On Being A Celebrity
In rural Africa it’s normal to have “beaucoup de” kids (that’s a French phrase that we’ve added to our English vocabulary- it means “a lot of.”) In fact, at the age of 37 if you don’t have 7 or more it’s something people whisper about. There are a lot of ways that our family sticks out in Africa, but having five children is one way that we kind of fit in.
In Québec it’s normal to have one or maybe two kids. If you have more than that it’s something people raise their eyebrows about. So although we might have the same skin color as most Québecois, we really stick out when our family is in public. Picture the kids and I walking into the arena to watch Jacob play broomball last weekend. I felt like the mother duck in “Make Way for Ducklings.”
I get little old ladies saying a whole lot of French words that I don’t understand and then one that sounds a little familiar: “Tu es brave,” or “Tu es une célébrité.” TRANSLATED: You are brave. You are a celebrity.
Brave? A celebrity? Really? It doesn’t always feel that way, and in fact most of the time I feel weak and overwhelmed. One thing that means more to me than the little old ladies comments is how much Jacob loves the kids and how often he reminds me of the blessing that each of them are. He keeps holding out to me the beauty of being a mother and cheering me on. He reminds me that the Lord’s grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore we can boast all the more gladly in our weaknesses so that the power of Christ can rest on us. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
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Funny. There was a time period when I would actually have my kids line up as “ducks” when walking into stores and church. You must look much more put together when you go out in public because I have never been called a celebrity – crazy, yes – but never a celebrity.