Skip to main content

Living the Rhodes Life

Our lifestyle isn't easy for everyone to understand.  Big families befuddle most people. Comments like.... Whoa! You sure have your hands full..... You know how babies are made, right??...... You sure you know what you are getting yourselves in to?--- these comments and more are showered on us daily.  Oh, and let us not forget the classic,  Five boys! Why didn't you adopt a girl??   We don't expect others to understand.  Everyone chooses their own path. We are not martyrs, we are not trying to save the world.  We are told by well meaning friends and family daily, that we "can't save the world." We know that.

I guess what is hard for us to understand is....why is it so hard to understand why we would do SOMETHING?  Just because you can't fix the planet by yourself, doesn't mean you shouldn't use less water, or recycle, right?  Just because I can't save every kid from a rotten life, doesn't mean I shouldn't do everything I can for these two particular kids.   Every time you volunteer to do something you are having a positive impact on something.  Every dollar you donate, or piece of trash you pick up, makes a difference.  This isn't me judging anyone else.  I respect that everyone operates within their own set of personal limitations and boundaries.  I just want the freedom to work within my own, without judgement.  I do not feel extravagant for having a large family, I adore having a large family.  I don't feel guilty because I couldn't buy my son a new BMW for his graduation, while I realize that would have made him happy-- I don't want to encourage him to need things like that to be happy.  While I love the idea of daughters, that wasn't God's plan for our family, and that is ok with me.



We work hard.  We love our children.  We give time to causes we care about.  We give money when we can. We trust that our children are learning what it is like to risk things for the sake of others or for the sake of a belief.  I know that every well meaning person who secretly or openly jokes about our lifestyle, is also doing their best to instill values in their own children.  Everyone is trying to live their best life.  Live and let live. Love each other. Come as you are. Be what you want to be.  No one needs to be on a pedestal nor do they need judgement.  Let's just all get along.  Is that enough cliche for today?  Peace out.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I would LOVE a cleaning fairy!

Every woman has things in her life she is willing to pay for, and things she feels like she can and should do herself. My list is generally a little different than most women I think. My sister would tell you it is because I think I can do things better than other people, hee , hee ... she thinks I am a bit on the controlling side. I cut my own hair, do my own hair color, do my own facials, make jewelry, that sort of thing. I will admit, it is a rare occasion that I pay hundreds of dollars for a color and cut, and walk out feeling amazing. I am almost always disappointed in the result. I get a manicure & pedicure, and always regret the color choice- or see smudges. It just makes me mad to pay a lot of money for mediocre results. (I can get mediocre results myself!) One thing I definitely am willing to pay for, that I easily admit I am the worst at, is CLEANING MY HOUSE!! I really hate it. I love the calm and peace that comes with the clean, well organized home. I thri...

To get something good, first we have to tolerate chaos.

I am swirling in chaos! Our little remodeling projects, ie: painting the boys rooms, have resulted in a whirl of mess, mess, mess. My husband has been diligently painting walls, repurposing furniture, meanwhile all of the clothing, shoes, toys, junk, furniture we are no longer using, etc... is lining the hallways and rooms of my house! We have tried to engage the boys in this project, but it has somehow eluded them that they have any responsibility for putting the house back together, so it it a painful exercise of command and whine. Today, we must put it back, we cannot start the week in madness. So my day, is going to be interesting. They need to help, a lot. I need to figure out how to motivate them to help, without them feeling like they are being tortured. Wish me luck, at 10:30, video games, and NFL TV go off, and cleaning commences. I'd better have another cup of coffee, and pray for the next half hour, I'm gonna need it.

New season of renewal & refinement

I am a girl with strong faith.  Strong, blind, childlike faith.  My atheist friends are bewildered by it.  They cannot understand how such a smart woman would believe such "nonsense".  I have no explanation other than, I just do. I preface this post with that statement because, you won't find me quoting scripture here.  Though I would if I were more confident in my ability to do so competently.  I do not have that confidence, never have.  I am a believer.  My belief has been nurtured by life experience, by answered prayers, by constant evidence that God cares about me.  I see his hand in big things and small. I look to him for guidance and help in all things.  I am not a Biblical scholar.  I have always been somewhat insecure about that.  I am bolstered up by the words of a Godly woman much wiser than I who assures me that "I am living my walk out loud".  My faith is not in my knowledge of the scripture, but in the...