Growing Pains

I am so grateful for the question I receive from friends and family who care deeply about our family and are praying for us during this transition to a family of five...

"How are things going?  Is Penny bonding?  How's the transition?" they ask.

Without hesitation, my response is "Awesome.  She is such a perfect fit into our family.  It's like she has always been a DeMaio."  And I really do mean it.  Penny is simply amazing.

But this transition doesn't come without its heartaches and disappointments either.  Adding a toddler to the family dynamic can be messy sometimes.  Kate still cries several times each week because she misses time with her big brother.  She misses hearing him coo at HER and stroke her hair as the baby in the family - now Trent does those things for the always effervescent younger sister.  And Kate and I have spent lots of time talking about how the loneliness and sadness she feels is going to be hard but that this is an opportunity for her to grow in her friendship with God.  That this can be a time she can look back on and see that "God met me when I was sad and crying on my bed when I was six and I know He is always there for me."  I know because I had my own moments as a child when loneliness and feeling left out crept into my heart and I can look back on those markers in my journey of faith as times of real growth in my faith in the One who made me.