Leslie Hall:  

My children make it interesting. Now all teenagers and as full of Joie de vivre as anyone can be. Sometimes I sit and just watch the comings and goings in the house...friends, family, loves...I sit and watch to stay out of the way. With as many people as are sometimes here, you could get hurt if you don't get out of the way. :o) Ten teenagers at one point just last night. No special occassion, just my kids and the pack of friends. It can get loud, but I do love it when they are all here. The laughter and conversation ringing through the house reminding me that God is good and He has blessed me with a great family. For as much as sometimes I "think" my heart and life are lacking something, I can't deny the blessings I have. I gave birth to three great children and along the way God has blessed me with five "spare" children. Eight children.....who would have ever guessed. I had someone ask me why I had "spare" children. I told them spare did not mean extra, but it was a bowling term. Life might not have afforded them the strike, but with help hopefully each one of these kids can pick up the spare and continue the game. At some point they have all needed a place to live for one reason or another and I can't tell a child, especially one of my children's friends that they have no bed, no food, no place to feel secure and rest their head at night. If they were thrown away, I caught them, if they ran away, I gave them safe passage to their next course of life. The reasons for their stay as varied as their personalities, but the need was the same, a safe consistent home, food, clean clothes and for someone to just be there. Some have stayed for years...others for several mo...Expand for more