Seth and I made it home safe and now I’m rushing to get ready for Mass. I’m excited because tonight I am subbing for a friend of mine who is a small group leader for LIFE NIGHT. I haven’t participated in our parish LIFE NIGHT in nearly 3 years…I’ve spoken at other parish’s LIFE NIGHTS but felt I needed to step away from our own in order to allow our new youth minister to establish roots. 🙂
When I was asked to come sub I jumped at the chance because not only do I get to taste a bit of what drove me into ministry in the beginning but I also get to be ‘in the mix’ and not running it! 😉
I know yesterday I shared a little bit about how sad it is to see our HUGE family begin to ‘unravel’…my dad is the youngest of 6 and most of his brother’s and sister had 6 kids (with the exception of one uncle and my dad who only had 4…and well, one probably has 8 or more but that’s a book in itself 😉 )… times change and sometimes we are forced to accept that we can’t make it all ‘go back’. My kids do not know that life of a BIG FAMILY and it makes me very sad that they do not know their 30++ cousins, but they are creating their own memories and this will be what ‘they know’ and enjoy.
Seth had a great time with ‘Aunt’ Lori (who is my cousin but he did not feel comfortable calling her cousin…which I didn’t ask him to!!!) and ‘Aunt’ Karen (not only my cousin but my Godmother). Seth rode 4 wheels, found animal bones, we made gingerbread houses and roasted marshmellows. It was good ole’ fashion fun and we had a blast.
Sometimes we just have to ‘take them back’.
I love my family and I know that even if it is years before we get another huge family gathering to come about that it will be as if we never left off…
Blessings
Shannon