HUGE Answer to Prayer!

I'm so glad that God cares about the little stuff of life! I'm sharing this because it's such a testimony to the grace of God in our lives. When the Marshall kids first moved here last August Christian and Nate did not get along. Really not at all! Christian had an extremely hard time giving up his status as an only child. He cried all the time, was in time out all the time. He didn't share, He hit, He pushed. He was way too aggressive towards Nate and Nate cried about it all the time too. Nate was scared of Christian which pretty much egged Christian on. It got to the point where Christian could point at Nate and Nate would cry. To put it bluntly - it was miserable. I was pregnant and dealing with three little extremely emotional people EVERYDAY. Abby and Nate had their own behavior issues, but I felt that their issues were understandable. They were going through a lot emotionally, but Christian was a different story. I really felt like I was failing as a mother because there was so much unhappiness in my home. I cried, and prayed and cried some more (remember I was pregnant). Everyone kept telling me that it was just a time of adjustment and that things would get better soon...two months later I wasn't buying it. I started reading all kinds of books: Bringing Up Boys, Dare to Discipline, Shepherding a Child's Heart and Don't Make Me Count to Three. All of those are great books by the way, but none of them had the answer to our issues. They all contained great ideas but what I really needed was wisdom. I prayed for wisdom from God. That's all I could do! I didn't go into great detail about our issues in my blog because I was trying to be positive, hoping our relationship issues would improve. I think I was also embarrassed by my son's behavior. He had never had behavior issues at any time before, so this was completely unexpected. Whenever we went to a friend's house he was fine. He was fine at playgroup and church too. He just felt very threatened by having other kids his age in his home, sitting in his mommy's lap, playing with his stuff.

It's been 10 months now. We've all been together for 10 very long months and my prayers have been answered. My home is at peace now! My boy is happy again and he has a new best friend. This whole experience has been a little like carrying a baby around for 9 months. You hope, you pray, it's uncomfortable, there's sleepless nights, you beg God for grace, there are tears, but the end result is the birth of something eternal and beautiful. Just take a look at this beautiful thing that has happened to my two boys (yes, Nate is my boy too! He fills my heart almost as much as my own son does and I know that Amy feels that way about my son too).

Christian rubbing Nate's back as he wakes up from a nap.
The boys choosing to play together at Mikie's.
Wrestling with no one getting hurt.
More wrestling and just for the record Nate is NOT crying.
Off exploring while the girls go strawberry picking.
Racing each other.

When ever these guys are together they always choose to be with each other. Last Sunday Christian cried when I dropped him off at his Sunday School class. He was upset that Nate wasn't there yet. He wanted Nate to go with him.

My heart is full.

Lord you are good!

Thank you God that your mercies are new every morning!