November 2: Thankful for Family

Today, I am THANKFUL for the gift of family. 

My Dad grew up in an Air Force family. His Dad was a pilot, and they moved a lot, and lived all over the United States. 

I grew up in an Air Force family. We moved a lot. A LOT. I remember going to three different schools in the 4th grade. That is every bit as horrible as you can imagine. 

I moved 16 times before I graduated from high school. I have lived all over the United States...and in two foreign countries. Jim and I, in our married life, have never lived in the same town as his family. To have Holly Nicholson, Aaron, and Baby Rhodie here in the same town with us, is so sweet and special...and I don't take one day of it for granted. Not one day. 

We have the BEST time together. 

Jim and I are THANKFUL for the opportunity to invest in Rhodie's little life.

Yesterday, Holly and I had hair appointments. I was nearly done when she and Rhodie got there. I held the baby while Holly got her hair cut. A lady came in the salon, and she started asking about Rhodes: how old he was...stuff like that. She said she had a grandson about Rhodie's age, but she didn't get to see him, because he and his family live in Germany. 

She talked to Rhodes, and he gave her a big, drool-y grin. Her eyes got all teary, and my heart melted. I thought, "I've been there, friend, and it's hard."  

We saw my Mom's Mom about once a year...and we saw my Dad's parents less than that. As a kid, I mean, I missed them...but it was all I knew.

Now that I'm a parent...and a grandparent...I realize how hard it must've been for my Mom and Dad, to not get to see their parents...and how hard it must've been for my grandparents, to not see their children or grandchildren but once a year. At best. 

The military life is a life of sacrifice...for the whole family.

I love my family. I wish our two younger boys lived here, too, but I am THANKFUL we can get to either of them in less than 3 hours. 

Jim says I will never be truly happy until our kids live on either side of us, and across the street....and to that, I say the three little words that make Jim's heart soar: "you.are.right."

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9