Ties That Bind
Our lives are woven together like intricate lace. The threads wind, tie and stretch to create a beautiful and unique pattern that will unravel if any string is cut, no matter how late the thread was added in to our pattern.
I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by a remarkable family. This isn't only my family, it includes Eric's family. I count myself lucky that I have never had a 'wicked-mother-in-law' story to relate. I count myself luckier that Eric's extended family is just as warm, just as kind, just as welcoming from the first moments that our lives were wound together.
Eric's uncle, Jim, is in the final stages of terminal cancer. Such ugly words to describe the closing days, weeks and months of an amazing man's life. I can quite literally say that Uncle Jim (and his wife, Aunt Marty) are directly responsible for a great portion of the peace and security Eric and I enjoy. The kindness and generosity they extended to us are only the tip of a very massive iceberg of goodness. I treasure the Thanksgiving's in their home, the holiday gatherings filled with Uncle Jim's jokes, the sweetness with which my children were accepted and loved, the sparkle in his eyes, the older-brother protectiveness for Eric's mom, the million ways Uncle Jim touched and changed my life and family.
Aunt Marty sent us an email updating us on how Uncle Jim is doing and asked us to pray for him. I am extending that request to you, my family and friends, so that a shower of prayers will fall on the ears of Heaven. The difficult part of the request is that I am not asking for you to pray for him to get well. While I believe that it is possible for Heavenly Father to work that miracle, I am asking instead that you ask for comfort for Uncle Jim and his wife, children and grandchildren so that they can deal with whatever road lies ahead. I am asking you to pray for strength and brilliant moments of goodness to carry them along. I am asking you to pray with gratitude for the moments already shared.
If you are like me, you believe in a grand eternal plan for each of us. This part of the plan feels a lot like an echo of last year when we lost Mom. But, when you look at your life as a purposeful journey it makes the pieces of life that tie us together into a changing and beautiful pattern.
I am so unspeakably grateful for the amazing people woven into my life. From Erma Bombeck, who says it better than I can:
"We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."
I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by a remarkable family. This isn't only my family, it includes Eric's family. I count myself lucky that I have never had a 'wicked-mother-in-law' story to relate. I count myself luckier that Eric's extended family is just as warm, just as kind, just as welcoming from the first moments that our lives were wound together.
Eric's uncle, Jim, is in the final stages of terminal cancer. Such ugly words to describe the closing days, weeks and months of an amazing man's life. I can quite literally say that Uncle Jim (and his wife, Aunt Marty) are directly responsible for a great portion of the peace and security Eric and I enjoy. The kindness and generosity they extended to us are only the tip of a very massive iceberg of goodness. I treasure the Thanksgiving's in their home, the holiday gatherings filled with Uncle Jim's jokes, the sweetness with which my children were accepted and loved, the sparkle in his eyes, the older-brother protectiveness for Eric's mom, the million ways Uncle Jim touched and changed my life and family.
Aunt Marty sent us an email updating us on how Uncle Jim is doing and asked us to pray for him. I am extending that request to you, my family and friends, so that a shower of prayers will fall on the ears of Heaven. The difficult part of the request is that I am not asking for you to pray for him to get well. While I believe that it is possible for Heavenly Father to work that miracle, I am asking instead that you ask for comfort for Uncle Jim and his wife, children and grandchildren so that they can deal with whatever road lies ahead. I am asking you to pray for strength and brilliant moments of goodness to carry them along. I am asking you to pray with gratitude for the moments already shared.
If you are like me, you believe in a grand eternal plan for each of us. This part of the plan feels a lot like an echo of last year when we lost Mom. But, when you look at your life as a purposeful journey it makes the pieces of life that tie us together into a changing and beautiful pattern.
I am so unspeakably grateful for the amazing people woven into my life. From Erma Bombeck, who says it better than I can:
"We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."
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