Not Lucky... Blessed

This weekend had “all the feels.”  In an all-hands-on-deck event, my sister got married at our family’s farm.  Since I am mushy anyway AND super hormonal pregnant right now, I definitely had a lot of tears (don’t worry they were all the good kind!), goosebumps, and reflective moments.  Some of my favorite “take away” thoughts from the weekend…

I never grew up with brothers, I was blessed with sisters, but I sure hit the jackpot when it comes to brother-in-laws (or outlaws as they have taught (a) to call them).  They are pillars of strength for my sisters, heroes in the eyes of my 3 year old, and bring more love and laughter around our family dinner table.  Whether they are showing up with ponies or swords that shoot fireworks, (a) wants to be just like those two guys because one drives tractors and feeds cows, and the other is a rodeo cowboy.  I hope he is also watching that they are helpmates to their wives, there for the family no matter the need, and praying at the dinner table because at the end of the day they know where all those blessings have come from.  When I watch (A) with those two I always have to giggle a little because the three of them could not be more different when it comes to personalities or backgrounds, but the fun they have together, the way they get along, and the blessings the three of them bring to our family are abundant.

Having a “village” is one of the greatest blessings in life.  There were so many people who pitched in over the last few weeks, and especially the last couple days to bring the wedding together that it reminded me how important it is to live in community.  We can’t survive on our own, we can’t do it all on our own, but helping each other out, holding each other up, filling in our own weaknesses with the strengths of others is a true blessing.  It was also so wonderful to get to visit with that “village” and catch up on where life has taken us.  Whether it was high school friends I hadn’t seen in years, former Sunday School teachers, farm family neighbors, cattle friends, and family from far away… they all have played parts in making me who I am and it is truly special to step back, take that in, and realize how thankful I am that God created us to live in community with one another.

Being part of a family makes life sweeter.  I’ve often heard the phrase, “We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.” When I look around my life, I can’t help but smile at the truth in that.  Being in a family doesn’t always mean you see eye to eye, doesn’t always mean you don’t have spats here and there (and we have the childhood scars to prove it!), but you are there for each other through thick and thin.  Whether it is making 360 cupcakes, standing on a ladder to hang lights, a shared eye roll at dad’s corny comments, cleaning up when you are beyond exhausted, or letting tears flow down your face as the “baby” of the family comes down the aisle… love of a family doesn’t always look glamourous, it isn’t always clean and easy, but it is forever, it is for good or bad, it is what keeps us going when we think we can’t do anymore.  I hope my children will look back as adults and feel as fiercely loved by their family as I do. 

Never take for granted the beauty of what God has placed around you.  The “top of the hill” on our family’s south farm has long been a favorite place for us.  It has been the site of many picnics, adventures, afternoons of reflections, and occasional pictures, but until you share it with others and hear their ooohs and ahhhs at the sight, you sometimes take for granted the spectacular beauty of the “every day.”  Sometimes I take for granted the “good genes” I come from, until I see us pull together for something and realize that how I was raised is a gift.  I take for granted what a gift my husband has a minister, until his words in front of our friends and family bring me to tears.  God has placed so many beautiful things in my life, that I sometimes overlook because they seem just a part of the “every day.”

As the storms rolled in on Sunday afternoon and we hustled to make sure everything was in the dry, I commented on how glad I was that the weather for Saturday had been perfect.  My dad agreed and said, “we sure got lucky.”  I smiled at him and reminded him, “no we didn’t get LUCKY, we had been praying for this for months” to which he replied “you’re right- we weren’t lucky, we were BLESSED.”  Thank you, Lord, as I reflect at all the good things you have put in my life, and the people and opportunities you have surrounded me with- that I am not LUCKY, I am BLESSED.

“Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.  Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.  Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; our oxen will draw heavy loads.  There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.  Blessed is the people of whom this is true, blessed is the people whose God is the LORD.” Psalm 144: 12-15