Quiet House

My house is ridiculously quiet this week.  My two oldest boys (8 and 10) are at camp and my two youngest boys (4 and 6) are at their grandparents'.  We are childless for about 4-5 days.  It is weird.  It's hard to describe to people.  According to the 2010 census, only 9% of American families have three or more children under 18 at home.  They don't have a category for 4 or more because there are only 13 of us across the nation :)

Having four children is an absolute blessing to us.  We can't really imagine life any other way.  You hear the McInnis family coming from a mile away, and we leave a restaurant, we leave it well used.  I try to tip well.  That server deserves it.  But it's a crazy life -- and very loud.  With all four of mine being boys, we live with the reality that virtually everything in our home is on the brink of being broken.  It could happen at any minute, really.  If they haven't broken it, it's next on the list.  And they are awesome boys.  They're just, well, boys.

But this week is bizarre.  It's the first stretch we've ever had like this since our youngest was born.  Did I mention it was quiet?  I told my wife that this is what it will be like when Brooks' graduates.  He'll be the last to go, and it'll be quiet every day.  That's only 14 years away.  Fourteen years used to seem like a long time.  It's flying buy now.  I've only got nine years of school left with my oldest.  Nine!  Virtually my entire wardrobe is older than nine years.

I've been reading Numbers recently, one of the first five books of the Bible.  Numbers are important to God.  God tells us to number our days in Psalm 90:12.  I'm starting to count them.  Nine years for Morgan.  Fourteen until they're all gone.  Fourteen.  That's nothing.  I'll only be 52 when they're all gone.  But what I have is these 9 to 14 years ahead to influence them.  When they leave, my influence in their lives will diminish.  They will meet new friends, hear new ideas, and start their own lives.  For now, Emily and I get the chance to pour into their lives, and I want to soak up every second I've got.  Because I can hear the quiet house waiting for me in 14 years.  And it will be too late then.  Parents, how many years do you have left?  It. Will. Fly.  By.  Invest, influence, and teach.  Use every second.