Blessings of Family

Mother and I had a wonderful weekend with my brother, his two boys and their wives and of course the new baby. We get together as a whole family, usually at my parents home, sometime during the winter holiday season. That was the last time I had seen any of these family members and, as always, it was a joy to be with them again. Now we have the baby born 5 weeks ago.

My nephew, Ben, making bottles

My brother came over to Ben’s on Friday evening to help us eat the gallon of Shrimp Creole. He surely is the proud granddad. But he can’t hold a light to the proud great grandma. This is the second time she has been down to see him and occasionally she makes a comment about renting an apartment in Georgia.

Dealing with the refrigerator crisis

There was one crisis on Friday. (Anywhere from major to minor depending on you personal crisis gauge.) Late in the afternoon, Ben and I heard a crackling sound from the kitchen and then came the distinctive electrical motor burn smell. We felt sure it was the refrigerator, but it seemed to be working fine. We kept our eye on the ice maker which we suspected may have shorted out. It wasn’t until late in the evening when Ben got the ice cream out of the freezer that he realized the refrigerator wasn’t working so fine after all. We had all hands on deck moving the not so frozen food to the freezer in the garage, running to the local market to fetch ice and emptying the contents of the refrigerator into coolers. Of course, chief among the concerns was keeping the baby formula cold. By Saturday morning, another family member had brought over a used refrigerator, on loan until a more permanent solution could be achieved.

Chef of the day

Saturday evening, Ben’s brother, Eric, and his wife, Leigh Ann, were able to join us for dinner and a great cookout was underway. At some point during the day between all the commotion of a new baby, house guests, neighbors coming to visit, and the refrigerator crisis, new mom Amber managed to make a chocolate pie that was to die for. We all ate too much, laughed a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed each other.

No matter how nice our home may be, how fine a car we have, or how much stuff we possess, the true treasures in life are our families. Is there anything that can make us prouder than the successes of our children or more joyous than the birth of a grandchild? Thank you, Lord, for these treasures that are more precious than all others.