Suddenly There Are More Of Us

At 11 o’clock last night, Ginny received an e-mail from Mark, one of her brothers, and his wife, Becky. The e-mail let us know in advance that they were flying from Maryland into Jacksonville—Last night.

We did not know they were coming and we are not sure how weekend plans will work out. Ginny and I plan to attend the funeral service for Barbara’s daughter Saturday morning, so we are not sure about how to greet out of town guests.

And here’s the kicker—Mark and Becky are coming here to pick up two children they are adopting. Here are two photos of the kids from the e-mail attachment:

First we’ve heard a word about this.

Mark and Becky have three children of their own already; now they are adopting two more. What a handful.

Mark and Becky certainly are more Christian than I am. I doubt if I’m capable of that level of commitment.

Personally, I subscribe to the King Herod school of child care—Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain. But I admire the gumption of a young couple who of their own volition chose to raise children. As the father of six, I’ve been a father for three fourths of my life. I don’t know how I managed to survive.

What do you do with small children? It’s been years since we had a little kid visit us although when our own were school-aged the house was aswarm with them and their many friends all the time.

I’m still in the midst of fixing the pool filtration system so I can’t let them swim. Maybe we can take them to the beach or to the zoo… Or maybe we can all go to Jennifer’s house, her pool is up and running… Or we can take them to Eve’s house and let them chase cats.

I’m off balance (not an unusual state for me).

So, Mark and Becky swoop into town abruptly for a visit and they suddenly increase our extended family by two… Don’t know what to make of that. Heck, I didn’t even know she was pregnant.

Welcome to the family, Kids... You don't know what you're letting yourselves in for!