Today got off to a crumby start. Sarah (my 7 year old) woke me up at 2:30 to inform me that her stomach hurt. I walked her to the bathroom and got her over the toilet just in time for her to vomit like nothing I've ever seen! I got her settled back onto the couch for the rest of the night with a bucket in the floor by her in case she got sick again and couldn't make it, only to take an hour to go back to sleep. Then Miriam (my 4 year old) woke me up to ask me where her whirly color thing was at 5 a.m.(my kids went to the magic show last night with my parents and they bought them each a toy). My alarm went off at 6 and I was soooo not ready to start my day, but I got up anyway. I had the privilege of serving our church this morning by being on our worship team. My day began to look up. Yes, it was a crazy morning, having to go to church at 8, practice for worship team, choir warm up at 8:30, home to get my oldest and youngest daughters to take them to Sunday school at 8:40 and then be on stage ready to go at 9 a.m. for our first church service, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to do so!
Morning worship was awesome as I had expected it would be. Pastor Jeff delivered a sermon that spoke to everyone in the crowd. He was very real and really spoke to the heart with words I truly believe were straight from God. He met people "where they were" in life and delivered an awesome message. We headed home and got ready to head to my aunt's house in Eastern KY for a family gathering with my mom's side of the family.
I spent the whole afternoon with my family. Not just my kids and husband, my WHOLE family from my mom's side. If ALL of us get together, there are 71 of us. This is my grandparents/their 8 kids and 7 spouses/the 23 grandkids and 12 spouses/and the 21 (almost 22 as I have another cousin that will be born next week) great grandkids. I think that's right. Anyway, the biggest majority of us were all-together today. We all came together today to honor my grandparents. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this week. What an honor to be there with all of them today! My grandparents are truly THE MOST Godly people I know! I am soooo thankful to God that He has allowed me to be part of this amazing family. We are nowhere near perfect. We all have our quirks and even issues at times. Not perfection for sure. But we all love each other through the differences we have.
Anyway, today we all came together pitching in making/bringing food and had an amazingly good day together. We met at my aunt's house. The weather was perfect, we were able to spend most of the day outside just enjoying being around each other. We had my Brother in Law take a group picture of the whole family. I can't wait to see how it turned out, then we broke each of the 8 kids families down into groups and took their pics as well. My aunt had a large pile of dirt in her backyard. All the great grandkids that were there played in it for HOURS! My kids were FILTHY when we got home tonight. Filthy but HAPPY! So many lessons are learned when our family gets together. It doesn't take much to make a child happy. I love that it's the "little things" in life that make my kids happy. I love listening to them play with their cousins and watching them chase each other around the yard. I love that they have the opportunity to be part of and grow up in a large family that loves them. My grandmother prayed fervently for Miriam when she was born and was not as healthy as we would have liked her to be, I have no doubt that God heard and answered those prayers.
My grandparents are truly the most Godly people I know. They shared words of Godly wisdom with us as they cut their cake. My grandfather is a baptist preacher. They shared of their love for God and their family, each and every one of us. They are in their 70's and with so many in our family may not remember every name of every great grandchild (shoot, I have trouble remembering the names of my 3 girls and I'm only 36!), but they truly love every single one of us as only they can. My grandfather shared his salvation story with the family. A story that changed his life and the life of his family forever! What a privilege to get to hear him tell it in person!
God has so richly blessed me by allowing me to be a part of this family. I was driving home this evening with my 3 girls and the sun was setting. The sky was ablaze with reds/oranges/purples across a bright blue sky with white puffy clouds intermingled. It was the perfect ending to an amazingly perfect day for me. It was like a scene from a movie, driving off into the sunset, out of the mountains of Eastern KY with the hills full of the beautiful colors of autumn which God himself painted. It seemed as if it were just for me. I know it wasn't, but it seemed like it was. I hope and pray I don't forget the fantastic day today has been for me for a long time and that I can be the amazing example to my kids that my grandparents and parents alike have set for me.
I know I've rambled a lot during the writing of this blog tonight, but honestly, my heart is so full it's running over with the love and thankfulness I have within myself tonight!
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