The House Echoes

For those of you who don't know, my family has had five foster kids living in our house for almost the past year. It's been a crazy ride with a lot of highs and lows. There's definitely been some challenges and times when I've seen my ugly side, but also some really fun moments. Just this Thursday, the kids left to live with their half-brother who moved from across the country. It's been an interesting change. I've gotten so used to noise, clutter, banging, loud singing, spills, and messes that now the house seems almost deserted. It's so quiet, and so much has already been cleaned up or organized. When I say something loud, it almost echoes. But I'm kind of enjoying it. It's nice to have some space and be able to be in my room past 8pm without waking sleeping children :)

(Empty bunks)

But something my parents said the other day made me think.
They said, "Just because we're getting our house back to ourselves, doesn't mean we can go back to living selfishly."

Bam. Oh boy. When I thought about them leaving, all I'd think about was how much I'd like having MY room, and MY space, and MY life back. But it's not about me. It's about God's glory.
And I forget that a lot of the time. I want to make an effort to live sacrificially, and not always think about myself.