Posted on 03/03/2011 7:09:09 AM PST by MintyHippo1980
Today, let's start with a quick game of Bennett family trivia!
Name the Bennett child who is most likely to clean up a mess even if she didn't make it, hold onto her fajitas even if she falls down a flight of stairs with them, and take your last soda out of the fridge. Did you guess Lyndsay? Wow! You really know your Bennett family trivia! Your prize is the last soda in my fridge...since Lyndsay isn't here to last-blast it. :-)
In case you are coming in after the picture started, I had Lyndsay when I was 25 and she was 7...and although it sounds highly improbable, she was one-half of my easiest delivery! If you're totally lost, you should probably check out my post from a couple days ago: Are You For Real?!
Are we all caught up? Excellent!
This is Lynz as she was when she became my #2 daughter:
But for those of you who enjoy a good baby picture, I can do that for you too:
Could you just DIE from the cuteness?! I knew it!
Here's one of the problems that I'm running into as I wade through all the things you should know about Lyndsay and all the things God has used her to teach me: While she has a long list all her own, she also shares some important things with Kayla (whom you will meet tomorrow) because I received them at the same time and in the same way. See my problem here? I don't want to leave anything out of either girl's introduction, but some stuff they are just going to have to share. But it's like that a lot in a big family. They're used to it. They'll be fine. (Right, girls?)
Here's how it happened: Jim and I met in November of 1993; we married in February of 1994; and, while I had spent time with Lyndsay and Kayla over their Christmas break that winter, it wasn't until they came to spend the summer with us that we really got to live together as a family. Fortunately, I already knew how to work with a daughter, so I didn't have to deal with learning a completely new language that summer...but it was the first time I had been a mother to more than one child.
Now, there are those who claim that you really can't even call yourself a parent until you have your second child...because until you have more than one, you've never had to break up a fight or call an inquest into who broke this.
This claim may have some merit.
And while we all look back on our "first summer together" with great fondness, I won't lie to you...it was an adjustment. We had an eight year old who had always been an only child...and then found herself sharing a room with two (2!) sisters. We had a seven year old who had been the oldest child...and now she had a big sister. And we had a five year old who was...well, five. It was a very exciting summer!
And then it was over.
The silence left behind when Lyndsay and Kayla went back to California with their mom was deafening. I didn't have long blond hair to braid every day or fights to mediate or a room full of girls to shush at bedtime. It was really the first time in my life I had known the crippling loneliness mixed with worry mixed with frustration that you only get when you're separated from people you don't just love...you love to the point that you don't feel complete without them!
You may have wondered about the title of this post. (I know I would have!) But Lynz knows exactly what it means. You see, there was a song with that title that was hugely popular one summer, and Lyndsay loved it! And when she left in the fall, it was a long time before I could hear that song on the radio without crying. (Now it's the ring tone on my cell phone when she calls me!)
But God used that pain--that natural tendency of a mom to worry when her kids aren't with her--and He taught me one of the most difficult truths I have ever had to grab hold of with both hands: He loves my babies so much more than I do, and He is sovereign, and if I think I have any real control over anything, I'm just kidding myself.
And what a blessing that He used Lyndsay to teach me that lesson when she was young! Because as much as it hurt to put her on a plane at the end of a visit...as scary as it was when we would get a phone call telling us she had been hurt...as frustrating as it was to know that we couldn't have a daily impact on her life...at least that stuff was all happening while she was under the roof of a parent. How much more frightening it became when she grew up and moved out on her own and made decisions that we worried would hurt her! But what a comfort that God had already taught us that our most important job as Lyndsay's parents was to pray...and to be there for her.
Because let me be absolutely clear--all our kids have done things we wish they hadn't. Sometimes they've even done things we cautioned them against! I mean, why should they be any different than their parents were...any different, really, than we still are sometimes? Our kids would have to get up pretty early in the morning to rebel against us any better than we've rebelled against God...and yet He is always watching for our return. He's always delighted to have us back in His arms. These are all things God used Lyndsay to show me.
And even though I've talked way too long already (which, by now, is no big surprise, I'm sure), I really want to share one more thing before I wrap this up. I don't know that either of us can claim bragging rights to this--unless it is to simply boast in the Lord for His many, many mercies--but one of the amazing characteristics of my relationship with Lyndsay is that she has never, ever dismissed me because I'm not her "real mom." Not once. I think that is very, very rare. And that complete integration as family...that clear picture that it's not a trip to the delivery room that makes a person your child...has been a truth that has become a cornerstone of our family over the years.
Before I sign off, I would like to leave you with one of my very favorite recent pictures of Lyndsay:
OK...let me tell you why I love this picture. This was taken when we went on our first Bennecation in 2009. (For the uninitiated, the Bennecation is a vacation for Sweet Jimmy B, me, and our descendants. In 2009, there were 16 of us; this year when we go to Branson, there will be at least 17!) Aside from me, I don't think anyone was as excited about our inaugural Bennecation as Lyndsay was. Between the two of us, we probably drove a lot of people crazy. But that's just how we roll. How Bizarre!
Blessings! Missy
But thus says the LORD:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, And I will save your children." Isaiah 49:25
This is like a bad Christmas letter from my sister-in-law.
I think you’ve just insulted bad Christmas letters from sister-in-laws.
Well, aren’t we the grumpy-wumpy today! Cheer up! God loves you!
This is great. We got white space! I was looking at my tax returns - might have a little extra this year - and this .44 magnum Redhawk in a case at the local pawn shop. Looks like it’s in pretty good shape. The man’s asking five bills. Do you think it’s worth it? I don’t have anything in that caliber yet.
Five is OK, but I’d try to get another $50 off that. The Redhawk is a brute strong gun. You can shoot stuff out of it that would rattle a Smith 29 to bits.
Then why won’t he buy me a Mercedes Benz?
19 inches of snow last week in the area and me with my snow tires in the back seat. I trashed one of them hitting a muffler on a mountain road in the middle of a blizzard and now I'm on summer tires until the new one is delivered. Great timing.
I'll drop by the pawn shop and see if I can move the guy without getting distracted. They got some neat stuff...
Ooh, him’s just a Mister Gwouchypants today, isn’t him? :-)
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