Thomas Jefferson and Me

Have you ever watched a child chase a duck or a chicken?  Now, hold that picture in your head while I fill in the details.

We recently decided to take the kiddos to Washington D.C.  We live relatively close and were going to be over halfway there for another event.  We spent the weeks leading up to the trip looking up facts about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, all the memorials, and the museums.  We watched videos, read books, and looked at lots of pictures.  Little did I know we would learn a much bigger lesson.

The trip was wonderful!  We found parking for our huge van and the boys were real troopers walking miles and miles.  They learned so much and got to experience our country's capitol up close and personal.  However, (now, here is where the duck chasing comes in) everywhere we went Asian tourists would chase our kids down taking their pictures.  One photo here, one snap there.  I think the boys were a little unsettled.  I was thinking my kids are cute so maybe they want a picture of the cutest American kids they have ever seen.

Well, on the second day of our trip we had really worn the kids out, but we decided that one last stop by the Jefferson Memorial wouldn't hurt.  So, with Benaiah sleeping in the stroller and Juliet strapped on we made our way to the portico.  We weren't there for two seconds when a rather large tour group spotted us.  You would have thought we were Jefferson's great-great-great-great grandchildren.  They came pouring over asking to take pictures with us, snapping pictures, giving us thumbs-ups, petting Juliet, asking for hugs, and telling us our family was beautiful.  There were so many people we couldn't move.  Before you start thinking I am exaggerating, an off-duty police officer actually came over to see if I wanted help breaking them up. . . after he finished laughing about the whole scene.  I told him I really was fine and we continued making new friends.  Then, one lady asked Danny, "Does the government pay you for each child?"

The light went on.  Yes, my kids are cute.   Yes, our family is great.  But they were amazed at the size of our family.  Coming from a country where most people have one child, and only recently have citizens been able to APPLY to have a second, of course our family seems like a novelty.  I almost started to cry.  Standing in the memorial of the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, I was a picture of the freedoms we have in America.  I can't imagine our family without each of our little ones.  Even before they were born I had a desire to have them here.  The strain to want to grow your family and not have that freedom - I can't imagine.  To watch the love blossom between my boys and my precious girl is beautiful.  When I look at my family I see God's grace and blessing.  My thankful heart overflows!