I am so blessed...
The day after Thanksgiving.
So many people are busy today, and I am quite.
My heart has not moved on from the theme of yesterday.
So much to be thankful for...
So many memories...
Such a rich heritage.
For countless years, the patriarchs of my family have gathered their families together to thank God for His blessings...
Generations have enjoyed the precious gift of family and home.
Yet, my heart aches a little when I think back to yesterday.
I miss my grandparents.
I have been loved and prayed for all my life... before I was even born.
Too many in this century have never known the blessing of a family legacy like mine.
What has been passed down to me is priceless!
I have a history of character.
I come from a line of mothers with hearts at home and men who loved and provided for their wives and children.
I have a heritage of faith.
I stand on a foundation that was established long before I was conceived and has proven to be sure and steadfast. The ground I walk is solid. It steadies me.
I know where I come from.
I have a name.
I know who I am.
And, I am more than just this lifetime. My life is about more than just me. I am part of something bigger than myself. I am part of a family.
I am passing something on to my children and grandchildren that is much bigger than me.
I woke-up in the middle of the night last night from a dream I can't remember except for one sentence, "I miss my daddy."
It wasn't my voice that spoke the words. A godly patriarch longing for a father who had already arrived in heaven said what my heart was crying.
From a sound sleep, I was suddenly awake and missing those who have gone ahead:
the ones I've known, who held me here on earth...
those that I vaguely remember...
and I even miss the one's I've only heard about...
my mom's Aunt May,
my grandma's Uncle Al,
my daddy's Uncle Paul...
my own Uncle Dennis.
I want to sit down around a table with them and hear them tell old stories.
I want to return to my great-grandma's porch, hear the plucking of a guitar, sing old hymns, laugh and play with cousins with no thought of time. I want what only heaven can offer.
When I think of heaven, I miss my dad. He's still here, but I see how he longs for heaven and home in the same way I do, only more keenly.
Who's to say that I won't arrive there first? But, I don't ever want to be without him. As long as I have him, I will be "daddy's little girl". Even at my age, I'm not ready to be all grown up.
And, my dear, beautiful mother...
What girl can get by without the help and love of her mother?
She knows everything,
and more importantly,
she understands me.
I need her.
I need her encouragement.
I want her company.
...I need my parents' prayers.
No, I will never be ready to say "goodbye" to them.
I am part of a family, even larger than my own direct lineage. Which of these dear people will I meet some day? What stories do they have to tell?
My own sweet mother-in-law is sure to be there now.
We used her roaster to cook the turkey yesterday. All those early years of marriage, I saw it in her house, felt the warmth of her kitchen, anticipated a feast as delicious aromas built throughout the day. Yesterday it sat on my counter and heated my own home, and she is gone.
I want to know her as she really is. I have heard about her faith, and I feel like I missed out. I married her son too late and never really had the chance to hear her stories.
My turn will come.
Someday I will be the grandma,
the great-grandma,
the distant relative that is vaguely remembered,
that stories are told about.
Will my children and grandchildren feel the way I do today?
"...why should my heart feel lonely
and long for heaven and home?"
Eternity is set in my heart.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
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