Empty Nest?

As the first day of school approaches, I am trying to come to grips with the fact that ALL THREE of my children will be in school this year. I knew I wasn't quite ready for this, but as the day draws closer (Wednesday), I am feeling a little lost already. How will my house sound without at least ONE kid in it during the day?? What will I do?? I am already not liking the "empty" feeling! This is a kind of "empty nest" that no one ever told me about! So, as we are preparing to have our first day of school, I have been thinking of the things that will be different around here. Here's what I came up with:

Things I will miss (some surprisingly!):

SOUNDS

• Tyler playing his guitar in his room
• Zachary downstairs jamming out on RockBand on the Wii
• Katie yelling, "MOM!" at the top of her lungs only to make sure that I'm still close enough to hear her. Then "NOTHING!" when I answer her with "What?"
• Kids digging in the snack cabinet for goodies at all hours of the day
• Impromptu concerts in the living room
• Zachary and Katie constantly fighting with each other over e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

SIGHTS

• Tyler outside mowing grass at 7am to beat the heat
• Zachary and Katie still in pjs at 11am
• Kids vegging on the couch texting friends
• Walking into my bedroom to find Katie propped up on my bed watching iCarly or Hannah Montana
• The forts built in the middle of the living room from all the pillows and blankets the kids could find
• The messy lunch dishes left on the table; open loaf of bread, jar of PB, and chips left out on the counters.

SAYING

• "Get away from each other!"
• "Stop touching him/her!"
• "Go clean your room!"
• "Who made this mess?!"
• "It's noon, do you think you should get dressed?"
• "Who wants to go check the mail with me?"
• "Is anybody ready for lunch?"
• "Are you or anybody else bleeding or on fire? Then it can wait. Mama's on the phone."
• "You're going to play outside? OK, watch your sister. I love you."

Now I know there will still be plenty of these moments, they don't happen only between the hours of 8am - 3pm ya know! But I will still miss all the hustle and bustle of having kids in the house all day and all the activity that goes with it. I have never NOT had a little one at home with me. Even when Zachary went to Kindergarten, I was big and pregnant with Katie (she was born in Nov.) AND I was taking 14 hours in college that semester so that doesn't count!

I told my mom that the only thing I can think of that I will look forward to is an almost-certain outside run daily, and uninterrupted grocery shopping! But you can only exercise and buy groceries for so long... But I read a great post by Keri who suggested that maybe we all need to just Be Still for a minute. And I think that's a great idea. God tells us in the Bible in Psalm 46:10 to "Be still and know that I am God." I keep searching and thinking about what I'm going to do all day, when maybe God is wanting me to take the time to Be Still. Be Still and talk to Him. Be Still and be open to His agenda, not my own. Be Still and know that He is God.

"Thanks for the message, Father...I read ya, loud and clear. You shouldn't have to talk too loudly now, my house is gonna be pretty quiet! Well, Monday - Friday during the hours of 8-3 anyway!"