It has really hit me in a fresh way: children (& grands! :-) ) are an investment! I share that because our lives were enriched in a brand, new way on October 10, 2009.
Roman Willis Weddington made his entrance 4 days early, weighing in at 8 lb 1 oz & 20.5" long. I have no problem admitting that I am one smitten Mimi!!! I told Blair today that it feels like I've always known him...i guess that's perhaps in part because some of Roman has Blair in him as well as James, and in some strange way, it does feel like only yesterday that I was delivering her & doing all the things I'm finding myself doing for her baby now.
I am currently living life overseas alongside sweet Roman with his Mommy & Daddy, and it is such a joy & a blessing! Since they live in the faraway region of the Middle East, I am incredibly thankful for even having the ability to be here. Icing on the cake is that I get to travel back to the Y country in a few weeks with them where they live & work. I am anticipating that actually seeing where they've been the last year and a half is going to have a profound affect on me.
As I've helped care for Roman the last week and a half, God has reminded me what "investment" many times looks like...and it's not necessarily things I might think of as an investment because they just look like ordinary, day-in, day-out kind of things.
Diapering, burping & walking during the wee hours of the night are alot of what I've spent my time doing. Of course, I've also kissed on him like crazy, snuggled with him, sung to him, hummed to him, held him, & rocked him....all the things we grandmothers long to do!
Being around a new baby has taken be back to early parenting days. We were sooo young when we started our family, and yet I have NO regrets!! I loved, & I mean reeeeally LOVED being a Mommy of babies. I also loved every other stage of raising them, and yes i even mean middle school too (Neal would say otherwise about himself!).
Once we arrived overseas, and we settled into life with Roman, I found taking care of him came so naturally...even after 23 years. I was kind of surprised, but I guess it's kind of like riding a bike: once you do it, you never forget. As I rocked Roman one day, I confessed to Neal there had been several moments when I realized as it was happening that I was doing & acting & responding exactly the way my Mom did with my babies. I didn't even have to think about it. It was in the way I was expressing myself to Roman, and in the way I was holding him and in the way I was humming hymns to him. I didn't work it up or say to myself, "What should I do
now?" I just did them.
All that to say: Mom, I wish I could tell you in person. So until heaven, I'll blog about it now. Thank you for investing in me, and for investing in my babies. We are all who we are in great part because of you, and I am a Mom & a Mimi who is forever thankful for your humble example of being a woman of investment.
