Grateful for Family
It was thanksgiving last week and we were suppose to be Grateful Right?! So then why oh why do we get so stressed!!!!! I mean seriously people! We spent Thanksgiving at the beach! You heard me, the BEACH! Who gets stressed at the beach? We did and sometimes you could feel the tension....inside of me...inside the room...or inside of one of my family members. Why?
Well, after Church at the Chapel of Seaside, I realized why. The sermon really put it into perspective for me and I think it MIGHT help me at any family gathering in the future. OPERATIVE WORD here is MIGHT! We are human after all and we tend to forget things when we are stressed or mad or angry. And let's face it people....that is what sometimes comes out when we are all together as a family.
Think about all the family dynamics that are coming together....In my family on The Berry side alone I think we have 7! SEVEN! Lucky seven maybe? 7 different ways we all were raised, 7 different ways we celebrate, 7 different ways we discipline and the list goes on and on! Imagine how many if we had included the Foley side! Holy Guacamole! But thankfully this week it was just the Berry's. We had the dynamics of:
Grubba (my father in law)
Gramzee (my mother in law)
Trey and Tom (husband and brother in law) and the way they were raised
Me
Jobeth (my sister in law)
The way Trey and I raise our boys
The way Tom and Jobeth are raising their girls
Do you see how it could get sticky here and there? Lord Love a Duck it can get sticky! Throw in the fact that we had a six year old blowing snot rockets, an eight year old little Shirley Temple twinky dink, an 11 year old who LOVES to sit in her corner and read (God love her she was the sweetest and quietest one), and TWO TEENAGERS! To say it was GLORIOUS 24-7 would be a LIE! TOTAL LIE!
I decided after hearing the amazing Sermon by Pastor Gary Wingo that I would dig in deep in my QT and really focus on what I could do now that I understand why it gets Sticky. What I came up with and what MIGHT help you and I in the coming weeks is to remember it will be "Weird" and "Stressful" at times. It can't help to be. So together, lets challenge ourselves in the following.
A. Patience and Love-this is probably the hardest. Especially when you are tired and all you want is to be quiet or to read and someone in your family wants to talk to you. Practice it here. Breath and smile and remember this time together is oh so brief in the grand scheme of things. Talk to them. Make them feel special and show them you are listening....this will go far.
B. No Complaining in your head or outward-Yet another hard one. Especially if you feel like you are the only one participating in whatever (Cleaning, cooking, errand running). What I have learned this week here is we all have our strengths. One person's might better at laundry, dishes whatever while the other person might actually be better at calming situations just by their smile and laughter and crazy sense of humor. Sometimes someones beautiful smile is all you need to calm the tension, but both help in stressful times.
C. Don't be critical of anyone-Only Encourage one another, build one another up-Yep, you guessed it! This is hard too! What happens when you encourage and build someone up is so much more beautiful than when you tear someone down. Especially when you do it when you are angry, hurt, or irritated by someone....SERIOUSLY try it! Build that person up and watch the miracle work between you both! I dare you! You might be in for a pleasant surprise.
I put this challenge into place with myself last week and no it was not easy and no I did not "Nail It", but it did bring me much more peace and calm. I truly think I enjoyed my week so much more just by TRYING to apply these three things and I am going to Challenge all of us to apply them in the future. You might be surprised at the JOY you bring to your heart and to your family!
And always remember: HOME IS WHEREVER A BUNCH OF CRAZIES ARE!
Just kidding! Home is your story of who you are and a collection of all the things you love.
This is Us....And boy do I love Us!
