Occupied

Though we quickly moved on from sentimental kangaroos to wild and crazy dinosaurs, I found myself musing on the notion of holding my children in my heart. Or more aptly, their OCCUPYING my heart. It’s amazing, really, the way my children have all moved into the deepest places of my soul from the moment that I’ve watched that pink cross on the pregnancy stick whisper yes. Like author Shauna Niequiest, I was surprised at how early this “occupancy” begins and at how completely it consumes me. In Cold Tangerines Shauna writes, What I didn’t expect was that right from the beginning, the baby would occupy so much of my mind and spirit. I knew it would occupy my body, but I was surprised by how deeply it took root in my thoughts and prayers and dreams. I was never unaware of it… I thought it happened to you, and then at some point a baby came and that’s when the life change began. But that’s not the case at all.

The more I talk to moms ahead of me in this journey of parenthood, the more I am beginning to realize the truth that Mama Kangaroo was trying to teach her bouncing baby. “You will always be a part of me, no matter where you go.” And no matter how “big” you grow. The tire swing in the old oak tree may sit empty when my children go to kindergarten. Their bedroom may be abandoned when they head off to college. Their spot at the kitchen table may one day be vacant. But their special room in my heart will never be boarded up or used for something else. It will never sit empty nor forgotten. The place in my heart that holds my children will always boast a sign that says, “Occupied.”

The Overflow:  He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents –Malachi 4:6