Being the Minority in the Sorority
Similar to last Friday, I'm suffering from a campaign hangover after the Republican National Convention (I didn't even watch Senator McCain last night - yawn). With 60 days to go, it's time for a political break.
In trying to write about what I've been thinking of late, I confess I'm at a loss: I've not been thinking too much these days. I'm back in the groove teaching at Westminster, my bookstore job has been pretty busy, and I started class (Old Testament History) earlier this week at Covenant. The combined hours for all of the above have been long, and as the weeks have gone quickly, so has my energy.
This is unfortunate, as my four girls seem to be getting better at storing up and replenishing theirs. When we lived in Colorado, our friend, Shaunda, used to say that she never thought of her kids as sleeping; she always thought of them as recharging. I can relate: sometimes I find myself observing this four-headed, eight-armed-and-legged organism called Female, and the fact that I am the minority in the sorority becomes overwhelming. Even more so is the suspicion that I can't really call this gaggle of little girls my children anymore; it's instead as if they are becoming my kids, which is a really different and daunting realization.
The ladies are so alike in resemblance, shape, and proportion, and yet they are all so uniquely "them" that I wonder how in the world this is all going to work in 8-10 years. Will our house be big enough for the multiple personalities in residence? I think of Philip the evangelist, about whom the Bible says "had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied." Having enough bathrooms was not that guy's problem; having enough platforms was. I'm wondering if my future may involve a need for both.
We've been told that the girls are all a pretty good mix of Megan and me (though physically they have more resemblance to each other than to us as their parents, we're "in" there if you look hard enough). Intellectually, they love to read, have learned to be curious about life, and tend to be excited about what they learn; emotionally, they have strong but gentle temperaments we hope will serve them, others, and God well. Of course, all of them have their fair share of our sin nature, a reality we hope God uses to bring them humbly and repeatedly to Jesus's feet (which is quickly becoming our most necessary family-friendly destination).
Megan's working the bookstore shift, so I'm looking forward to some Saturday hang time with the ladies today. We're heading to The Heights this morning for some exercise (a concept), then we'll check out the St. Louis Art Fair in Clayton this afternoon. Tonight we're all going to a big cookout at a teacher friend's house in Ballwin, so the girls should be pretty tuckered out by the end of the day.
Or more likely, that will probably be me.
