But I have to be the way that God made me...which means both full of empathy for others and also full of joy and blessed beyond expectations. And part of why I write this blog is to be honest about what I'm going through and so I have to do that. But, since I also believe that everything happens in God's timing, then I have to trust that this is the right time to post. Generally, the times I write here it often feels like something inside me just dying to get out. Sometimes I can't type fast enough to capture the thoughts. Sometimes the words come out so fast and I almost feel like I have no idea what I wrote and then when I read through it for grammar, spelling and formatting it often surprises me to see what's come out in my writing. This is why I'm always certain it is God who gives me the words...not me.
Anyways, this blog is about the final week of a month of Thanksgiving and it's about my family. I am so thankful for my family for so many reasons. I have an amazing husband who is my complete opposite which can cause us to argue over crazy things, but also helps to balance and support each other in our areas of strength and weakness. He loves me so much and is so incredibly supportive and encouraging and he always makes me laugh. I have wonderful parents who have been such a source of love, encouragement, support and have been such wonderful examples to me of what it means to love Jesus, love people and how to grow in faith. My sister is one of my best friends and though we are very different there is no doubt in my mind how much she loves, supports and blesses me. Through her marriage, I have a wonderful brother-in-law who is funny, kind, supportive and a huge blessing to our family, not to mention an amazing husband to my sister and a loving father to their children. My nieces and nephews bring so much joy and love and happiness to my life and it is such an blessing to be called TeeTee (their word for Aunty). My grandparents (Mom's parents) are such a blessing to our family and I'm so glad we have the opportunity to spend so much time with them. I have a wide assortment of aunts and uncles and cousins who make life so much more fun, full of love and encouragement. And I have friends who have become more like family and are so precious to me. I feel so blessed there doesn't seem to be enough words to express how much I am thankful for my family.
"We have more fun all the
time because we know everything bad about each other and appreciate everything
good about each other and would rather be around together than with anyone
else." ~ Ernest Hemingway
Long ago when my sister and I were in college, my parents were convinced that the summer of 1999 was to be our very last family vacation. My sister was unhappy to leave behind her boyfriend (now husband), but we packed up the car and drove all around the country for a few weeks. It was typical of our family vacations - travel by car and lots of visits with friends and family. It had ups and downs, but we were together and to our parents, they thought it might be for the last time. Life would make us all too busy to vacation together.
Fast forward many years and this has turned out to be far from the reality. My parents and sister's family own timeshares and usually vacation together twice a year for a week each in February and October. Last year, Josh & I were able to join them for a week in Las Vegas in February. We stayed at a nice Marriot resort that had no casino and was very family friendly. It was close to the main Strip - within walking distance - and had some fun activities at the resort including a painting class that Kelly & I participated in all three times it was offered! Mom & my niece joined us for the last session and we all had lots of fun.
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| Left to right: Keri, Katelyn, Kelly & Mom |
“Whatever you do they will love you; even if they don't love you they are connected to you till you die. You can be boring and tedious with [family], whereas you have to put on a good face with friends.” ~ Deborah Moggach
"Joy comes to us in moments—ordinary
moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the
extraordinary."
~ Brené Brown
~ Brené Brown
I've spoken before about my favorite place in the world - Cayucos. A few years ago, our family had tried to spend the week of Christmas together there, but at the last minute my sister hurt her back and her family had to stay home. We had a good time with my parents, but it just wasn't the same. Since then we've wanted to make it there together and last year we were able to do so. My parent's rented a house in Cayucos for Mother's Day weekend and though unfortunately Josh wasn't able to get the time off, I was able to go with my parents, my sister and her family, and her mother-in-law.
Although filled with many happy and lovely memories, last year was also a difficult one for me. As I've shared in this blog, I've been on a journey of deepening my faith and growing and stretching and along with that comes stress at times. I felt very overwhelmed at times and just wanted to get away from my life. There was a lot of tears, a lot of feelings, and as I began to talk with my people about how I was feeling I was able to discover some things. One big thing was that as an introvert I need...literally NEED...time alone and I hadn't been getting enough of that. So I started making time for me - sometimes to just sit upstairs in our den and write in my journal, sometimes I'd go to a coffee shop and sit outside for an hour or two, sometimes Josh would work an evening shift or make plans out of the house so I could be by myself at home. All of this helped, but I just kept wishing for an opportunity to be away from my normal life and be taken care of instead of being the one to take care of others. However, this just seemed impossible and selfish and just wrong to even want. I really struggled with this, and around March or April my parents called with a gift.
They knew how I'd been feeling, as well as knowing how much I missed my Aunty Diana (Dad's younger sister) who I'm very close to, and my parents wanted to offer to pay for a ticket for me to travel to Colorado to spend a week with her. I didn't take it well at first. I cried...actually I sobbed...and I even got upset. Somehow I felt like this was too much to ask (though I didn't ask), it was too selfish (I know it wasn't), and I was being greedy or manipulative somehow (I wasn't). I was in a bad place...but God had prayers to answer that weren't even asked through the wonderful gift of my parent's gift. They bought the ticket, the trip was planned with Aunty, I apologized to my parents for freaking out and thanked them immensely and then all there was to do was wait until July. The week I was going to be in Colorado, Josh was able to spend a week visiting his Mom and brother and their family - we left on the same day and came home on the same day - and though we weren't together, we both really needed the time we were able to spend with our loved ones and it was a wonderful gift.
“As a relationship matures, you start to see that just being there for each other is the most important thing you can do, just being there to listen and be sorry with them, to be happy with them, to share all that there is to share.” ~ Mister Rogers
My time with my Aunty was an answer to prayers I wasn't even bold enough to ask or really even think through - God is so amazing that way! He knew how much I wanted/needed a rest and I got exactly that. My Aunty is so good at taking care of people, and she took such good care of me. She had a special room set up just for me, with room in the closet and even a drawer for my things. I could sleep when I wanted, I could rest when I wanted, she had bought special foods that I like and even made my sandwich for me the first day! :) She is so special to me and our relationship is a very close one and with her quiet and gentle love and support I felt so at peace and at rest that wonderful week. We got to talk a lot, we went to antique stores, we painted pottery at Color Me Mine, we cooked together, we sat together outside each evening with Uncle and the neighbors and just chatted as the day turned into evening. We looked at lots of old photos of my grandparents (they passed away when I was little) from before they were married, from when my Dad and his sisters were little, and from when I was little. So many wonderful memories.
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| My Papa & Grandma with me...and ice cream of course ;) |
My time with Aunty was so precious to me and it was after I got home and was telling Josh about my week that I truly realized what an answer to prayer that it was. God gave me exactly what I needed, even though I wasn't brave enough to ask for it. He knew how much I needed and craved rest and the feeling of being taken care of and through the financial gift of my parents and the loving nature of my Aunty I was able to see those unasked prayers answered and I will never forget that.
“You don't choose your family.
They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.” ~ Desmond Tutu
“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our
footprints in the sand are gone.” ~ Anonymous
Because we had so much fun renting a house in Cayucos for Mother's Day weekend, we decided that being there even longer would be even better. And it definitely was!! My parents rented a house (a different one since the first one we stayed at was unavailable) for the week of Thanksgiving and this time Josh was able to join the rest of us along with my grandparents. The house was a little worn, but it had 4 bedrooms, lots of living and kitchen space and amazing views of the ocean. The week we spent there was primarily about relaxing and spending time together. My parents and grandparents love to play the card game Hand and Foot, so throughout the week they had a running game. Josh & I took our niece and nephew to walk on the beach at least once a day, and often twice. We read a lot of books, colored, made our meals together, and just enjoyed the calm, peaceful atmosphere of being together in such a beautiful place.
We did do a few activities throughout the week. On Monday, the "kids" (Josh, me, Kelly & David) spent the afternoon together driving through nearby Paso Robles and enjoying the beautiful views, a tasty picnic lunch and trying some delicious olive oils at Pasolivo. On Tuesday, the whole family took a two hour tour of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse and it was wonderful and quite fascinating. The weather was overcast and lovely that day, and the rain stayed away until our mostly outdoor tour was completed. Because we were a large group of 10, we had our own tour guide and Carol was amazing. We all agreed it was a highlight of the week.
Wednesday we drove south to Pismo Beach for a delicious seafood lunch at our favorite place - The Cracked Crab. We found this gem a few years ago and now it's something Josh & I look forward to all year long. After lunch, we spent some time visiting David's Mom & Stepdad who live nearby and had had a great time catching up. Thanksgiving day was spent relaxing at the house and ended with an untraditional meal of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, salad & Red Lobster cheese biscuits. It was delicious and we were all stuffed. On Friday, the kids and grandkids went to visit Hearst Castle. We all took the Grand Rooms tour, and then just the girls took a second tour - this time for the kitchen and cottages. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.
Spending a week together in one house was a really wonderful experience. Sharing space together made for lots of silly moments, lots of opportunities for conversations to linger and meander, and it was nice to share so many meals together. I'm so incredibly grateful to have a family who enjoys spending time together and who want to spend more time together. Of course we have disagreements and annoyances at times (we aren't perfect), but we genuinely love each other and are happy for every opportunity we have to be together. And the fact that we get so much time isn't lost on us - I think we all realize how blessed we are to live close and have the ability to be so involved in each other's lives.
“I have no doubt, however, that
when it comes to our sense of love, belonging, and worthiness, we are most
radically shaped by our families of origin – what we hear, what we are told,
and perhaps most importantly, how we observe our parents engaging with the
world.”
~ Brené Brown
~ Brené Brown
My family is so important to me and part of the reason this is true is because of the way that my parents raised me. They have always made God the focus of all parts of life - our birthdays are important because that is the day God chose for you to be born, family & friends are gifts from God and maintaining relationships may take time and effort but it's worth it, pray about everything, be generous with the things God gives us because it's all His anyways, spend time reading God's Word every day, people and not things are what is important. All these things and so much more is a part of the gift my parents have given me in their legacy. They truly love people and they deeply love God and that is something that everyone who meets them can recognize. Because of their example, I have never felt unloved, I've always had a sense of belonging and I've known that my worth comes from God and not anything or anyone else. I realize that not everyone has grown up this way and it makes me feel both sad and hurt for those who haven't...and incredibly blessed and overflowing with gratitude that I have always felt such love. Their love for me, for our family, for our friends and most importantly for God has always helped me to feel secure and blessed beyond measure.
“I thank my God always concerning
you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,” ~ 1 Corinthians
1:4
I'm so thankful for my family. For the ways they love me. For the many opportunities we have to spend time together. For the lessons I've learned from them about the importance of community, fellowship and communication. For their focus on how much God loves me...loves all of us...and how important it is to share that love with others. I truly feel overwhelmed and overflowing with gratitude and love for my family. It is a beautiful gift from God and I am so grateful.
"I bless GOD every chance I get; my lungs expand with His praise.
I live and breathe GOD; if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy!" ~ Psalm 34:1& 2
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful gift of family and my family in particular. Thank You for all the amazing blessings You've brought about in my life and for giving me the ability and opportunity to share them with others. Please be with those people who have lost family members, or aren't able to spend as much time with them as they want to. Give them Your peace and Your comfort. I don't know why I have so much, but please help me to always be grateful and appreciative of the many blessings. Thank You for loving us...we love you too. Amen.
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