Whoo Hoo! All the Kiddos, Back Together!

Today’s the day that I get to have all of my kiddos back together. I know I’ve talked about how this first year of having kids away at school has gone and the different changes in family dynamics, but today I get to shout with happiness that all my kids are home! JJ’s plane will be here in a few hours. The boys are SUPER excited! They have been counting down the days for the last 2 1/2 weeks. They’ve made all sorts of plans about what they will do with him, show him, tell him. In my last podcast, I talked about the excitement that families feel when their deployed mom or dad is coming home. I have to say that the little boys are just as excited to have JJ coming home.

Honestly, I’m a little nervous. I am not getting back the same boy that I sent off to school. I was able to visit him in October and I remember that there had already been some changes in him. He came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we could see that he was calmer and more introspective. I have not seen him since January but in phone calls I can hear changes in his voice and his tone. He sounds like he’s comfortable with himself and with life and tuned in to the ways that God is working in our lives.

I am bursting with pride! I’m also very excited that the little boys will have a male role-model in the house for the summer. It’s going to be so good for them to have someone to play games with them, take them on walks and bike rides and to instill some of his calmness on them.

Alright, alright, I’m not expecting miracles! They are going to get riled-up and play too roughly and yell more loudly than I want. But underneath it all, I’ll know that they are learning from their brother who has gone away and learned about himself, his faith and how much his family loves him.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Have a great day~