Speculation can come to an end.
Leslie is with child once more.
I don't like the word "accident" being used in reference to a baby, but this was a big surprise for us. We definitely did not expect to be expecting #6.
Let me back up about a year......
We had been steadily running out of room in our house. After my bonus and our taxes were done last year we were finally prepared financially to begin shopping for a new home. After looking around the market and not being able to find a good match, we looked into having a home built, got connected with a great builder and agent, and decided to design our new home ourselves. Around this same time our friends, Jason and Brenna Clark, announced that they had decided to become UncomfortableForOneYear. They were choosing to downsize their life, giving up a job, square footage, and comfort in order to serve the poorest of the poor in our community. We were proud and inspired by their decision, and also dosed with a big shot of guilt. 'Are we really just a heartless one-percenters who just want to be comfortable in our bubble?'
We pressed on through the year, through the fun and frustration of having a home built, and in December we were ready to move to our new home.
Then, the week of the big move Brandon Baker, our church's youth minister, and his wife announced that he would be resigning from his position and that they would be joining Jason and Brenna in planting a new church, Impact Temple, to serve and evangelize the least of these in Temple. They too are downsizing, giving up comforts, and giving of themselves to do Kingdom work. And here we were moving into the huge house of our dreams with two garages and a chandelier in the laundry room. Again, we were proud of them and almost ashamed of ourselves.
Don't misunderstand. Throughout our home buying/building decision we wanted to be able to use our new home as a tool for Kingdom work, hosting a home group from our church, being able to provide meals or a bed when someone needs it. A home to share with our kid's friends through their growing up years who might need an example of a mommy and daddy who are still married, under the same roof and not screaming at each other. A place to allow us to raise our kids close to wild things and God's creation. A place to teach them to work. I read a quote recently that said parents are so focused on giving their kids what they didn't have that they forget to give them what they did have. That's what we want to do. Give our kids and anyone else who shares our home with us, whether for an hour or a week, a place to put down roots that will grow into faith, hope, and love.
So after we moved in, even though things were still cluttered and boxes, I felt like I had hit all of the big ones in life. Education-check. Wife-check. Job-check. Kids-check. House to grow old in-nevergonnamoveagain-check. Now we just had to wait a few years to become grandparents to cap off the perfect life.
We hadn't completely ruled out having more kids, but I think Leslie and I had both settled in our minds that we were done. We designed this new house for the 3 girls and 2 boys that we already had. But then we were reminded that when something claims to be 99.9% effective it also means that it is .01% ineffective especially when it's up against someone as virile and potent as I am and a woman as fertile as my wife.
And here we are. Trying to wrap our minds around having kid #6. Asking each other over and over, "What are we going to do?" "What are we going to drive?" "What do we name this one?"
We are overwhelmed. Joyful and scared to death. We're going to need a lot of help and encouragement.
For more of our thoughts on having a large family, check out these posts from a few years ago......
by Leslie- http://justinandleslie.blogspot.com/2011/01/glorious-but-not-so-glamorous.html
by Justin- http://justinandleslie.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-response.html
