another Tuesday in the 'hood -- Part 2

Caught up in this tornado, there are always the children. They are multiplying...when we first moved here, we had 1 sweet kid who lived two doors over who made us feel loved and welcome. Then he brought his friend over. Then his friend brought his brothers and sisters. Then their cousins came. Then the kids from down the street showed up. It's perfect.
Tonight on my front porch, I had 10 kids all roundabout me and three more in the house. They all know my name, and I am struggling to keep up with remembering theirs.

This past Sunday after church, we took a vanload of our kids to an all you can eat pizza buffet. As I was paying, the guy behind the counter watched me herd 5 boys towards the steaming food. I called each one by name, and recited to him all their ages (Cuz you better believe that I was going to get my 'under 10 yrs old' discount!). The man looked at me with a strange expression and said - more as a statement then a question - "These are all your kids." I blanked on that one, torn between denying it (yikes, me? 5 kids?) and blowing it off. I toyed with saying "No, no, I'm just their youth pastor", but the truth is, neither seemed to fit. So I did what felt right in my heart. I looked that pizza man square in his eye and resolutely declared "Yes. These are my kids. Jesus gave them to me."
Sounds funny, I know. I bet it looked even funnier. I mean really,where else would a white lady get a handful of African-American and Puerto Rican kids but from the Lord?

posted by:
Heather Dolby