I think God gave me nine children because He had at least nine different things to teach me about Him. If some of the things I’m learning seem a bit similar to one another, it’s because I’m a slow learner.

Eldest Daughter taught me to be a mommy, taught me that God is there to listen to all my mommy-worries and give answers. When Eldest Daughter was afraid of her own shadow (literally) at age two, and when she wanted to spend the summer after her junior year in high school in Italy, I took all the questions and concerns to the Lord, and He provided peace and assurance that each new experience in motherhood was a part of His path for me and for my precious Eldest Daughter.

Then I had a son. My immediate reaction to his birth was to say, “But, God, I don’t know any thing about raising boys!” God’s answer was, “You’re about to learn!” And I did learn. Computer Guru Son wasn’t at all like my sedate, cautious, plan-making Eldest Daughter. He tried things, good and bad, she would never have dreamed of doing. I learned that God is a giver of adventures, that He wants to take me outside my little zone of comfort to give me experiences that I would never have sought on my own. Computer Guru Son is still exploring: music, web design, photography, psychology. I wouldn’t have gone into any of those areas of interest except as I am following my son.

Dancer Daughter came along two years later, and the activity level in our house doubled. God taught me that He can handle the one I don’t have a hand to hold onto anymore. Two hands plus three children equals depending on Him for the extra hand and the extra energy to keep up with all three of them. Dancer Daughter shows me how to worship the Lord with art and music and writing and dance, and even though my talents in all those areas are limited, I can see how He gives us gifts and then delights in our offering them back to Him.

Organizer Daughter made four, and I began to see that with each child I had to re-learn how to parent. She wasn’t like any of the first three; she was a unique creation. I began again with this serious, focused child who at the same time laughed and related to other people more easily than the rest of us. She was my first little extrovert, and I began to see through her that God starts all over with each one of us, wooing us and teaching us to know Him. And I began to learn from watching Organizer Daughter that I, too, could reach out to other people and not think so much about myself.

Baby Joanna Kirsten came two years later, and she has a name here for a reason. Joanna Kirsten was stillborn eight months into my pregnancy with her. I learned that God is sovereign, that He gives and takes away. Joanna Kirsten taught me that I don’t know why God chooses to do as Hedoes sometimes, that I must trust Him when I don’t understand His ways. She taught me not to take for granted the health and well-being of those I love, that we live in a fallen, broken world and that God is always good but not often comprehensible.

Almost exactly a yeaar later, at Christmastime, Brown Bear Daughter was born. She was our return-to-flight baby, our Christmas present from the Lord. I learned from her that the Lord gives good and perfect gifts, that He sometimes replaces our sorrow with joy. And Brown Bear Daughter continues to teach me to live life to the fullest. She’s my drama princess, always full of emotion, living big. I watch her making friends easily and liberally, and I can only thank God that He gave us another girl with the outgoing personality of a playful bear cub.

Karate Kid raised us all to a new level of boyishness and friendliness. He taught me that God is no respector of persons. Karate Kid has friends everywhere he goes, all ages, all kinds. He has friends who are mentally slow, and they play physical games and sports. He has friends who are extremely intelligent, and they play intellectual games and computer games and talk about books. Karate Kid doesn’t really draw any distinctions between his friends; he doesn’t rank them. They’re all just friends. And I learn that God is the same. We’re all his children. He doesn’t rank us or love one more than another.

Bethy-Bee was number eight, the seventh child living in our home. She teaches me to be quiet, to wait on the Lord, that God can speak when we are still and open to him. She’s a thoughtful child and very different from her brothers and sisters, probably the most shy and self-contained child of all of them. I am learning that God gives different gifts and that He gives them for different purposes. Although Bethy-Bee can sing and dance as well as the rest of my children, she’s not a public performer. I can see her using her gifts quietly behind the scenes to build up her family and her church as she gets older, and I can learn that God doesn’t always have to put me in the center spotlight in order to use me to serve Him.

Last but not least, we received the gift of our Z-baby. She was born with twelve toes, and even though we had one toe removed from each foot so that she could wear shoes like the rest of us, she continues to be the girl with something extra: a little extra energy, a little extra creativity, and a little extra exuberance. She teaches me that God gives exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever think or ask for.

I am blessed with eight living children and one in heaven with the Lord because God had many lessons to teach me. I’m sure there is still more to learn from the children with whom God has blessed me. May I be open to hear His voice in the voices and actions of my children.