birthdays, anniversaries, and FAMILY

This past week was way outside the norm for me - Chris and I spent Monday night through Wednesday morning downtown, celebrating our upcoming 34th anniversary with a little shopping and a lot of eating and relaxing (ugh - I gained back several of the pounds I had lost).

Then on Thursday, the staff surprised me with gifts and a meal for my 54th birthday and on Friday my oldest son Chad and his fiancee' Dorothy arrived from LA so we could celebrate Christmas as a family on the same day as our 34th anniversary. Sitting around the table with them last night, talking about memories of their childhood and enjoying the companionship even more than the gifts, I realized how precious family really is. I'm sure Chris and I had no clue 34 years ago what our future would hold or the difficulties and the joys we'd experience - but looking at the children God has given us and how they've grown into productive adults - we know it was worth it all.

Thank you, Lord, for family - both our natural one, and our spiritual one at CLC - as once more You reminded me of the value of our relationships. And for all my readers, if you didn't hear Pastor Dan Johnson's message today, get the podcast - we all need someone in our corner!