Visitors

Mother's Day weekend was a blast. Literally, figuratively, any way you want to call it.. Let me break it down for you all. 4 kids, 2 "grown" nephews, wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, my mother, and my father. Missed my sister in all of this craziness, though I am not at all certain that she missed us. We ate a ton of food, and caught up on a year of "quality time" in just about 24 hours. It was like trying to drink from a fire hose. Moderately insane doesn't really do it justice, but interesting thing... it just felt right.

Life at our house is about activity, doing things, talking, just being... Adding more people to the mix seems strangely normal. Our priorities are in place so bringing others into our world doesn't upset it. (at least not usually) This was our first set of concrete, definable memories in our new home and they were great ones. Images of "gram" meeting Clara for the first time are now indelibly scribed into my memory forever. For the first time, our new home felt like home...

Family, all of them, mixing together is a really cool thing. We were all blessed by one another this weekend. I finally felt at home.. How weird is that? It takes visitors to make me feel at home... I guess I don't understand as much as I thought.

Terry at Woodland Hts spoke about not putting anyone ahead of God, even family. There is definitely something to that. I think I need to study and think on it some more. Holidays, celebrating, must have another context and then all of it works... if the context is only the family, then it is extremely difficult. Expectations rule, and insufficiency reigns. Nothing we do for one another is enough, but if we come together within the context of worship, or celebration, a higher purpose.. then the other stuff is insignificant..

Verses from Sunday..
Matt. 10:32-39 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.