Obviously being a mom, makes me pretty proud of the children that I have. And like my hubby said in his last post, we have quiet a few! I want to take this post and introduce you to the children that make the Reagan home all that it is.
I have a very stubborn philosophy about children. It is not because I have the answers for raising them because I do not. It is not because I have a formula that I intend on plugging into them and that will be my guarantee that they will love God, because no formula for that exists. It is not because I am a perfect parent, because if I let the children write this post, they would tell you otherwise! I have learned, am learning and will learn much more. However, there are a few things that I am passionate about in my opinion of children.
1. I believe that children are a blessing. God said, so whether I believe it or agree with it or not, it is true. If my children are not a blessing to me, then I am at fault. Not my child. I get extremely weary of people who whine about their children (especially if they are of the conviction to let God determine the size of their families). God does not “keep giving you these kids” to have you not enjoy them. Enjoy your children!! They are a blessing from God and if you will view it that way, you will enjoy them.
2. I believe that children are individuals with feelings, emotions, desires, an
d dreams. They may say something crazy like they want to be the Queen of England and it may sound silly to us but that is their dream. Do no dash their hopes and dreams. Let them be kids. Remember they are kids. They are going to do dumb things. They are going to embarrass you at times but just remember they are children. Life will go on, they will grow up and they will not remember the silly things they said. They will remember how their Mom always reacted to them though.
3. I believe that my children are for me, I am not for my children. By this, I mean that God gave them to me to prepare them to live as adults in this world. It is my job to teach them responsibility, how to treat others, how to be good, moral citizens, and as a Christian, I want them to know God personally. Therefore, I do not cater to my child’s demands. I also do not find my security in my children. I know my responsibility before the Lord to them and I will do it whether they like it or not. The beauty of this is that they respond very well to them as it gives them security to know where the line is and they had better not cross it.
Now having said all that, I have never met sweeter children than my own. I am glad I feel that way too because if I didn’t, I should not be writing this post! I remember when I first became paralyzed, I was very uneasy about how all this would affect my children. A pastor’s wife that I highly admire said this, “Alicia, don’t you worry about them. God is going to use this in their lives just as much as He will yours. You just let Him be God and you keep being you.” I took that to heart and so far, I am pretty proud of how they are doing. God is working in their little lives and I see how He is using the disability that we all share in this family, to His glory.
So, allow me to introduce you to the greatest little people I know:
Briley Nicole (12)
My first-born. She is dramatic and I love it. She is responsible and well beyond her years. She delights to help me and asks me every day if she can make me a cup of tea. She worries about my health and demands when I need to go to bed or rest (sometime I listen and other times I ignore her). We love to giggle together and we are always teasing one another. She can take it and she can give it out! She is very quick-witted and as she has matured, someone will say or do something and we will bust out in synchronized laughing! She has her mother’s attitude and that can get her into trouble but I love her spunk. She is learning that she must surrender areas of her life to please the Lord and she has a heart that desires this. Under the control of the Holy Spirit, she will do great things for God! She has stepped up to a lot of responsibility in our family and loves to cook and take care of her baby brother. The other day while Jimmy and I were at a retreat, her baby brother vomited in the night and she sat up with him and rocked him for over an hour. She is precious. At this point in her life, she wants to either own a bakery or learn medical massage, and only wants two children. Don’t know that I blame her!:) I love my servant-hearted girl!
Caleb Benjamin (10)
My first son. He truly is his father’s son in the fact that his personality is just like his daddy’s. He is very easy-going, can’t stand it if he hurts your feelings, is slow to wrath, and is very much in love with me. He thinks deeply about life – sometimes to a fault as he is struggles with worrying about things that he mustn’t. But the Lord has used that same tenderness to draw Him closer to Him in our time of trials. He knows where our help comes from and is the first to say, “Mommy, let’s pray.” He is a natural comedian and keeps us laughing at the things he can come up with. He is very artistic and loves to study. He is very spiritual minded and has been since he was very young. He always wants to make sure that he keeps his conscience clear and that he is pleasing God. He is learning that we do not serve God to earn favor as God loves all of us equally, but that we serve God to bring Him glory. He most surely wants God to use Him. At this point of his life, he either wants to be a doctor or a preacher. I am trying to figure out if there is any difference in those two things!:) I love my thoughtful son!
Isaiah Tate (8)
My second boy and definitely my son! There is so much that he does and says that is like looking back into the mirror of my past. Poor thing!! He loves being called “Little Alicia” and those twinkly eyes and big dimples show up every time he hears those words. He has a heart bigger than our family and that gets on his nerves sometimes. He will say that he wishes he wasn’t so tender-hearted because it hurts him to see people or animals suffer. I tell him I love that heart and we will solve the hurts of this world a different way than getting rid of his tenderness. He is learning that the sense of fairness that he demands of others must first start in his own life. He is my hands-on boy and wants to fix every nail or loose board that happens across his path. He loves the outdoors and is ready to conquer everything in his way (which can include his mother at times but that is just too bad!) 🙂 At this point of his life, he has a few buddies that he has teamed up with and they would like to live their lives in a camper and travel across America and tell people about Jesus. I love my tender-hearted boy!
Audrey Faith (6)
What a girl! My second daughter is the diva of the family. She never misses anyone’s earrings, jewelry or shoes and has been that way since she could talk. She loves to play with hair, put on make-up and play with her baby dolls. She has a unique perspective on life that none of the rest of us have, so many times we are talking as a family and we all just stop and look at her and wait for her reply. We are seldom disappointed! She loves babies more than anything else and can’t wait to have 20 of them. She is also very easy-going in her temperament but can get her feelings her very easy. So, she is learning that happiness in life is not always about her. Sometimes that is painful for her but she is a quick learner and is blossoming into a precious young lady. I love that she is very interested in my clothes, my hair, and she is always the first one to let me know when my feet are crooked on my footplate. She wants them straight and so do I so she is my little helper. She loves cleaning every part of the house except her bedroom. That one bores her! She has one goal in life – she wants to be a Mommy Queen. I love my Diva girl!
Macey Joy (4)
My third girl is full of spunk! She shares Isaiah’s dimples and twinkling eyes and we could not have picked a better middle name for her. She catches a bad case of giggles just by looking at you and I love it. It starts deep in her belly and she cocks her head back and lets it go! I love to hear her laugh. She does bring joy into this home – that is for sure! You will normally find either a baby doll or a notepad and pen in her hands. She loves to write things down and I have never ever set her down to write her letters but she already knows many of them just by looking at things and copying the shapes. She is constantly writing me love notes and drawing me special pictures. I love to tell her that they mean so much to me that she please must read them to me (as I do not have a clue what all those letters are supposed to really say). I love her love notes. She is our sickly one and maybe that is why God gave her an extra measure of joy. She is our sunshine and needs that on her cloudy days. I just asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up (so I could put it here) and this is what she just said: “I want to be a police girl. That way I can boss everyone around and arrest them if they are not nice to me. I won’t arrest you and Daddy unless you want to give me a spankin’ and then I will. And, I won’t let you have your wheelchair so you will just have to lay in bed in jail.” I have assured her that I will not spank her when she grows up if I can please have my wheelchair. Maybe all these notepads are preparing her to write tickets!:) I love my sunshine girl!
Elisha Maclaren (2)
Oh, now we are talking about my baby. Not just my baby, but my miracle boy. I was 5 months pregnant with him when I became paralyzed. The greatest fear in my heart was not that I could not feel my legs. I just wanted to make sure that whatever took my legs would not take my baby. He helped me keep my act together and do what I should so he would be okay. After I had him and had so many complications, it was the fact that he shared my hospital bed with me for 3 months that kept me looking forward to the day and my future. It is still his cute little smile that greets my morning as he leans over my very painful body says, “Mommy, I tiss you?” and he lays a big wet kiss on my lips and I am ready to start the process of sitting up. He has always been a good baby. God knew I needed that. He is content, pleasant, and still loves to climb up next to me and snuggle. I think my favorite way to ride my wheelchair is with that cutie on my lap with his head laid back against my shoulder and he is enjoying the ride. I am too. He shares Caleb’s compassion and often asks, “Mommy, you otay?” Yes, I am okay. Very okay. I love my miracle boy.
And now you know the children I love.
Here is cute little video I did about a year ago and interviewed my children about their thoughts about disability:
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