Family Blessings: Friday's Fave Five

Friday January 7, 2011


Thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting Friday’s Fave Five. It’s a great opportunity to share our favorites of the week. If you’d like to join in, just visit Susanne and get the details.

Here are my week's blessings:

1. Being here! I'm ever-so-glad to be back. I can't wait to hear from all of you and visit you, too. I wrote about that earlier this week, and things still haven't slowed down enough for me so I can take a leisurely visit with you -- but I'm hoping for some time this weekend.

I really have wondered and thought about and prayed for so many of you. I'd hear on the news what was happening somewhere and think, "That's near my blog friend!"

2. A wonderful family time. This holiday was a little different than we'd planned (you can read about that here), but it was wonderful in its own way. Someone had other plans than mine, and I was reminded that where He guides, He provides.

3. Little Aiden. Oh, the precious times with that little grandson! We got him one of those recordable storybooks and I recorded Grandmom reading to him. He just listened, big-eyed, when I held him and played it. My son and sweet daughter-in-law were so flexible, too, about bedtimes and Grandmom cuddling time and everything. This is where I should insert a picture, but we're a bit technologically challenged right now... I promise to get one up soon.

4. Uncles and brothers. So neat to see the brother bond between my boys. There are great pictures of three of them clustered around their oldest brother who is holding his son Aiden. They'd sit and watch him (and comment on the amount of drool a baby generates), they'd steal him from me or his Grandad from time to time, and they even took some crazy brother / uncle pictures with him. (They look crazy and silly; he looks a little stunned and a lot entertained.)

5. A precious quote. I do love a good quote, and there was no better one in the last few weeks than this one, from my mom. If you read my earlier post, you know she began our visit in the hospital and came home a few days later. She wasn't feeling up to hostessing as she usually does, so guess who took over? Actually, everyone pitched in, from grabbing the phone for her to filling her car up to running to the store for her to wrapping gifts for her...you name it. Our last night there, we all gathered around the big oval table and grabbed hands as we usually do as one of us voices the blessing. At my mom's, we usually alternate and she always tells us who she wants to pray. As we're waiting for her to name someone, my mom just dips her head, so we do, too. That's when we hear her say:

"Father, if I were to count all my blessings tonight, these children would go hungry."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat as I added my own silent thanks for such a mom.

So good to have you here again and I can't wait to hear from you and reciprocate. Here's hoping your last several weeks have been filled with joy.