Team Mills Miracle

Jayden is only 11 months old, but he is the most active child I have ever seen.

At 2 months old, the doctor said he had never ever seen such a strong baby at that age.  The doctor expressed his great anticipation to see him develop because he also couldn't believe how interactive he was.  Jayden took his first steps at 7 months old.  Now at 11 months old, his legs never stop moving!!!

I set him down, and he's off!  I realize that most babies are busy, but he adds an extra talent of being able to see things on shelves from a distance and grab and fling without ever any hesitation in his legs' forward movement.  It's like watching someone at a grocery store who has just won a shopping extravaganza... they just haphazardly pull everything they can off the shelf without even pausing to think about it- yep that's my cute little Jayden.

Last week, Jayden snatched my phone off my desk, hid it behind his back, and literally sprinted to the toilet, and -yes he did- threw it into the toilet.  Accident???  No way!!  Jackson, my 11 year old, and I were right next to him and didn't even realize what had happened until the splash and the infamous giggle.  

He's told not to go near the stairs.  We have a gate up to protect him, but he sticks his head over the edge of the gate, wiggles his body as close as he can to the corner closest to the stairs, and yells, "Hey!!".... and then Jayden looks around with the brightest, happiest eyes to see which sibling or parent is going to stop him. 

I can hear him saying in his mind after his naughty deed, "Wait for it.... wait for it...."  And then, right on cue, one of us always comes running to him, to swoop him up to safety.  Our precious little baby has the happiest little heart trying to get the most out of life; I couldn't help but think how much I adore him no matter how much of a mess he has left behind in the house.

Tonight, with Abe out of town, I hurried to clean up the messes and get all 6 kids ready for bed.  After a long day of transferring children to and from wrestling, basketball, band, and play practice, I felt pretty good to see them in their pajamas sitting in a circle with their arms folded, teeth brushed, cleaned rooms, and potty breaks finished.

 Just as Mariah was about to say the family prayer to end the lovely day, Jayden spewed his whole bottle of milk in a high-reaching arch so that pretty much every surface could be covered.  All the children split in opposite directions grabbing new pajamas, new onsies, wet wipes, and rags.  

I just froze- partly from shock and partly because I was covered in throw-up.  Jayden, however, did not freeze.  He stood up, started his cutest little giggle and began to run around the room with throw-up dripping down the front of him.   

Amidst the chaos, the miracle had taken place.  I didn't see it right away because I was covered in throw-up.  I also didn't see it because my sweet children had, in their effort to help, mistakenly thrown Jayden's clean change of clothes into the throw-up.  

As I read my scriptures later, I read in the book of Mosiah "...and their hearts were knit together in unity and in love one towards another."  It hit me.  Those kids were a team!  When the throw-up hit, nobody got mad because of the mess; they took care of their youngest teammate.  Their hearts were knit together!

While I was watching my kids play basketball earlier that night, a stranger had said to me, "How many children are your own?"  I knew what she meant; I knew she wanted to know who was biological and who was adopted, but that's not what her words said.  I simply gave her a big smile and said, "That is an interesting question; all 6 children are 'my own.'"  

People often look at our large group of kids and say, "Wow!  You could start your own team!"  I now realize we have!!  Team Mills... knit together in unity... 

I believe God has given us the opportunity to be on lots of teams throughout our life; the trick may be to see the unity when the chaos hits.