Room for One More?

Due to unforeseen circumstances, our oldest left his mission in Riverside, California and flew “home” to be with his family. It was unexpected, and a miracle all at the same time. I was excited to have Bryce home and nervous knowing that we are already bursting at the seams. Five people and three dogs living in a 40-foot motorhome is crazy, but adding another adult male is insane!!! But what could we do? Turn him away? Tell him to go back to WA? Tell him we just don’t have room for him?

It’s sort of like when I was pregnant with Halea. Early in the pregnancy I learned there was a chance I would lose her due to the IUD I had in place ~ or so I thought was in place. Suddenly, I was wiling to move Heaven and Earth to save my baby’s life ~ the life I had been trying to prevent.

And who could blame me? I was at wits end chasing the undiagnosed autism twins, and my oldest was an ADHD maniac. But I wanted her now that she was real. Just like I cleared space to make room for Halea in our hearts and lives, I would make room for our oldest in the motorhome.

All of us had to make sacrifices to welcome one more. The four kids are sharing two queen bunk beds, and sleep head to toe with a crate at their feet for belongings. Bryce came home with two suitcases of belongings. He thought he had thinned his stuff down to pack for his flight, but now he had a small bin for clothing and another for storage. In a motorhome there isn’t much room for stuff.

There also isn’t room for one more body in our five passenger Jeep. If I were a better person, I would give the front seat to Parker — our largest child — and sit four across the back seat with the kids. But I’m not, so I sit in the front and listen to my children complain.

“Mom cares more about her fancy car than her children!”

What if I do? Deal with it. Let me just stretch out my legs and lean my seat back a little so I can hear you complain more. What’s that? Apollo’s pits stink? Perhaps he should have showered instead of playing a video game all morning. “Maybe y’all should help him remember deodorant?”

I’m sorry, what was that? Halea has a bad attitude? Well, guys, sorry to inform you but that can’t be helped. I’ve tried… and I’ve failed. And for future reference, it’s only going to get worse until she’s 30.

Come again? Parker is selfishly manspreading? He’s taking up more space than anyone else? And that surprises you why? You have met him before, right? Deal with it.

If you had asked me two weeks ago if we had room for one more person, I would have said no. Now here we are, rocking 6 people and three dogs in a motorhome.

We make room for the things we value most in life. We make room to travel. We make room for our church community. We make room for roadschool. Our life looks very different than it did 8 months ago. We grow and flex to make room for one more person or thing, and we dismiss the people or things that are not holding their value.

We still have our three dogs. We still have Parker. It’s not perfect logic. But we always reserve the right.

Bryce has been a unifier for his three younger siblings, and love for their big brother is one thing they have in common. He’s like a celebrity to them. He loves them and acts as a bridge from Ryan and I to them. He is such a tremendous blessing to our family.

We may go broke feeding everyone, and the shower may forever be cold, but in our family, even in our motorhome, there will always be room for one more.