The children poured into their parents’ bedroom, so anxious to see the newest sibling, 6# 13 oz Abigail. They were SO excited and it is always such a sweet thing to witness. The Amish daddy asked me if I’d met the family? Other than attending the last 3 births, I had not been formally introduced.

So he began: “The oldest here is Karen. She is our flower girl; she loves to grow and care for them. The next is Maria. She weighed 3# 5ozs when we brought her home from the hospital. She is our baker – loves to be in the kitchen. The next is that tallest one, Lester Jr. He kept us home from church when he was born…on a Sunday. Then comes Rhoda, she sure loves the babies. Gabriel is our next boy; he’s the one who was so anxious to come in the house, just now, that he brought the barn clock down to the porch to know when it had been 15 minutes! Elizabeth, here, was due and so we couldn’t make it to my grandmother’s funeral. My grandmother’s name was Elizabeth and our girl was born about a week after grandma passed. Rebekah was named after the Rebekah in the bible – with an “H” and she was our last girl until now. Olen was named after my favorite uncle – remember he was also in a hurry to arrive and then there’s Marcus. We expect he’s going to be a bit jealous for a while.”

Each child beamed when their father introduced them and you could tell that even though this home was full of children, they each held a special place and dad knew and loved them well.  So sweet….