changing

ten years ago I was interviewing for my dream job... well, I already had my dream job as  a division I softball coach but I was interviewing for one of the best coaching jobs in the country... 
How life has changed in ten years....  changed in ways I could NEVER imagined, changed in GREAT ways.

One of the great things about coaching college softball was getting to drive very cool 15 passenger vans all over the country.  Big, hard to park vans full of screaming/laughing young people.  Never in my life did I EVER think I would BUY a big van like that....

How life has changed in ten years....

Our "baby blue beast"

Let's be honest, I never saw myself as a "minivan" person.  When we outgrew our small car, we would get a cool SUV.  That changed when Keith found our very awesome Town and Country minivan.  It had leather seats and all kinds of other cool things.  I loved it.  I remember sitting at a stop light one day looking over to see two teenagers in the car next to me.  It dawned on me that I was no longer "one of them"... a young person.  I was a mom in a minivan.  That was cool with me!

We got a new car this weekend.  We have outgrown that awesome minivan.  I am no longer a "minivan person".  I am one of THOSE people.  One of those people who has so many children we have to get a ridonculous looking 12 passenger van! 

Now I will be honest, we could have gotten one of the large SUVs and still fit everyone in but then when family came to visit we would still have to take two cars everywhere and if we are blessed with another child we would have to get the van so we just skipped the SUV stage.  Keith searched long and hard to find the perfect car for our family.  He drove down to Texas and got me an AWESOME new (to us) 12 passenger van!  Now I drive a big, hard to park van full of screaming/laughing/crying  young people EVERY DAY!

I cannot lie, I am a little sad to see my minivan go.  It was so nondescript.   When we were in the van, people did not look at us and make comments wondering if we knew "how that happens", there were no rabbit factory comments while in the van.  Unless you happened to catch us getting in or out, the causal observer thought that we were just your average minivan driving family with a couple of kiddos strapped inthe back.

Now there is no denying it.  According to our cutlure, our family has become overgrown.  The Big Blue Beast draws attention to that fact.  We pull into a parking lot and people stare.  Sitting at the stop light people look over and wonder, "Church bus?  Day care?  It can't be a family, who would have THAT many children."

The "Big Blue Beast"

When we first started talking about getting a big van, a family member actually told us we should just stop having children because WHY OH WHY would you want to have to drive a 12 passenger van around?

We weren't sure if attempting to limit the size of our family should really be based on what type of car we wanted to drive around...

So here we are, owners of a Big Blue Beast.  Any small chance of blending in is long gone.  But really, we are called to be set apart, different.  It is not my goal to blend in.  It is my goal to shine glory to the Father in heaven.  It is my goal to live my life according to He who called me, He who saved me.  So now, when people see that big blue beast and all of us riding in it, when they say "you have got your hands full..."

I can say yes, full of God's blessings.