In Less Than Four Years

What a busy but blessed season this is! It seems as though our feet are hitting the ground just as fast as our heads are hitting the pillow each night. The door to the house has become a revolving one.  It brings in old and new friends and sweet family members on an hourly basis it seems. It warms my heart and fills our home with love.

We have survived TCAP week, seen the end of another school year, and enjoyed a trip to Disney World. Jackson and Nancy Caroline have played a lot of baseball and softball, while Sadie continues to work hard at gymnastics. They have a slew of summer camps between the three of them. Michael and I have helped with the planning of WeCareCannon, started the ball rolling for Saba Summer Missions, and most importantly are working happily at being mom and dad.

Our family also saw Michel and Myron finish a school year at Lipscomb and head home for the summer. Wait...some of you still ask the question as to who these two fellas are. So, in a nut shell, they are our honorary "sons" from Saba.

Michel, the younger of the two, successfully finished his freshman year. He seems to have settled in well and even joined us on a mission trip back to his home island in March. I am very proud of him.

Myron graduated from Lipscomb with a degree in Enterprenership. He has worked so very hard and before he headed home to Saba for the summer he turned 21 and took the GMAT. We anxiously await the results and pray fervently for his success.

Those two words...Myron graduated...

In less than four years, one can get a degree from a very reputable Southern Christian university. In less than four years, a very young high school student can become a more than confident college graduate. In that short amount of time a young man can be on the brink of the business world.

In less than four years, an international student can make his way to a big U.S. City and lean upon the help of some senior college students to help him figure things out and begin to find his way. He can become roommates with a couple of "small town country boys". In the midst of dorm life with them he can find that small towns aren't that different from small islands.  These roommates can also become the best of friends.

In less than four years, a young man can learn a new culture. He opens his mind and can see good things. But he can also identify the bad, and he can learn from both. The young man can learn the lingo of the people he has been emerged into. He can adapt to the differences, but he can stay very true to his roots and where he comes from. He can respectfully love both "homes" and realizes that the knowledge and love of both are a true gift from God.

In less than four years, a thirty something mother of three can learn how to grocery shop for a host of the males species. She can take ground beef and learn every recipe under the sun to make it as diverse as possible. She can learn to change bed sheets in the blink of an eye. That mom can learn to hold her breath a total of 36 seconds. That's how long it takes her to empty the clothes basket of 3 boys sweaty ball clothes into the washing machine.

That same mom can learn to appreciate the game of basketball in less than four years. She can learn the names of Los Angeles Laker players. She can get use to having a Florida Gator football fan in her house. In less than four years, the ESPN sports center chime can become one of her favorite sounds.

But more importantly, in less than four years a mom can learn her arms can hold the tiniest of babies, but they feel just as nice wrapped around her 20 year old "son" in a hug of encouragement.

In less than four years, a man can be faced with a bit of a dilemma. "Am I a dad? Am I a brother? Am I a mentor?"  Finally that man can figure out that he is a bit of all three, and he can be very content with that realization. He can go on adventures, give advice, be a friend, and gently guide.

In less than four years, a big brother can become a little brother.  Two little sisters can find themselves not in the majority any longer. Children are resilient and have the innocently big hearts that so many of us need to revert back to. So these siblings very easily open their exclusive club for another, and then another. In less than four years, they can gain two big brothers.

In less than four years, a family of five can very quickly become a family of six and then seven.  That family can see the best out of each other, but can love each other through the worst. They can have expectations, but they learn to not make demands. They cheer each other on, they celebrate birthdays, and give each other encouragement. They laugh on road trips, play games around the kitchen table, and enjoy frequent trips to the Chinese buffet. The family worships together, invites the neighbors to play Sunday afternoon kickball, and learns the quickest route between Woodbury and Lipscomb.

In less than four years, one's heart can become happier...fuller...bigger.

In less than four years, I have learned so much from watching a 17 year old, 6'4", basketball loving, Caribbean boy become a 21 year old, broad shouldered, highly educated,  professional young man.  I have watched him love God, love on others, and love on us.

When Myron came I had no idea what we were saying "yes" to as he came to house on weekends.  What I have learned the most during these four years is this...

If you live your life open to God's story continuing to be written in you, you most certainly will impact others, you will change people, you will disciple. You also will step outside your comfort zone, you will be confused at times, and you will be pushed to some limits.

But what you do not realize is that the greatest change you see will be how God changes you.  He will open your mind.  He will cause you to see that things are not about comfort and staying in the "bubble" of the small town American lifestyle. God will cause you to see that everything He has given you...your house, your car, your family, your talents...are not to be hoarded up for yourself and your inner circle. They are the tools He will use to grow the Kingdom through your walk with Him.

Open the doors of you home. Don't be afraid of your dirty laundry being aired out. Welcome in folks. Feed them. Set at the table with them. Talk with them. Let them see the life you live. Watch how they live. Learn from them and let them learn from you.

"Always be eager to practice hospitality..." Romans 12:13

I can still remember the first weekend Myron came "home" from Lipscomb. I worked so hard with my Martha mentality to ready the house. Our friend Shelton dropped him off. I remember the anxiety I felt wondering if he'd like our home life and what he expected out of this crazy Tennessee family of five.  Could he take all the chaos and the noise? Would he be happy with what I cooked? He was about to see the "real" us, not the "10 day to two week mission trip us". Would he be disappointed?

Now I find myself holding all the answers to those questions. He loves us and our home...the good, the bad, and the ugly. He became one of us and we became one of him. The joy this brings me is unmatched.

So I sit now and miss his presence. Summer months are a bit too long. I already long to hear Myron and Michel banter back and forth as brothers do. I miss seeing him sit at his"office". I miss the sound of socca music bellowing from upstairs. I miss the sound of his chuckles from a random commercial or you tube video.  Normal Thomas family life includes Myron and Michel's presence...the anxiety now is in the waiting of their return.

God is good...all we have to do is open our doors...and our hearts.  You never can imagine what He will do. I mean, just look at what He did in less than four years.