As It Was

Another Summer rolls around, and they're back at school. Well, three of them are back at school; one is still in bed, one is packing for a lad's trip to Spain, and one is changing the landscape of a garden. 

I think it was our first Summer without a family holiday, all eight of us. There is something a bit sad about it not being 'as it was', but also something new and exciting. I definitely missed the chaos that comes with us lot on holiday. Finding somewhere big enough to start with, then there's the planning, the booking, the journeying, the seat allocation, the room allocation, the food allocation, the packing, the lists. How many shoes can we actually take? Can we fit in body boards? Do we need a tent? Do they take dogs? What breakable things need hiding as soon as we arrive? 

But twice this year, myself and the husband have holidayed with just the girls. Just the little ones. Just those two. A third of the kids, in one car and even on a plane! It's so much cheaper, and simpler. You can say yes to more ice creams or bottles of pop. They sit and colour. You put them to bed, and you still have an evening. You can eat out because they don't require all the carbs that the restaurant has to offer. It's no less adventurous, no less fun, (maybe a little less 'accidental' sibling attacks) definitely no quieter, possibly the same amount of clothes taken and amounts of time being thrown in a pool, but it is different. 

The husband took three boys away, for a spontaneous few days in France. Three massive lads in one fairly small car, with one clothes bag between them and a massive bag of pasta. They came back physically exhausted from driving all night, and from inflatable injuries, having had individual quality time and chats with dad. The same brotherly banter, highs and lows that are present at home, always go on holiday with you. But it was different.

The eldest went off on his own, (well with a buddy), to inter-rail across Europe, to jump off of a dam and white water raft! He still shopped at Lidl (proud mum moment) but he was away for summer, and that was different.

The seasons are a changing. For us, the holiday 
change seems to be one transition of many. Whereas we are also fifteen years into the same Primary school run, the same route, the same late mornings.   

Some of family life will always feel the same, because of who we are, and what we have developed over the years. But change is inevitable. Some aspects of parenting just stay the same. Monotonously the same...day after day, week after week. Some aspects seem to change hourly, daily, according to each child, each mood, the weather, a full moon... There can be a familiarity, a comfort, in the sameness. Or it can feel like a draining chore. Equally change can feel good, exciting and new, or scary and unsure. Or all and both at the same time.

I am grateful that my Heavenly Father sees it all. He sees the bits that stay exactly the same. He sees the new bits and the worries they might bring. He sees the sadness of change that we might feel, mixed with a reflection that this is what we've been building towards. He knows what we're feeling, even when we are unsure what our parenting thoughts and feeling are today. He's got us parents, and thankfully He's got our kids too. "He remains the same yesterday, today and forever more". (Hebrews 13v8). 

This is a great comfort to me, that He never changes, no matter which season we find ourselves in, or which season our kids find themselves in, or which mood they are in right now, even. He was the same when we first holidayed with one small baby, then with two, three, four, five, six (and even seven). Back to five, or just the three and only two. God's sameness however, is never to be confused with Him being bored by us, or Him finding the fathering of us, a chore. He is the Father of love, adoption, compassion, mercy and blessing, and is always watching us grow.