Families

 

I've said it before but the miles, time and money are worth it to see our family, both by blood and the additional friends who love us and help us celebrate life that we choose to be family as well. 

You may have to rotate the people you can see each time.  We have so many people we love we can't fit them all in each visit and perhaps some only once every decade or so for only a brief moment, but we do the best we can.  We have to balance and share and love to the best of our ability. 

We also have found that we need time for just our small, if expanding, nuclear family.  Time to be intentional as we choose what we embrace and pass on and what we want to be the heritage of our next generation.

It's something my parents did in taking us to their timeshare at Stoneridge each year.  It's something George's parents did with family road trips to see new places. It's what we did as we blended Potter and Hines traditions and teachings and tried to root them in our living of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It's something Colton and Ali will start together now, blending meaningful Potter and Wilzbach experiences and traditions but making them their own. 

As Jeffrey R Holland shared this morning,

"In our busy lives it is crucial that family members spend time together. Whether it’s making memories, sharing stories of our youth, or passing on tales and traditions of ancestors, these moments together cannot be replaced. It’s something we need to do a lot more of, keeping traditions alive for the next generation."

I'm grateful for technologies that allow us to bridge the miles and stay in touch and share our lives more easily.  I'm grateful for families and the rich blessings that come from our efforts to build on our relationships with all the good, the bad and the ugly complexities that make them ours.  

We don't have to have perfect families to make them worth maintaining.  Even the difficulties, quirks and ridiculous moments can all be a part of our shared stories.  Yes, families can be difficult at times.  But that's part of their unique beauty and the fact that it's also what lets us be there for each other.  It's what makes them ours.