10:33 am
I’m fairly certain I’ll remember today and the details of today just as I remember the specifics of the day my kids were born. 8-2-14, 10:33 am, 17 yrs old, 5.5 months pregnant. It will forever be etched in my brain. Today life as we know it changed at the Sparrows Nest, in ways we have only have prayed and dreamed would happen.
Of course, true to the good Lord’s nature, it didn’t quite happen as “by the book” as we hoped, but that’s God’s reminder to us that every hour we need him. I find that true even now as I write. I am exhausted. Perhaps it was the waiting (I’m sensing a theme in this season of life) over the last 24 hours as her arrival was imminent, or maybe it was the constant dialogue and review of all our training, policies, and procedures playing on repeat in my head. Or maybe it’s simply that I have an 8 month old who added to all of it by not sleeping well the night before (of course). Regardless, our first day together has come to a close. She is all nestled in upstairs (I know-enough with the bird analogies)…and the Nest is full(er). Two extra lives sleep with us tonight, albeit one is inside of the other, but none the less two more. The smell of “girl” is already in the house. I walked by the entry way this afternoon to catch a whiff of perfumes and lotion coming from the upstairs. I couldn’t help but smile, and pray that this scent never leaves. I stood prepping dinner this evening, and watched the beloved backyard garden be put to use on a beautiful day as she sat with a good book in the rocking chair. And at supper tonight, we thanked The Lord for our “family” at the table. I listened to my 2.5 year old daughter list the people she “loved” at the dinner table tonight…including our resident, without skipping a beat.
I breathe deep, knowing that each day will be different, full of its own challenges and milestones. I breathe deep in reflecting on all the prayer, blood, sweat, and tears that have helped make this moment moment possible.
In the final minutes of each of the days my kids were born I can remember thinking to myself “whoa- did that just happen? that is crazy awesome.” Tonight, in the final minutes of this day I sit and think the same…and yes…it is CRAZY AWESOME.
Amanda Shaheen
The Sparrow’s Nest House Mom