Leaving... but not for a few more years

*Sigh*

Karen Kingsbury is such an amazing author. I <3 all of her work. I own all of them too, so if you eve want to borrow a book, I'd be happy to loan them out. :) Ok so her newest book just came out. It's called Leaving. It is the first book in a series about Bailey Flanigan. Bailey is one of the characters that you meet in Karen's earlier series. This is one of the things I love most about Karen. She keeps the story of her characters going on forever! You know how you read a book, and if you're like me, at the end of it you're like.... nooooo! Most of the time it ends there and you never hear anything else about the person's life. I know it seems kind of silly, but that's just how I read! I <3 to read and I realllly get into it.

I'm going to try not to spoil this new book, but I had to blog on it. The reason: because this book was the first one that I connected with on a personal level. Every other book has just been a really great book. Although they all have a great story of redemption in them and Lord knows I've been redeemed! :) But, like I said I connected with this one.

I hope it doesn't seem too silly (because I can't blame the tears on pregnancy this time). The book is about Bailey leaving home. The mom, Jenny, does a lot of remembering about when Bailey was little. This family, the Flanigans, are such a Godly family. There is joy in every relationship. They have 2 boys adopted from Haiti and 3 biological children. All of them LOVE Jesus and LOVE others. It's a beautiful model of family.

But as I read I began thinking about my two girls. Madison is just growing by leaps and bounds every day. I heard over and over in the book "cherish these moments, they go fast." I've heard this in real life too. My Madison is just the sweetest 2 year old ever. I am glad I didn't let that term "terrible twos" take over my thinking of this age. She learns something new everyday. I love the way she asks for "hugs-kisses." I love the way her hair curls a little in the back. I love how she treats her baby sister with such tenderness. Even though she says it over and over and over, "what you doing mommy?" She is just so sweet. I love her so much.

So as you can imagine, this book got me thinking about when Madison no longer lives with me. When she no longer needs me for everything. When she doesn't come up to me anymore asking to brush my hair or to snuggle. It makes you cherish them even more.

God gives the perfect gift in a child. We are so blessed to be able to raise Madison and Anna up in the Lord. I just pray we do a good job of it!

So.... check out Karen Kingsbury! She's awesome!