For me, being with family after a long stretch is like coming home. Be it months, years, days or even hours……time with family conjures up all the weaving history of hardship and laughter and trials and joy that has shaped me into the person I am today. It’s this sense of nostalgia that reminds me to be ever grateful for all that I have been blessed to have: precious healing, moments of forgiveness and food on my plate (even when it was sometimes scarce.)

My story, like so many others, has had its share of hardships, but the memories of love far outweigh any difficulties that I’ve experienced. Bellies aching with laughter at my mothers stories, and the way my father’s gentle voice spoke wisdom and comfort into my ears was always far more real to me than any pain that we saw. Long nights of traveling and singing and dancing and (more) laughing; sharing stories with my siblings late in to the night; oh the stories missionary kids can tell! Our life was like a book of great adventures, full of culture, food, color, music, laughter, crying and loving and pain.

With such strong early bonds like this it’s difficult to grasp how years can pass now without us all being together again. Scattered across the world, our children are born and grown without ever playing together in the same dirt. Distant countries are explored, new flavors are tasted; new songs are sung as our different stories are being written. And each time we do get to see each other we are all just a little bit grayer.

We watch as our children play together and laugh like old friends. They each have their own stories, flavors tasted, adventures taken, and memories made. We watch as they blossom like we did all those years ago. They soak life in and grab everything it has to offer them. And we know that one day they will all meet up in a park somewhere in the world to share nothing more than a simple chicken salad and the stories and memories they’ve collected; watching their children play together and dream of all the adventures that they could one day have.

 Last week I was blessed to get to spend a little time with my brother Bryan, his beautiful wife Christi and their gorgeous daughter Greta while they were visiting the states from their home in Honduras. Needless to say, little Greta was overjoyed by this exciting splash pad in Dallas and by the attentiveness of her cousins….and auntie of course!

Enjoy your family this Fourth Of July holiday and take in every precious moment you have with them!