In one week, I’ve experienced a book release, a balloon shower, Mom’s 81st birthday, and a Labor Day Reunion at our house with 30+ overnight guests. I ask you, can life get much richer than this?
All Sunday evening and Monday, while this aging body recovered from too little sleep, too much food, a creek stomp at the Ledges, and a perfect combination of conversation and fun, the blessings God showered upon our family weekend filled me with gratitude. Here’s another bulleted list that make this former school teacher’s heart go pitter-pat:
- The high school, college-age, and young adult generation wanted to come.
- The septic system endured.
- The weather was Goldilocks approved: not too hot, not too cold, but just right.
- None of the dogs had any fights.
- The little toads all over the yard were great entertainment.
- Ice cubes down the shirt and pants bonded us like nothing else.
- The Ledges captivated everyone who went creek stomping.
- Our neighbor let us use his beautiful old tree farm for family pictures Sunday morning.
- Somehow, though we only had three bathrooms for over thirty people, everyone was presentable and present at our Sunday morning photo shoot.
- The younger generation kindly and gently told the older generation that the end of the annual S.O. Weird Cousins TV videos has come. They broke the news with one last instructional video about how to become an adult. In case you’re wondering, the steps are drink coffee, read the paper, pay the bills, fold the laundry, and drink prune juice. (I think I left one out.)
- Both my children were present.
But since Sunday evening, I’ve also been wondering about how grateful I would have been if everything hadn’t been perfect. What if my son was still away from us, what if it had rained all weekend, what if the septic system had backed up, what if the younger generation had purposefully stayed away, what if Mom’s Alzheimer’s had made her mean and feisty, what if someone in the family had been in a car accident on the way here?
One day, one of those “what ifs” will happen, and our faith will be tested. How will we respond to the test? I hope that kindly and gently, my older generation will show the younger one how our good times have bound us together and prepared us to support one another. I hope they will see our tears will mingle with our laughter and learn what it really means to be an adult: to be as grateful in our lack as in our abundance, and to trust God to use our deepest tragedies for good.
