Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Family Culture

 Family culture is such a wonderful thing.  It is the things in your family that mark your family as, well, your family!

In our family we like to have people over.  We like to play games, some of us more than others.  We watch movies together, learn together.  I guess you could say that we spend a lot of time together.

The funny thing is we are all so busy!  Lindsay and Emma work 2 jobs each, I work here and in our store, Tim works his crazy hours at his work...but somehow we all end up together at some point during the day.

This liking to hang out together did not happen by chance.  We made deliberate choices to foster family closeness.  We worked through personality issues, we keep short accounts with each other, we laugh together a lot, and we practice forgiveness.

Our home is a fun place - it's messy sometimes, it's loud sometimes, but it is a place we love to be.  We also love to take road trips together!

I am thankful for God's grace in our lives.  So thankful for nuturing relationships with one another.  I am thankful to see my children's love for each other, and their love for their grandparents, and Tim and I.  We're blessed.  We know it!

So when the storm was coming we made sure that my parents came here to spend a few days with us.  Grandpa bunked in with Kyle and Grandma in with the girls.  The girls stayed up late talking with Grandma.  Our friend Denny dropped by yesterday and today.  We made phone calls to check in with friends to make sure they were okay.  Teaching our kids to care for others outside the family as well.

I want to write more in the coming weeks about family culture, but tonight my heart was full from the last few days of time together.

Blessings....   

6 comments:

  1. A loving family is one of God's richest blessings! Yes, you are blessed!
    Such fun pictures of happy people!

    Thank you for sharing your heart...

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  2. Amen! My parents instilled the same in my sister and I and even though I am married and on my own with my own family to raise, we all love to be together and do this intentionally twice every week if not more. I am doing this with my boys too- trips together, learning together, love and forgiveness (huge!)...you have done so well in this auntie dee! I see the joy and I know that joy withmy family- be proud that you cultivated this, it's beautiful and rare and such blessing!

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  3. What a comfort and blessing family is ALL the time - but especially when the "storms" come! It sounds like these last few days will be life-time memories!

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  4. Nothing like a storm to have everyone circling the wagons and spending time together. Our family used to play games together... Sigh.

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  5. Wish i could join you ladies at that table for a game. =)
    Was Uncle Tim able to stay home with the family or did he have to go into work after all?

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  6. You are one of the few families I know who are doing it right, and I so admire you. Thanks for sharing these wonderful moments and snapshots with us.

    Love
    Jen

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