Thoughts and Thursdays....

Note to self: Never, ever have a baby at the beginning of a schoolyear.

Okay. Okay. So I really didn't have a "say" in the arrival of our sweet baby, Ethan.

But I'm just saying now...

Back when Stuart and I started to discuss the possibility of a third little Foote, I mentioned (quite strongly) the fact that (especially) since we homeschool we should be (especially) careful not to plan a baby for a September arrival....

I'll pause to let that sink in...........................................................

Yeah. Yeah. I really was present during health class in high school. I really did learn about the "birds and the bees." (Remember, we'd already had two babies...babies who were planned.)

And then I heard it.

It was the sound of God, up on His glorious throne in Heaven, laughing.

I don't know if I completely understood it then. (I thought I was so in control of stuff like that.)

And while our first two little people arrived more-or-less when we expected them, we weren't so blessed the third time around.

Bringing another baby into our family seemed as elusive as catching Santa Claus eating the cookies and milk you left out for him on Christmas Eve.

But then it happened. When we least expected it. Or possibly when we no longer expected it? Ethan Samuel arrived about 5 years after we'd hoped...in -- you guessed it -- September.

Are you laughing? I am.

I believe that God allows us to go through situations to teach us. In my case, I learned that I definitely do not determine the timing of my little ones....and that I need to rely wholly on God for my strength (something I already knew well but needed to be reminded of).

September. The time of vacation and my hubby's birthday; of school starting, soccer starting, ballet starting, learning group starting... So much happens at that time of year...

Sure, the older kids could have gone to our local brick-and-mortar school. But we'd already committed to continuing their education at home, so we knew we needed to continue no matter how hard the road might become.

And it did become hard at times. We had a new person to work into our schedules. We had new feeding times and changing times and naptimes...and lack-of-sleep-and/or-patience times.

Now, as we stand poised at the finish line of the school year, we look back and smile as we sigh.

Who'd have "thunk" Ethan into our lives all those years ago when I told Stuart the one month to avoid having a baby was September?

Note to self: Scratch the first thought, and remember this one instead: Never, ever doubt the timing of God's blessings.