What? A blog two days in a row? Why, I never! :) There is a reason for this, though. For one, the kids are napping and/or being quiet. For another thing, my sister and I are enjoying that quiet by watching a little something and simultaneously enjoying modern technology. :)
ANYWAY, this blog is a little bit dated but I saw something that reminded me of Thanksgiving. I saw the dress shoes of my niece and my sister sitting side-by-side. :) You see, my entire immediate family was in to visit, which was very special. After everyone had gotten in and was comfortably playing around, eating, and chatting there was a moment where I contentedly surveyed the scene. All these years apart and we still fit together like a well-oiled machine, even with all the new kiddies that have been added since the last time.
Then I noticed it... twenty-two pair of shoes, twelve of them ranging from tiny to child-sized, all neatly set in pairs in the foyer just inside the door. Those shoes represented the feet of everyone I love the most in the world (aside from the babies, whose shoes were not present) and have been blessed to share DNA with. I was tickled at the neatness of it, and what that little pile said about the consideration of these people for my new home and carpet. I was amazed by the size of it, and blessed that God has seen fit to allow our family to grow almost without abandon over the years.
The day was emotion-rich anyway, as my dad had just been released from the hospital and my sister, brother-in-love and their kids had been spared a worse fate in the accident they'd had on the way over. Somehow those shoes represented all of my heart in one random place. Two months later I am still affected, still touched, by the memory of those shoes. I hope the next time they come together in a bunch isn't five or six years away. I need those shoes in my life... I need their owners in my life. <3
