill her time with some of the nestlings around her. 
      Then came 2026. A life change that God brought about in one of the children's lives provided an answer to many prayers that had been sent up over the last year. A home was provided for the oldest son and his wife, and many days were spent preparing this new place for them. That opened up a room in the home they had shared with their grandfather, which the second son decided to take. He had wanted to find a place of his own this year anyway, and this provided him with a place close to home, that was within his budget, and also allow him some freedom and independence. The third answer to prayer was for the "friend" of the youngest son. She needed a place to stay and didn't know where to turn. With the new house came an extra bedroom, and the son and his wife quickly agreed she could live with them. Another prayer was the fact that there was now a guest room in the home where all the children had grown up, and visitors (like grandma's) could come and stay for a while. It was truly a win for all. 
      The youngest son turned 18 and all came crashing down on their mother's head. It seemed impossible that all her children were now adults. How could that have ever happened? She had been told by a wise man from church that she should not blink because they would be grown before she knew it, and guess what? I guess she blinked. 
     The youngest son, now turned adult, quickly moved into the bedroom that the second son had moved out of. Now there is an empty room across the hall that echoes with the memories of little boys leaping off the bunkbed ladder, biting glowsticks and shaking the glowing goo all over the room so it shone like starlight, the laughter as they  attacked Mr. Nightnight (dad with a pillow over his head), bedtime stories about JJ and Caleb-missionary pilots, and the green hand that lived under the bed. 
      Life won't ever be the same for this girl, who had dreamed of raising a family, as well as writing a book someday. But you know what? God answered all those prayers from that little girl's childhood. Because that little girl was me. As I look back at His hand in my life, I can see Him guiding me every step of the way. He was there holding my hand from the time I asked Him to come into my heart when I was around 6 years old, until this very day. As I sit here and write this, I can't help but feel so blessed by the abundance of blessings God has poured out on me. Though it is true that we have had our struggles, financial, physical, and spiritual, God never left our sides during any of it. He allowed me to not only write and publish one book, but He has gifted me with 5 published books now. Oh wow....I just thought of something. Five books and five children. Five times the blessings that I should have had. God is sooo good. 
     And so, as my children slowly leave the nest, they are beginning their own stories-their own books about their lives. Though my book will no longer hold their stories, I will still have little moments here and there with them in my story,  and I will relish every moment together. I can't wait to watch them as they write about tales of happiness, struggles, joyful memories, marriage, homesickness, new babies, change, and more change. And through it all I pray that God will bless them as He has me. Because when you put Him first, you are basically giving Him the pen and He will help you write the best story ever.