A Home Full of Blessings, A Home Full of Noise

Hi, I'm Rae! My home is full of noise. Most of it is joyful noise, some of it is not. I try and take joy in all of it! In fact, I am taking joy in it this very moment as Hubby has let me lock myself away in a room so that I can finally get this blog up and running. I hear the screeches and squeals of my 4 children as they echo down the hallway to my room. It sounds joyful out there.... I think. There have been times where Hubby has taken the kids out of the house so that I could get something done, and it's not that I don't enjoy the quiet, I REALLY do! But.... it's weird, almost kind of eerie, because it's not the norm. The norm is noise, and I have come to love the sound of it. This is how it is meant to be. I have a home full of blessings, which for me, equals a home full of noise. 

I haven't always felt this way about the noise level in my home, and yes, of course certain kinds of noise still grate on my nerves. The tattling noise, the whining noise, the kids-being-way-too-rough-and-crazy noise, the sibling arguing noise..... need I go on? None of those are particularly joyful moments, but I have learned to take joy in them anyway, because it comes with the territory of having children and THAT is a joy within itself! I can take joy in the noise of kids being crazy, because it means that they are all home and we are all together. I can even take joy in those whiny or tattling moments, because it means that God has given me a perfect opportunity for instruction.

 Now, I am by no means perfect at this, I still get irritated and impatient as I believe most parents do. I rely on the Lord each day to give me joy and to help me find it even the most unlikely of places. And even when it's hard to find something joyful in the noise of a fit-throwing 3-year-old, I can always look forward to the many other noises that will far outweigh that one. Like the excited yelling of children as their Daddy walks in the door from work, the boisterous laughter that comes from having a silly-face contest, the shouts of, "Hey! Now I get it!" from a child who has been struggling with a math concept, and the loud cheering as they watch their baby sister start taking her first steps with her push-walker. I wouldn't trade that noise for anything!

I hope that you will come visit me here frequently as I write about faith, family, taking care of the home, parenting, homeschooling. I may share some recipes, a funny story or whatever suits my fancy at the moment. What I want most is to be a help and an encouragement to all who visit here, that is my prayer. Whatever I am led to write about, it's likely that I will be doing it with an earful of noise. Preferably the joyful kind.