Better full than empty

There is a phrase that I hear a lot when I'm out and about with my kids, and I doubt I'm the only one. "Wow, you sure have your hands full!" It irritates me, because it's inevitably always when the kids are at the end of their rope and my patience is hanging by a thread. It's just not the thing I want to hear in that moment. I have resolved to answer this question in a certain way, because I don't want my children, who are right there listening, to ever feel like I see them as inconveniences. "They are blessings."

A few nights ago we were standing in line somewhere, and the kids were being silly and having fun (not being obnoxious or overly rowdy, just laughing and having fun). A woman behind us seemed to keep trying to engage us in conversation. Finally, in an exasperated way, she said something like, "Are all these yours? Well YOU have your hands full." It was accompanied by wide eyes and pursed lips, like she was annoyed at the interruptions to the conversation and wasn't quite sure that all these kids was such a good idea. I smiled at her and said, "Better full than empty."

It is true. I've known too many women who have faced infertility, miscarriage, difficult pregnancies, and the loss of their babies to look at my kids and see them as a hinderance to my way of life. I've had too many precious moments with these little people to ever regret or resent that God put them in my life. Sure, grocery shopping is hard. Yes, my house is hardly ever neat and clean the way that I would like it. But my goodness, is there even a comparison?

Let's make this our own. "Better full than empty. They are blessings and I'm so thankful for each of them." This is my new grocery store mantra. What's yours?