The Blessing of Family

Just a little over a week ago our family went on our annual fall hike. We have done it ever since I was pregnant with my youngest son. (The shorter of the two in this photo). For many years we have taken photos in front of this rock. Most years the boys barely were half way up the rock. This year you can see that they are almost surpassing it.

This year was a little bittersweet for me, because it is the last time that we will do our annual hike as a whole family. By next Fall my oldest will be in college in Florida.

Our hike was a lot shorter than normal because my oldest son is still dealing with a cross country injury that affects his hip. He isn't able to walk very much without pain and discomfort. He has been going through physical therapy. But I praise God for the opportunity we did have to go out together.

I think about traditions and things that we do together as a family - having a weekly family night with pizza and a movie, playing games, daily devotions and prayer time, eating supper together each night, etc. These are all things that I often just take for granted. But this past Friday, I had a reminder to treasure those times and realize how blessed I am.

Early Friday morning I dropped my son off at a local restaurant around 7:10 AM, to catch his ride to work. Less than twenty minutes later he called me on the driver's cell phone telling me that they had just been in a car accident, just yards away from where I had dropped him. It never even crossed my mind of the possibility of receiving a phone call like that. Fortunately the driver of the other vehicle as well as the friend my son was riding with, and my son were all fine - no broken bones.

My son is still struggling with aches and pains due to the force of the air bag as well as the seat belt. He told me that he was just going to reach down and get something when the accident occurred. I realized that if he had done that, it is likely that his head, neck, etc. could have been incredibly affected by the air bag. He could have been paralyzed or even killed. I shudder to even think about it.

So the past several days I have been pondering the blessing of family and how God put us all together. We never know the amount of days that we will have on this earth. Treasure each one!