Reflections

I decided this week that blogging is much harder than it ought to be.  It seems to come with some sort of pressure to always include something insightful, motivating or meaningful.  Most days, I'm not sure what that might be.  Today, I might be on to something.

I went to a funeral tonight.  It was for the father of one of my childhood friends.  He was an awesome man.  Really.  In fact, they were an awesome family.  I listened tonight as people told of how he impacted their lives.  The story was the same over and over again.   Whether they knew him from work, church, community service, political arenas or his family, the story was the same.  The consensus was he was a man who loved God, his family, his community and who treated others, no matter who they were, with the kindness and respect they deserved.  He was a man who used his talents, wisdom and humor to impact his world in every way.  What a legacy.

It was a reminder to me to live life.  Live it with eyes wide open looking for opportunities to serve and to make a difference.  Live it with my heart wide open, loving my family deeply and honestly and looking for opportunities to love others.  Live it with open arms so that I can reach out and impact the lives of those around me in tangible ways.  Live it speaking truth and humor into the lives of those I come in contact with.  Live it willing to cry because it makes me human...touchable...real.  Live it loving my spouse and my children all out all the time.  They are my greatest gifts in life and I need to remember to treasure every moment.

My daddy was at the funeral too.  In fact, a good portion of my family was there.  We were invited to sing in honor of David.  It was a pleasure to do so.  But my daddy spoke as well.  He's always been a gifted communicator and he was rock solid this time.  One thing he said that I have attempted to live by and needed reminding of was that we should never wait to let someone know the impact they've had on our lives.  He was privileged to have the opportunity to share that with David and to tell him he loved him before he passed.  I wonder if any of you have someone you need to share that with too?

I am so blessed that so many of you have chosen to follow us as we embark on this mission.  Some of you are old, dear friends, some of you are family and others are new.  All of you are important to us.  We are so grateful for the stories we share and for the ones that have yet to be written.  Thank you for loving on our family, for caring about our mission and for praying for us.

Updates from just last week:  We will be Dogwood Ranch.  We are working on our website and will let you know when it's up and running.  We met with an incredible group of ladies who are part of an organization called Bloom (look them up on facebook) and who are excited to be a part of this vision as well.  We were blessed beyond measure and completely overwhelmed as a result of our time with them.  God totally ordained that meeting and we are excited to see what will come of it.  One thing we have scheduled is an informational meeting on January 20th.  It will be our first opportunity to cast vision to a group of people.  Please pray for those who will attend and for us as we prepare.

Please know that we are praying for you as well.

Have a VERY Merry Christmas!