September Blessings

We typically see a lot of posts about "Blessings" around November. Everyone talks about what they are thankful for. I look forward to that time every year. Social media just seems happier.

But what about the rest of the year?

It’s been an interesting few weeks for us. Our central AC went out about three or four weeks ago. It’s been HOT at the Marshall house. For weeks now we have had windows open, fans blowing, and have still been sweating in most of the house. Cooking has been awful. We’ve had a lot of cold lunches and dinners.

I had my third miscarriage in a row this month. We lost another baby 10 weeks into the pregnancy. For two months I was ridiculously sick. I couldn't keep anything down, I was exhausted and miserable. I struggled to do anything, I was weak from hunger, and I could barely take care of the kids. But I kept saying it was all worth it. It would all be ok once I held my baby. But I'll never get to do that.

Our house is really hot right now. BUT, our school/playroom has a small built in A/C unit, so we have had one cool room in the house to hang out in.

I lost another baby. BUT, my four children are such incredible blessings. My church family has surrounded me in beautiful ways, and God has never left my side.

Our playroom is cool but we’ve also been sleeping in there, so mattresses, pillows and blankets are covering the floor. It's hard to move around in there. It's cluttered. I hate clutter. At first I was annoyed. It’s hard to get school work done in a cluttered room. And it was difficult to do it anywhere else because of the heat. It was frustrating. But then I realized how my kids see our situation. And it checked me. We’ve been talking about blessings in school lately. We recently learned about Washing Day. How women had to take everything to the creek and would scrub all of the clothes by hand. Then had to wring them out and hang to dry. After the lesson, we did laundry in our fancy front load washer and dryer. We learned about cooking over a fire and not having very much to eat. Then we made lunch using our fridge, oven, and fully stocked pantry. We read about having to build your own home. Cutting down trees, forming logs, putting them together (without much help in many cases), building a roof and sealing it off from the elements as best as you could. Glass windows were rare and pricey. The whole family stayed in one room together. Beds were made of straw. They had no air conditioner, and only a stove for warmth in the winter. After that lesson, we made our comfy beds, cleaned our big house and had story time in our air conditioned play room. It has been good for my kids to learn about these things.

Naturally, I, as the teacher, already knew them.

Or so I thought. I started complaining yesterday about us all having to sleep in the same room (I’m a very light sleeper and don’t sleep well with the kids close by). My kids instantly talked about how much fun it has been. And what a “blessing” the room is. Jeremiah: “It’s like the one room family house we learned about!” Rachel: “Only we have an air conditioner in here. And big windows. Those are blessings the other people didn’t have.” Katie: “And we get to eat in here too! The old people didn’t have much food.”

At this point, Rachel mentioned the delicious meal that my friend from church sent to us after the miscarriage. The kids talked about how good it was. How nice it was that it lasted us three days and I didn't have to cook dinner all that time. Rachel talked about the flowers my friend sent with the food. Jeremiah went on and on about how good the dessert was. And I just listened, being reminded of friendship and God's love. They started talking about their beds. Jeremiah loves that he gets to “camp out” on the floor with his sleeping bag and lantern.

I put two toddler mattresses down for Katie and she exclaimed, “It’s like a baby bunk bed!” Josiah is sleeping “in the castle” (the bottom of our school cabinet) and is THRILLED to have his daddy on a mattress right beside him. Rachel has always liked it warm, and has been comfortable in her own room with a huge fan.

I’m sleeping on a couch in the playroom that we got for $20 last year (another blessing). It’s cool and far more comfortable than a straw mattress.

Rachel has mentioned multiple times this month that “it’s so nice that we have cold air in the playroom. It would be REALLY hot if that unit wasn’t there.” While I’ve been complaining, my kids have been noticing the good. Paying attention to the blessings. They’ve been taking my lessons to heart and I’ve been forgetting everything I’ve taught them.

It’s humbling to learn something from your kids that you thought YOU were teaching THEM. It’s amazing how God works sometimes.

While I talk about the hot house, they talk about the ice cream party on the front porch we had to escape the hot house.

So here I am. Reminded to be THANKFUL. GRATEFUL. And remembering my BLESSINGS. Our central A/C lasted most of the summer.

Blessing. We have a cool room to sleep in. Blessing. We have ceiling fans and box fans. Blessing. My husband just put a small unit in my kitchen for me. Blessing. Fall is right around the corner. Blessing. I have four kids who are incredible and remind me that I don’t know as much as I think I do. BLESSING.

My family and friends have surrounded me with love after this miscarriage.

BLESSING.

God has given me PEACE after this miscarriage.

BLESSING! As we get closer to the holiday seasons coming up, I pray that we can all remember just how much God has done for us. Even our problems are small compared to what many others are going through. I’m grateful for children who see the good. And aren’t afraid to remind me to see it too.

I'm thankful for Rachel who hugged me out of the blue and said, "It's sad that we lost the baby, but I'm glad he got to go straight to Jesus."

I'm thankful for Jeremiah who is so compassionate and kind-hearted. He's constantly checking up on me to see how I'm doing.

I'm thankful for Katie, who makes me laugh and lights up the room with her big eyes and massive smile.

I'm thankful for Josiah, who has randomly run up to me multiple times this week just to kiss me and say "I lub you."

I'm thankful for the peace God has given me in this time in my life. He is so good.

I'm so thankful for September blessings.