I really wanted to write this post yesterday, but we spent the day driving home from Tennessee and my body and brain were fried...I will have to hope this one-day-late type of behavior isn't going to be the theme for this new year!There are certain times in our lives that we will always remember...the first time we fell for a guy (and probably the first time our heart was broken), the first time we left our parents home for our own, the first time we drove a car, our first paycheck. But there are also certain years that we remember - the year we graduated, the year we were married, the year our children were born; this year will be one of those for me. The year 2008 will be bittersweet because it was the last year I had with my father. I am so thankful to God for the gifts he gave me with my Dad right before he died. He and my Mom came to visit us about three weeks before he passed and after church, he gripped me up in a big hug and told me how much he loved me and was proud of me - words I had waited 41 years to hear! The weekend before he died, I was visiting my parents in Baltimore and we had so much fun laughing and joking around with Dad and some of Moms sisters. When I woke up to get a phone call just five days later that he died in his sleep, I didn't know what a blessing those two visits would later become. Now I know God was doing a real work in my Dad's heart to prepare not just him, but us for the day when he would leave us behind.
Christmas and New Year's was better for me than I thought it would be - it helped me tremendously to see my Mom was doing okay. I do feel like the entire month of December was like a healing balm for my soul. I stayed very busy overseeing the Camden Christmas toy drive this year, and if you haven't heard, we delivered new clothing and toys to over 75 children in 26 families who would not have otherwise received anything! What a blessing it was to see the faces of the Mom's who now knew their kids would have something to open on Christmas Day. We were also able to give each family a grocery giftcard so that there would be a little something on the table during the holidays. Thanks to everyone who helped with that and next year - be sure to sign up to participate!
We hadn't gone to Tennessee to visit extended family with Mom for a few years, but decided it would be good to be together this year, and I am so happy we did! There is something so comforting in knowing that certain things never change. The love that was instilled in us towards each other from my great-grandparents has not dimmed at all with time and is something my Mom and her sisters have all been careful to instill into all of us.
We have all been through so much and some are still in the thick of it, but we can all laugh - and even cry -as we continue to pray for God's grace to get us through the rest! May you all be blessed in this new year and be careful to take notice of all the little gifts God gives us each and every day!
