Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Big Box...

Two nights in a row, Ashley has woken up in tears.  She slipped into our room whispering that we have to hurry and bring her big sister home.  Part of her heartache is in knowing that we won’t get to have her sister by our side during Christmas, but the other part is that the waiting seems like eternity to an 8-old-year (and her mama)… literally time seems to have stopped and dates are nothing but markers of what we’ve missed.  

When I was little, it was practically tradition for us to lie to our family is Chicago and say we wouldn’t be able to come visit for Christmas.  Then, on Christmas Eve we’d load into the minivan and drive through the night to surprise my beloved Grandparents.  One year, we simply rang their doorbell and their we stood.  Once, we just walked into their kitchen for breakfast like nothing was going on.  Another year, my little brother and sister got in a big box and my Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike had to push the box into their livingroom.  Then my Grandma and Grandpa opened it… just to have the little ones jump up and yell “Surprise!”  Family is priceless… but at this time of year we need a bigger word… family is everything. 

I don't know how to stop Ashley's tears, and I know that her darling big sister isn’t a toy to wrap up and hide under the tree… but how I wish my parents would just lie to me and say she can’t be here just yet… and then… on Christmas morning there could be a big box that they would have to push into the livingroom.

Our day is coming, when our family will be all together again.  Until then, I will trust in God’s loving plan for all of our lives. 

"Love and faithfulness meet together;
   righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
   and righteousness looks down from heaven."
                                                  Psalm 85:10-11

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