In my mind I've been writing this post for about two weeks now. It was going to be all about how hard it is to live so far from family, how hard it is when it comes "vacation" time because you're so busy planning and driving and visiting people that you don't really have time to relax. It was going to be about the need to keep working through the vacation. It was going to be thankful for the time away from home, but not really.Thankfully, God changed my heart. He opened my eyes to see family that works just as hard to get ready for my family to visit. He opened my ears to hear the peace and quiet I am enjoying right now because my children are with their grandparents (or napping because they're exhausted from playing with their cousins all day yesterday). He opened my heart to recognize the joy I have seeing how much my nephews have grown.
And this is just the beginning. I am anxiously awaiting a week with more family and friends. A week where cousins will get to have sleep overs. A week where siblings will get to catch up and spend time together without their kids. A week to celebrate a marriage that has set the example for so many people.
So never mind the months of emails sent back and forth planning each day (we know it still won't go as smoothly as we'd like!. Never mind the unexpected extra costs that always come up. Never mind the road construction and traffic slowing us down. God has given my family time away from our routine. He has given us time to be together as our own family, time to be together as an extended family, time to be together as his family.
Happy summer vacation!
