My Little Teachers…

Their are many joys when it comes to being “the oldest” I have gotten to be there from day one in ALL of my syblings lives…and yes there are lots of them

I guess that as “The Oldest” I am suppose to be the “wisest” but I am convinced I know nothing compared to Ashley Nate and Ethan….

I’m reminded of this daily…they all teach me so much…they teach me about what’s important, about who really matters…

they teach me about life!

Ashley is a constant reminder of what strength looks like…I would give anything to not cry at the “one eyed dog” commercial…or to be able to say the funniest thing and not laugh at myself…

Ashley can say something that is so hilarious you might cry from laughter…and she barely smiles…as if to say “yeah I know Im hilarious”….

I, on the other hand, cant even get the “funny thing”(that I probably heard from Ashley) out of my mouth without dying of laughter!

You know when someone is trying to say something funny but can’t because they are dying laughing and everyone just kind of looks at them like “WE WOULD LAUGH IF WE KNEW WHAT THE JUNK YOUR LAUGHING ABOUT!!!!”….yeah that’s me….so I hope one day I can be like Ash…

and Ethan(the youngest)….I could write a book from all of the hilarious things he says…and I wish I could capture his tenderness and compassion and share it with the whole world…

Tonight he came down and said “DAD! Did you know what Ashleys TEACHER told her??? and of course my Dad said “No…what?” then he proceeded with great frusteration and complete shock…”He said that there is NO GOD! and that we came from MONKEYS!” and then gave his little “how ridiculous is that!” face…there was no doubt…no questions…no “are we wrong?…is he right?”…just a “HE IS CRAZY!” He never cease to amaze me…

and then there is Nate…yes for all you OCD people I went out of order…for a reason….

He is the oldest boy..I remember during this summer’s vacation to the beach Nate and I were talking and he was feeling a little left out…and I remind him we were both the oldest(him being the oldest boy) so we should stick together…and his little face lit up…

This past week I was reminded of just HOW big Nate’s heart is…

I helped out with the first few minutes of his small group time during powerhouse last sunday and I asked the kids if anything “exciting” happen during the last week…and of course all of the kids threw their hands up…and they all said things like “I got to go see this movie” “I won this game” or “I got to play outside yesterday”…all adorable answers…and then Nate said “WE RAISED $500 DOLLARS IN OUR GARAGE SALE YESTERDAY…and all the money is going to help a family coming from Cuba that doesnt have anything…and we are going to help them! He looked up at me and I had to fight back tears…

He gets it! He really gets it…He is 11 and He gets what this life is all about…

and…

it excites him!

I went and sat down and thanked God that he gave the most amazing sister and brothers who remind me what life is truly about…

So often I feel like because I am so much older and busy I don’t get to be very involved in their lives, and I sometimes wonder If they’ll remember their big sister as just never being around or if they’ll remember a big sister who loved them more than words could ever even begin to describe!

I am determined to give them memories to remember and show them how much I truly adore them…

Life would be colorless without them! I love my little teachers….

~Me