The Gift of Being

The Gift of Being
Dec.26th 2009

This Christmas didn’t look like others in the past in many ways. The kids told me right after Joe left us that they did not want to be home this Christmas. So I began to pray…..what else is a mother to do when her kids don’t want to come home for Christmas. Once again God provided in amazing ways….a place to stay, airline miles, a different country……On December 18th we left for San Juan Cabo San Lucas in Baja Mexico. Austin and Laura met us there. We had an amazing time snorkeling, enjoying the beach, sitting in the hot tub on our balcony and looking at the Sea of Cortez, playing games every night, laughing together, jet skiing, doing 12 zip lines through the canyon and bungee jumping……yes, at 50 I jumped backwards off a cliff and lived……after what I’ve been through in 2009, it was nothing……We spent a lot of time resting and it was exactly what all of us needed……great for Austin and Laura to be with all of us, great for Price to have his big brother, great for Mal as Rob went with us and a time for him to get to know the boys, and wonderful for me to have all my kids together. We shared some tears on Christmas Eve as we had our traditional family Christmas Eve service and talked about Joe, what we had learned about God this year but for the most part, we laughed again and began to learn how to navigate together again as a family that lost their leader. God’s grace covered all of us and some healing took place. We had a wonderful time together, lots of fun, lots of laughs, and new adventures. We didn’t have a tree in Cabo or stocking although Santa brought stocking stuffers and left them on the terrace of our condo……this year was different but great in many ways. As I walked along the beach one morning by myself, I had to thank God for His amazing love and goodness. I felt His presence is such a strong way each day. This year I got the best gift…..the gift of “being”. Being with God as I walked on the beach and being with my children. We didn’t give gifts to each other; our trip was our gift to one another…..the gift of simply “being.”

Many Many thanks to all who prayed for us this holiday season. Your prayers made a difference and we ask God to richly bless you.

Kathleen