we are a lot!

from l-r Ruth, Andrew, Jonathan, Deborah, Sarah, Elizabeth

these are my birthed babies

when they were all living at home, 

especially when they were young,

I would get comments like

"wow, you have a lot of kids"

if only they could see us now...

each of my babies has married and had babies of their own

which has already given me 19 grandchildren

when we are all together there are 31 of us

now THAT'S a lot of kids

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about my family this weekend,

it might have to do with the mountain of bedding I washed for just 2 families-

I lost count of the number of loads, but it took two days-

or the comment from a friend that 12 people spent the night at one house-

that's a small gathering in my book, but for her it was not

I have come to a conclusion: 

we are a lot 

a lot of noise 

a lot of personalities

a lot of opinions

a lot of occupations

a lot of laundry

a lot of movement

a lot of interests

a lot of conversations

a lot of shoes

a lot of cars in the driveway and in front of the house

we consume a lot of food

we live in a lot of different places

we fill a lot of trash bags

this is us in a nutshell

we are not for everyone, 

and that's okay

we are a lot 

a lot of family

a lot of support

a lot of pray-ers

a lot of Jesus lovers

a lot of love

and if you want to join us, 

come on in, we will welcome you with open arms

just come knowing, 

we are a lot, we belong together

and we will only become more as the years go by

this would have been perfect when the kids were still living at home