The Value of Community

In my last post I extolled the virtues of family life, which were made so clear to me after a brief stint in hospital last week. But the eventful birth of our sixth baby also brought home to me the blessing of being part of an extended family and community.

While in hospital my mum and sister were both prepared to spend the night with me to help with feeding and lifting the baby etc when I was still freshly sore from the c-section. As it turned out, I only needed help on the first night and it was such a blessing to have my mum there with me.

During my unexpected absence from home we had grandparents and aunty babysitting on numerous occasions, allowing my husband to attend some important work meetings and visit me in hospital. Getting our three oldest kids to their highly anticipated History Fair was truly a village effort – my mother-in-law transported them along with their projects, my Mum met them there with some extra props and assisted in the set up, and some of our homeschooling friends looked after our younger two children for the day because my husband had to work. It was fairly complicated to organise but it all worked out perfectly, thanks to friends and family!

In addition we’ve had offers of childcare and so many meals and gifts from family, work colleagues, homeschooling and church friends. We feel overwhelmed with love and care and so blessed and thankful to be in such an amazing community!