It's starting to occur to me that I am also getting older. It's not just those cute little kids all around me that are growing up, driving, graduating, getting married.... I am also growing older. Having an almost 3rd grader is OK, having two girls in school is a little scary, but I just had one of my "little" cousins (they are really my cousins' children) graduate college!! and another graduate high school. The one who graduated college? Well, when T and I first got married, and moved into a townhouse 4 doors away from him, we watched him walk to elementary school each morning! Crazy, but they do grow up!
Now, I've been watching my cousin's children grow up as they are all around me. It's been fun and a great learning experience for me, watching my four cousins go through life, broken marriages (not so fun!), having babies (loads of fun), raising teenagers (not so fun all the time, but sometimes!) and putting their kids through college (won't even go there), watching their grown boys head off to Iraq (scary, but proud) and one of them even getting married! It's starting to make me feel older.
Last week I received the graduation announcement for the little 2 year old that I used to babysit for when I was in college. I came home for the summer and my father, who was only happy when his kids were working every waking moment of summer vacation to help pay for college!, kept shoving "help wanted" ads in my face. I was already working for my former employers, doing office management/bookkeeping, but that was not enough! I found an ad for help babysitting 1 child while her mom worked evenings at a restaurant. Sounded perfect, and it was, sort of!! I went for a visit and found a single mom, struggling to keep a house and raise a beautiful little girl. After talking for a bit, she shared with me that she had gotten married at the church we went to but was now divorced. She later told me that she was a little concerned about me being overly religious, but how bad could a church girl be??
I ended up spending a lot of time with these two all summer, and when I returned each vacation or summer. V, the mom, ended up becoming MORE "religious" than me! She found a wonderful man, settled on a medical malpractice suit that stemmed from the delivery of this beautiful little girl that left her unable to work much at all, and sent her daughter to the local Christian school. Just last week, I got the announcement that her daughter is graduating high school.
I have never felt older than when I got that card, because I know that these two taught me a lot about life. From them, I've learned how easy my life really was, how we can trust God to provide even when we have little hope, how important it is to reach out to others and help those in need. Each of us is an extension of Christ, His church, and what we do for others needs to be a reflection of what He wants to be for them. I also learned through my parents example how to support my children when they meet folks who need help. When I went off to college and there were no others to help with A, my parents babysat. They brought dinner. They bought groceries. They paid some bills. And last Saturday, my mom went to A's graduation - and I'm glad she did. Because, in many ways, A wouldn't have made it to that time and place without them, at least that's how I see it. We were links in a chain, we answered a call and we get to see some of the fruit.
This is a good kind of older I'm feeling - like I've learned something important, like I'm ready to learn more. I don't know who else God will send my way, but I want to be ready for more V's and A's. I want more weddings, graduations, and eventually I want to see all of them with little children. I can't wait!
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