A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Bathroom

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Just like that, your entire life and outlook can change. Your awareness of who God is, and how you fit into His plans… for me, it happened on the way to the bathroom.

We’ve just moved into this new home. On New Year’s Eve. The kids stayed outside and lit fireworks with the neighbors until around 11 pm. The next morning, they played outside all day. And the morning after that. And all day after that. School started back on the 6th, so yes, imagine five full days of playing hard from sun up til way past sun down.

In every home we’ve lived in, while it was a great home, or a great school, or a great place to live, the kids have only lived in one neighborhood that came with friends. Aside from that, it’s always been just the Ginger Twins.


To be clear, we do speak love in our house but if you’ve only played with one person every day since forever… well… I don’t judge if you’re completely sick of that person after awhile.

So here we are, moved into this new house. There’s a little boy and girl next door. Our age! Two little boys and another little girl (our age!) two doors down from them. In the other direction, two doors down and across the street, there’s another little girl. Great googly moogly, there are so many kids, it’s crazy! And get this:

They want to play with my kids. 

Do you hear the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus too?

Now this town, it’s a funny little town. The kids just walk right in. Sweet things. Like they own the place.

Did I mention that in our last house the kids shared a bedroom? Two beds, in one bedroom? In this house, not only do they each get a bedroom, there is a shared den space/playroom that is theirs for the taking. It’s also theirs for the sharing. In comes one neighbor. Like they own the place. Then another. I peek around the kitchen wall and see SIX little heads all sharing the couch, watching tv together.

Bless their lil’ hearts. Friends!
The hubs and I look at each other and nod. This. This is what they’ve prayed for. It’s what we’ve prayed FOR them. A place where they feel comfortable and their friends feel loved. And lookie there, they don’t even notice that the house is a wreck and nothing’s put away yet.
I look them all in the eye, on the couch and lay down the ground rules.
“Okay y’all, here are the house rules. No cussing. No disrespect. No roughhousing. Close the toilet lid (yes, I had to state that). And pee in the potty, not on the floor.”
“Yes ma’am” rang out across the couch.
About halfway through the week, I discover the cereal is all gone (because the neighborhood is eating it) and that we (the neighborhood?) somehow drank three gallons of milk. Hubs and I decide that once we get settled, we really have to look at the pantry and maybe set some more rules.
Tonight as I stepped into the bathroom I saw what was a nearly empty package of bathroom tissue. Two rolls left, which would normally last us two weeks, and we had consumed nearly four times as much as normal. How is that even possible? Okay, Lord. How am I going to make two rolls last ten more days? 
Ah yes, that moment of truth. The moment when it dawns on me, Gee Karen, why don’t you ask God to provide for all of these children.  

You do not have because you have not asked. (James 4:2)

 
Hello?!?! You could swear heaven reached down and whipped a roll of toilet paper right at my head.
 
It’s not rocket science. You see I don’t want to have a place where I have to limit toilet paper. I want the kids to come have a glass of milk if they don’t have any at their house. One of the little boys was telling me he got straight A’s in school on his report card, and we high fived. “You’d better bring me all A’s at the end of the year. Don’t you be bringing B’s and C’s in this house. A’s. You can do it.” I am not this boy’s mama! What has come over me? Who am I, that he should bring me his report card? He doesn’t owe me his report card! But he left with a smile and a promise to work hard and get straight A’s and I believe he will. Right then I had this crazy thought, What if we had a year end party and anyone with good grades could come have pizza and a movie night? And what if we did it every semester and it became a tradition?  
But for this to happen – for our home to be a beacon of God’s light – a place where the entire neighborhood feels welcome and we don’t run out of milk and toilet paper halfway between pay periods, it has to be a God thing. He’s got to provide what we need, and I’ve got to remember to ask Him to provide, {===>;Click to Tweet} knowing he’ll turn my five loaves and two fishes into pizza, milk, and toilet paper to welcome the neighborhood.
Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted.
XOXO,
~ Karen

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