Don’t Take It For Granted!

I haven’t been able to post for a while because every time I wanted to write it was just to personal to put into words and put on paper or it hurt to bad to share. I have been very busy as I am sure many of you have also. It always seem like the Christmas Holiday comes and goes and then I am looking back asking myself where the time went. I wanted to write tonight about Family. I have learned in the past 8 months that the one most important thing in my life is my family. I have a brother that happens to be the baby of our family and two sisters, both younger than myself. My “Baby Brother” has become the “Big” brother I never had. He has been there to protect me from the day of Adam’s accident to now. He did things for me that I would never have expected anyone to do for me. His wife told my children that their brother was going to die because I was busy trying to take care of reaching their father and frankly I don’t really remember the events of that day very clearly. The day of Adam’s accident when we received the call regarding where he was being transported to I can remember telling my youngest daughter that I didn’t want Adam to arrive in Tulsa without anyone there for him. She told me to call my little brother, but I hadn’t spoken to my little brother for almost 16 months because of a stupid misunderstanding. Brandee told me “This is not the time to let pride stand in the way.” My brother and my sister-in-law and my sister were at that hospital and were in charge of everything regarding Adam’s care and arrival until we made it the 7 hour drive to the hospital. My family has been there for me through this whole process of grieving. I don’t know what I would have done if I had had to be at that hospital by myself without family or friends. Danielle had many people who knew her and her family from Rhema but we had our family there for us and I can never repay them for all they did while we were there. I pray to God I never have to be there for them in a similar situation. It may have been 16 months since I had talked to my brother but when he heard me say “I need your help” he dropped everything and began to put in motion all that we needed to give Adam the best possible care we could find. My family was at that hospital with me day and night for the next 12 days. They brought us food and found us a place to sleep and took in all my children when they had to drive to Tulsa knowing their were coming to say good bye to Adam. They missed work and sat in that awful waiting room just so they were there if we needed them.

I don’t know what your family is like but I am telling you that God has placed you where you are for a purpose. Don’t allow strife to come between you and your family. Don’t waste 16 months of precious time because of misunderstandings. Don’t give the enemy that much credit. Resolve that problem and don’t allow time to pass without mending your fences. Life is short, we have no guarantee for tomorrow and we need to make each day count now. Don’t take your family for granted. They are priceless. I have the best set of Sisters and Brother in the world. God has blessed me tremendously.

Spending Christmas with them this year was great. We were all missing Adam and his smiling face but we were all sharing the sadness along with the joy of being together. I know I was thankful for the fact this was our year to be together. I needed them to be near me this year. Telling them goodbye this year was especially hard. I know I will see them in May for my niece’s graduation but it seems a long time between visits. I need to see them more often then that now. We keep in touch more often now than before Adam’s home going. We e-mail more often and we call more. Life is precious and you can’t let it slip by with regrets about calls you should have made or letter you should have sent.

Pick up the phone and call your sister, your brother, or maybe your Mom or Dad. Don’t take your family for granted, they may not be here tomorrow. Say what you want to say today don’t wait for the perfect time to let someone know how much you love them or care about what they do.

Happy and Blessed New Year,

Kathy