“Mom, can you and Dad adopt or foster or something?”
I laugh.
It’s not the first time the youngest of our three daughters has asked that question. Sad at the prospect of being left behind, and anxious not to be the only kid at home, she searches for a solution.

I have my own anxious questions:
How do you continue to make a home, a family when the numbers keep dwindling?
What will these years hold for her, and how can we best support her in this new reality?
The answer, at least in part, comes midway through a conversation with Teresa – a kind, open, tenderhearted mom of two adult sons.
“We were worried about that too,” Teresa confesses.
She went on to explain how her oldest son and his friends had often included the younger son in their adventures. Eventually, their kind-including of the youngest developed into genuine friendship and soon, these boys, one four years younger than the rest, were inseparable.
They enjoyed video games, ate staggering amounts of pizza, and played a lot music. Both of Teresa’s sons are musically gifted.
“At first, we didn’t want those video games in our home,” says Teresa. “Then we realized that if we allowed the games, the boys and their friends would play them at our house and we’d get to know their friends.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Teresa and her husband opened their hearts to the boys’ friends and soon they became an extended part of her family. They even helped with home-maintenance projects during her husband’s health crisis.
Then came the day when every single one of the boys went off to college. All that is, except for Teresa’s youngest. He alone was left behind, with four years of high school remaining until his own graduation.
What mother wouldn’t worry?
But she adds, “I think that was when our youngest really got into his own music. He earned a million credits for that in high school.”
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but get excited!
Perhaps it won’t be so bad for our youngest to be the only one home for a few years.
Maybe it will be a season of self-discovery for her.
Maybe it will give her an opportunity to come out from under the shadow of her sisters.
Maybe she will uncover hidden talents, explore new interests.
Whatever happens, I know it won’t be the end of the story.
As for Teresa’s youngest, he’s pursuing a career in music, fine-tuning his skills at Cornish College of the Arts, while playing in a band with his brother.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
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