a moving experience

the fourth of July is my mom's birthday and we usually spend the fourth celebrating with my dad's side. since this year's fourth was on a Sunday we got together Saturday night but my parents could only be there for the second half because of prior commitments. so because they couldn't really celebrate her birthday on saturday they all came over on sunday afternoon.

my dad's brothers and sister rarely get all of them together at a time but this year was special and a lot different. his brother Fred was there, his sister Corinne, sister Tina, brother Case, brother Guy, and dad. we had 5 of the 8 kids there. it was AWESOME! the thing about this year was that we had a lot of firsts. Uncle Fred had just sealed the deal on his new marriage, Aunt Corinne was single, and Aunt Tina was there for longer than expected. It was so much fun because they started to reminisce about the good times when they were younger and their memories of grandpa and grandma. there were so many laughs shared and so many memories remembered, it was a blessing!

then before anyone decided to leave we all stood in a circle and prayed..for the first time ever as a family (without it being before a meal)..it was sooo moving. there were many tears shed, many giggles shared, and so many realizations that were made. we lifted up our prayers and concerns together and we will always have that now.

praise God for the family that he has blessed me with. praise Him for all the memories that he has blessed my life with. thank you Jesus for everything that he provides. i can't wait to meet Him in person and thank him personally. He is sooo good!!!