on maturity

Overnight I am stunned by how the kids are growing, maturing and becoming more independent. I can't even count how many times I think to myself, especially about Ella, "Are you really only 7 and a 1/2? Really??" It's not only the way she talks, but it's her natural interest in contributing and being a part of things.

As I mentioned in my previous post, bedtime with Josie can be a long process and last night, I had some phone calls to tend to and wasn't able to be as involved as usual. So Ella stepped in willingly to save the day. She said to her daddy as he tried to console Josie, "I can lie down with her. I WANT to!" So he gave it a whirl and we didn't hear a peep from her the rest of the night! Yesssss!

And this morning when we woke up, Ella got up with Josie and changed her diaper before I even got out of bed. Whaaat? I wasn't that self sacrificing and responsible in my early twenties. For reals.

On Sunday, Ella wrote on her communication card that she wanted to serve in the toddler room. She ended her request with an all caps "PLEASE?" I think it's a really grand idea and she'd be so helpful as an extra playmate for the littles.

All this growing up spurred me to ask the question of the kids today, "What do you want to be when you grow up." Ella said, "There are a bunch of things I want to be. Can I be more than one thing?" To which I replied, "Of course!" Then she listed off all of the possibilities, "A salon girl, an artist" and that got her onto a tangent daydreaming about where that could take her. She said, "I want my art to hang in Hollywood or something!" I think she's under the impression that anything famous must come out of Hollywood. I asked, "You mean, you want it to hang in a gallery somewhere so people can buy it from you?" "Yes! I would sell each painting for five dollars!" Well, I thought I needed to let her know she could aim higher. "You know, Ella, lots of artists sell their paintings for much more than that, maybe hundreds or thousands of dollars because they put a lot of time into each one." That got her dreaming..."Ok. Well, maybe I'll sell one of mine for 6 billion dollars and then every person in the world could put one dollar in." But that idea presented a quandary. She paused and reasoned, "No. That wouldn't really work because who would actually get to take the painting home?"

At bedtime, I asked Simon what he wanted to be when he grew up. He didn't hesitate and answered, "A pastor." "Really?" I asked. "Why do you want to be a pastor?" to which he replied, "It sounds fun." "What would be the most fun about being a pastor, Simon?" His answer was simple. "Telling people about Jesus." Yes. So I prayed for him that God would give him the passion to tell others about how much Jesus loves them. And he snuggled down to sleep. That's my boy.

Seriously. These kids blow my mind. They bug each other and fight and do all the things kids do, but then they show their hearts and I marvel. God, make their lives great for you!