August 2012

Family update time...

August has been quite a month. On August 10th we took off for Colorado. Dave has more vacation time than me now so when our friend Colleen suggested we come spend a week with her we thought it would be a great place for me to fit in my part time hours and for Dave to take a full week of vacation. We invited Matt to come over from Kansas as he had stated in Manhattan with school friends for the summer. It was his last week of summer so he was ready for a break from work too.  There were anywhere from seven to ten old and new friends together. It was wonderful and unlikely mix of people. We had a great time exploring new places and returning to old favorites.

At one point I was out in front of Colleen's house swinging on her new chair suspended from a mighty pine tree. I was reading a book for work and thinking I can not believe this is my life. Colleen's hospitality combined with reading a book about God's people loving each other well and getting paid for it was hard to be grateful enough for. Humbling and joyful to be sure.

Then we received the news on the last morning that Dave's father had passed away. We got in the car as planned and got home as soon as possible. My dear mother-in-law was doing well and continues to do well. It helps immensely when God's timing on death matches with our expectations. Really I had been greiving the loss of Dad for a couple of years. He has not been able to be in any significant conversations for that long due to his hearing loss. That was the rich part of our relationship. Dad loved the Lord and His church. We loved talking about those topics together. Once we lost the ability to connect through conversation our relationship was very compromised. And yet, I will miss him. He was an optimist and loved celebrating each of our lives and the Lord's activity in them.

I hope the saints that arrive before us have the opportunity to pray for those of us still here! I love the idea of Dad up there speaking with the Father on our behalf.

One of the biggest gifts of those days was Matt coming home from school. We allowed him to make that choice on his own as it was the first week of the semester. It was a great comfort and joy to have him with us. He learned some things about Grandpa's life that he has a great appreciation for.

The other great blessing was the way friends and family surrounded us with loads of love and care. We are blessed!

Last but not least a week after all that we got on a plane and are now in refreshing Minnesota with my brother and his lovely family.  And we are so grateful for the time with them!