This kid…
This kid, has been an Asker for almost a year (we received him June 23). 
He is a HAM. He makes us laugh when he responds to my calling him sweet “Mom, I’m not syrup.” He makes us proud when he picks up an elderly man’s dropped park map and holds it out, calling his name, following him to his car. Or makes us laugh as we are proud when he walks up to a grandmother who just hauled a stroller up the set of stairs, and points out the ramp just 2 feet away.
Speaking of hams…
This kid makes us laugh regularly. But he also is learning to read and think more deeply than I imagine a 5 and a half year old can. Today we were preparing some Sunday school materials and came across an image of flames. I asked him what fire and God had to do with one another. He recalled stories of fires in the Bible (Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac and Moses and the burning bush).
Then he remembered Pentecost and the flames on the heads of the believers as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. I asked why God would bring fire to us and Elam said, confidently, “To warm our cold hearts.”
This kid…
This girl had one awesome first grade year. She lost her two front teeth, continued to pick wonderful friends and made us very proud every week with perfect spelling tests (except the week of vacation at the beach. Oops.)
She is also becoming quite the artist. Here is her work, inspired by Starry Night.
This kid… well he isn’t much of a kid at 35 but eats like he’s 18. We maintain a somewhat consistent habit of date nights, eating great meals together and laughing in the midst of being a parade wherever we go.
Seriously, this rack of ribs was the size of my forearm.
Having these 3 kids has truly forced me to realize that I don’t want to waste my life. That I want to train them to be future world changers because we live in a broken world. They force me to get up earlier than I want, do more laundry than I thought humanly possibly for any family of 5 and force me to serve myself last most days (do we get to eat hot meals in heaven?). But they want to crawl into bed and snuggle in the morning no matter how awful I may have been the previous day. They remind me to play instead of dust. They also give me great job security.
My old job was to help students on college campuses see their lives transformed, their campus renewed and develop them to change the world. Now I do that with these 3 fantastic, future college students. I think the world has got a great shot at changing for the better with these three in the mix, don’t you?