why have children??

maybe for cute little smiles...or the chance to buy and play with cool toys...

 maybe for the sweet "I love you, mom" from your son...

 maybe for the ability to paint- to bring out your inner artist...

 and create cool tattoos...

 maybe because you then have the excuse to play outside and not work on hot summer days...

 or have picnics on the lawn and watch the cars go by without seeming super weird...

 maybe so you can play silly games, wrestle around and not appear to odd to the public...

 Ok, in all seriousness, none of these are truly good reasons to have children! 

I've had a few conversations in the past few weeks with people- either who don't want children or who don't want a second or third one...most of them say it is because they want to have life more "established" first or they feel like life ends after having children and aren't quite willing to take the plunge to "ending" their life, yet. Obviously, I don't feel that way, since I'm a mom of 4! We didn't plan on having twins, but we surely planned Hailey. And, while we may not have planned the exact timing of Jackson or the twins, we knew we wanted more children and having just 1 child was never in our "plan"! We both wanted children and even before we were married we talked about how we both wanted a larger family! In fact, 4 was always my ideal #. :) 

All these conversations, though, have really gotten me thinking about our kids and about my life and even thinking if I regretted any part of it. And, as crazy and chaotic as the first 6 months of the twins life were- I can say in all honesty, that as of right now, I don't regret a thing! And, I definitely don't regret having children.  I did "live life" (if that's what you wanna call it) before I had kids...I went to Europe, I finished college, I lived on my own, I worked at a camp...I did a few fun things, but all of those things that seemed so fun and so cool at the time pale in comparison to having children. I don't consider graduating from college to be the greatest accomplishment of my life- I consider carrying twins to 37 weeks and then delivering them naturally a way greater accomplishment than that! I don't think that traveling to Europe was the most fun and exciting part of my life- I much prefer the small excursions I've taken with my children and the snuggles we've had in the mornings in our bed way more exciting than seeing the Eiffel Tower.  I don't think that living on my own is that amazing of a feat or that great of a thing- I actually remember being lonely and bored much of the time when I was all by myself! I don't even see cooking at a camp for 200-300 people as that awe-inspiring when compared to putting dinner on the table for 6 people while simultaneously wrangling 4 crabby kiddos!

The life lessons that our kids have taught Korey and I are way more exciting, amazing and inspiring than anything else we did before we had them!

In case you still aren't sure why you would have children- here are some true reasons:

1) you learn that time doesn't really matter. If it takes you a day or a week to complete the project that's ok...it'll still be there in a week! 

2) you learn that your kids don't care what your house looks like and neither should you and that you have better things to do than worry about cleaning your house all the time. 

3) you learn that you have "bigger fish to fry" than a lot of things

4) you learn to laugh at yourself and at life. nothing like a good dance party in the kitchen to get rid of all your inhibitions :)

5) you learn to slow down and to enjoy the simpler things in life. taking your daughter fishing all the sudden becomes a whole day affair and you don't mind because you realize it's the most fun you've had in your whole life!

6) you learn that $ isn't really that important. your kids don't care if their toys came from a garage sale or grandma's attic or even if they only get to play with sticks and daddy's hammer- they're perfectly content with a little and they help you realize that you should be, too!

7) you learn that with God nothing is impossible and that you can only accomplish anything with His help! I never have had to rely on God as much as I have had to once I had children. It's a humbling and amazing thing to see God work so greatly in my life and my children's life- without my help!  

I absolutely love my life and wouldn't change it for anything in the world! I hope and pray that the people I had conversations with in the past few weeks will get to experience the amazing-ness of having children and having more than just one! Could God have taught me and Korey all these things without children? possibly. Could He have taught us them all with only Hailey? maybe. He chose not to. He chose to teach us these lessons and to bless our life at the same time. And for that, I'm eternally grateful!