God has been teaching me so much about His character lately. Not just in the Psalms- but through illustrating his character I've read in the Psalms in my own life. I wanted to be sure to have this account written down somewhere, so I’m going to take a little break from sharing my drawings, and illustrate who God has become in my life in a few installments of stories. When I stared to write this down, I was surprised to see where God actually began the story- so much longer ago than I had originally thought. So here goes...
I am amazed by God’s goodness, grateful that he doesn’t always answer my prayer, and satisfied knowing that when I am obedient, He pours out innumerable blessings into my life and to those who are around me.
The beginning of this story starts long ago when God impressed upon my life that I wanted to be a mom. First and foremost, I had the world’s most amazing mother and I wanted to be just like her. When my two sisters and I would ask her, “Why did you marry dad?” she would answer, “so I could have you, of course!”
That gave me the impression at a very early age that the only reason you got married was so you could have children! That’s what I wanted to do- to grow up and have kids and be like my mother.
When we were young, my family did not have a lot of money, and my mom was determined to give us our own dolls for Christmas one year. She couldn't afford to buy us dolls, nor did she have money to buy white fabric. The only material she had at the time was was yellow and brown. So she made my older sister Amy an asian doll and I got an african doll. They were beautifully crafted with embroidered faces and thick black yarn for their hair. It was my most favorite doll. I named her Marie. I don’t have a lot of memories of playing with dolls other than her. With knowing I couldn’t pretend that she was actually my baby and probably watching Annie too many times than I can count, I used to play “orphanage” with her where I would rescue her from a life of living with a bunch of mean girls and would take her home to be my own. Without knowing it, I think this is the most wonderful doll my mom could have given me. What a lesson in compassion and generosity to learn that you can love a person that doesn’t look like you! My mom would teach us how to dress and hold them, how to swaddle them in blankets, and how to kiss and tuck them in at night. I really think this is where my desire to be a mom came from...and quite prophetic that Amy and I would be two people who would take in kids from the foster care system one day.
Growing up I always had the need to mother something. I was obsessed with taking care of living things and the list of pets that I owned contains the following: dogs, cats, fish, finches, a cockatiel, a guinea pig, a lizard, a grow-a-frog (you know, the mail-order tadpole you get in this rectangular cube of a tank and you watch it grow into a frog), rabbits, a pony named Daisy, an iguana (which actually belonged to my sister Robin, but I’m going to count it anyway), I hatched chicks in my bedroom and raised them in my bathroom, and two horses. I was a 4-H girl and just loved knowing that I was in charge of taking care of something that depended on me.
I was always the mother of the group too. I can clearly remember playing “family” on the playground in first grade, and I would always be chosen to play the role of mom. In college, I always had the dorm room that people would come to when then needed a study break. They would be greeted with a cup of tea and good conversation. I just loved taking care of people and knowing their needs were met. I also found a family in college that had 9 kids in it- ages infant to 15. Instead of going out on dates sometimes in college, my then-boyfriend Justin and I would take seven of the kids out for a swim in the college pool and out for ice cream. I just couldn’t wait to get married and have kids. It was my calling in life.
Still, I knew I had to be somewhat patient. It was the steadfast rule in my house that we had to graduate from college before we got married or my parents would not pay for college. When I was in eighth grade, my mother was my was my Sunday School teacher and she asked us to draw a picture of ourselves in 10 years. I was 13 at the time. I drew a picture of myself with a graduation cap and a HUGE gown and wrote the date June 15, 2004 underneath the picture. My mom looked at it and said, "Megan, why did you draw yourself so fat?" I said, "Mom- I'm not fat. I'm wearing my wedding gown underneath my cap and gown. That way, I can go from my graduation right to my wedding ceremony and not waste any time!"
I met my husband-to-be the following year in high school, dated for 7 and a half years and got married a month after I graduated college. I didn't quite have my gradu-wedding like I had planned, but it was close. Justin and I got married June 18, 2004. I don't mess around. I needed to get married before I became a mother.
I was always the mother of the group too. I can clearly remember playing “family” on the playground in first grade, and I would always be chosen to play the role of mom. In college, I always had the dorm room that people would come to when then needed a study break. They would be greeted with a cup of tea and good conversation. I just loved taking care of people and knowing their needs were met. I also found a family in college that had 9 kids in it- ages infant to 15. Instead of going out on dates sometimes in college, my then-boyfriend Justin and I would take seven of the kids out for a swim in the college pool and out for ice cream. I just couldn’t wait to get married and have kids. It was my calling in life.
Still, I knew I had to be somewhat patient. It was the steadfast rule in my house that we had to graduate from college before we got married or my parents would not pay for college. When I was in eighth grade, my mother was my was my Sunday School teacher and she asked us to draw a picture of ourselves in 10 years. I was 13 at the time. I drew a picture of myself with a graduation cap and a HUGE gown and wrote the date June 15, 2004 underneath the picture. My mom looked at it and said, "Megan, why did you draw yourself so fat?" I said, "Mom- I'm not fat. I'm wearing my wedding gown underneath my cap and gown. That way, I can go from my graduation right to my wedding ceremony and not waste any time!"
I met my husband-to-be the following year in high school, dated for 7 and a half years and got married a month after I graduated college. I didn't quite have my gradu-wedding like I had planned, but it was close. Justin and I got married June 18, 2004. I don't mess around. I needed to get married before I became a mother.
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