I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful Friday morning! Early morning is such a special time; everything is new, fresh, everyone is waking up, everything is coming to life and birds are bringing in the new day with joyful chirps. I love the morning...there is so much hope & promise found in it!
This morning I wanted to share a few thoughts, ideas, rhetorical questions, observations, etc. from the Haslam family move this past weekend - we "officially" moved last weekend however if you have ever moved you know that this started about 3 weeks ago and continues today!
- How did we get so much stuff? Secretly you wonder if you are a hoarder!
- Friends are a such a blessing! I am not talking about helping pack, helping carry all the stuff up and down stairs, loading the truck, unloading the truck, etc. though that is certainly a great blessing and something the Haslam 5 is extremely grateful for. No, what I am referring to is the texts, the phone calls, to just check in, to see how you are doing, to let you know that they are thinking about you. THIS really spoke to our hearts. I am reminded that stuff is stuff however it is the people who we are blessed, honored & privileged to do life with every day - our family, friends & even those who will only enter our lives for a brief moment in time - that make life worth living. They, the people, are our purpose, our calling.
- Don't assume that when your 16-year old son opens up the back of the U-Haul truck that he opened it all the way! Sure, it seems logical to you that he would have opened it all the way however this is not necessarily the case! And when the sweat, meets the open wound that you now have on your head, it stings but it is not fatal and besides, if you sit there and talk about it, the truck is not getting loaded.
- So it is 106 degrees outside, you have walked up and down the 13 steps that were at your home who knows how many times loading the truck, you have slept about 8 hours in the last 3 days, you have walked up and down the 18 stairs at your new apartment what seems like more times than you walked up and down stairs loading the truck, you are exhausted, whinny and feeling sorry for yourself (if nothing else, at least I am honest!). Suddenly your Beautiful Bride - you know, the one that God gave you as a gift. The one you have the privilege and responsibility of loving, honoring, protecting, leading, guiding - looks at you and you see the pain in her eyes. Her spirit is reaching out to yours, her heart crying out to yours, letting you know that she is hurting, she is tired, she is frustrated, she needs you to be strong for her. In that moment your wants, needs, complaints, etc. don't matter any more. In that instant you see life - all of it - in a completely different light. You are thankful that God has kicked you in the rear, made you aware of your source of strength, your responsibility and you cry out to Him to lead this precious family through you.
- How did dust get there?!?!
- Our kids - you know, the one's that we are blessed, honored & privileged to love, honor, protect, lead & guide - really are incredible. You can talk to them, explain what needs to be done - talk to them the way you would want them to talk to you! - and they really will rise up and do incredible things! I watched a 16-year old boy completely change his attitude and effort from the Friday load to the Saturday unload, reload and unload. It was incredible! Before my very eyes I had the honor & privilege of watching a boy take steps to become a man, to think outside himself, to serve his family...Wow!!
- Why did we get an apartment on the 2nd floor? Why did we keep that?!?! (this question repeated itself several times so you can pretty much fill in the blank with anything you would like!)
- It touches your heart in a way that is difficult to explain when you arrive at Grandma & Grandpa's at 11:00 p.m. Friday to find that your 7-year old has stayed up to wait for you, that he tells you over and over again that he thought about you all day long, that he missed you and then he continues to hug & kiss you over and over and over....You hope that you can love like he loves, that you would be what he is, that you would have the strength, ability & courage to make others feel the way he makes you feel.
- Why do I have so many shoes?!?! Seriously?!?! I only wear one pair at a time and, for the most part, I wear the same 2 or 3 pairs all the time. Just another box to carry up and down the stairs!
- The physical structure does not make the home...it is the people within the physical structure that make the home. It is the love we have for them, the relationships we have with them, the things we do together, the memories we create that make the physical structure the home. Your home is found in your heart and the joining of your heart to the hearts of those who you are blessed, honored & privileged to have in your life.
- Sleep is good!!! It is even better when you and your 3 Tender Warriors climb into your bed, turn on Sportscenter and fall asleep within seconds, together. You wake up the next morning, feeling refreshed and you realize that your home is coming together nicely.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
Very nice . . . . . Our Kids DO surprise us and I think we underestimate them. In our protection I wonder how much we hold them back . . :-)
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