Five People, Two Bedrooms

In the last few weeks, my little home has had a couple of visitors. I was so glad to have them here!

My dream home has at least one extra guest room. Preferably, it has a whole finished basement with a guest area and a private bathroom for guests. Some place far enough removed to give company some space to exist far from crying babies and midnight bottles.

My reality, though, is a cozy little two-bedroom apartment with an open living room/dining room/kitchen plan. In place of a spare bed, we have a couch. A couch that is right in front of the little hallway that leads to the bedrooms and bathroom, with a great view of nighttime lights for feeding and changing baby and the ideal location for hearing any and every little sound throughout the apartment and from the noisy park next door. Oh, and did I mention the evil cat that lurks around and hisses at people who try to get into the refrigerator or use the bathroom? (Note: She is not evil to our immediate family. Our children are not in danger. But if you come to our house, don't pet her. She's not trying to be friendly.)

It's tempting to look at our situation and think that we're not in a season to offer hospitality. I mean, really, having more than one child in our home is already pushing our limits space-wise.

But I am so blessed with incredible friends and family. They make it easy to give wholeheartedly out of what we have without feeling like our situation is lacking. Our two out-of-town visitors this month were both incredibly gracious and flexible about the tight space. They were so loving about our menu that varied from the incredibly well-planned one day, to the if-we-don't-eat-Little-Caesar's-we're-not-eating the next. They were so kind to continually offer help and love on our crazy little chaotic babes, who keep things busy, fun, unpredictable, and full of joy at all times. And they were so understanding of our schedules that require Josh to continue work as usual and me to duck out for foster related appointments and visits that are not flexible.

Thanks for the hours of playing David and Goliath, singing Jesus Freak, and "eating" rocks from Big Bro's Donut Shop, guys! You know who you are!

As if I wasn't already feeling super loved and pampered with all this family around, we had two people stop in last week just to help out. I so appreciated that. They made such a huge difference in a day that was full of (good) busyness that might have brought me awfully close to my limit without that extra support! And I always love to share our foster babes with the people in our lives. It is incredibly validating to us when people ooh and aah over them like the precious little treasures they are, even if they know they might only meet the babe once.

We have the most amazing family - both "biological" and "adopted" - in our lives. I am so grateful for the incredible people God has brought us together with. I know that my family could not do what we are doing without our incredible network of support.

I just want to say, I love you guys.

You're the best.