This Thanksgiving, I had the wonderful privilege to travel up to good ol’ Pennsylvania to visit with my family. Tim also had the chance to get to know my family a bit better, and together we got to meet a new cousin of mine, Raegan, and my brother’s girlfriend, Jacqui. Over all it was a marvelous trip!
Praise the Lord we had 14 days to spend on vacation, and unlike most of my expeditions to Pennsylvania since moving to Texas, this was not a whirlwind trip, packed to the brim with meetings and get togethers; rather, it was relaxing and meetings were spaced out to where we could breathe between gatherings.
I titled this post “Where’s my phone?” because throughout the journey, it seemed as though I was always misplacing my phone, and so that phrase became a recurring theme of the trip. Thankfully, I had people with me who are a bit more observant and less forgetful than I am, so the phone was never truly lost.
I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Christmas is a close second, but Thanksgiving is definitely my number one. I love it because the family is much more relaxed, full of smiles, less crazy, and there is a feeling of warmth that envelops the whole. Yeah, there is quarreling amongst some of the children, and there may be some family drama in the underlying layer of the gathering, but over all we are just enjoying people’s company and expressing love towards each other the best we can.
I’ve always loved gathering with my family. I love them all so much! The hugs, the quick catching up, the energy, the smiles and laughter, the quirks, watching the kids play and playing with them when possible, watching my grandparents as they enjoy the company of those they love, the memories shared, the new memories being made… I love everything about them.
What made this trip better than the rest I think, is that it wasn’t just my family that made Thanksgiving enjoyable; it was my church family that made me feel welcome as well. What a privilege to be able to share with them a little bit of what the Lord is doing through Gospel for Asia because of their prayers and support! It was neat to see how the Lord isn’t just moving through GFA, but is moving through Calvary Chapel Chester Springs as well.
I also had the opportunity to see family I haven’t seen in a long time! Uncle Sue and Aunt Bob drove from Indiana to visit, Tim and I drove to Hamburg to visit with Jeremiah, Kristie, Madilyn, Gavin, Raegan and GranPat!
The last two days of our visit, my Grandparents took my mommy, Tim, Brandon, Jacqui and me to New York City! I have never been to NYC before, even though I’ve lived in Pottstown, Pennsylvania for pretty much my entire life. There we toured some of the popular touristy places, like Rockefeller Center, the LEGO store, the 911 memorial, a carriage ride through Central Park, a few Taxi rides (when our feet just wouldn’t carry us any farther), a random coffee shop, a few other places, and we saw the Broadway show Stomp!
Overall, it was a restful trip. Yeah we did a lot, but those events were spread out over 14 days. Originally it was going to be 13 days, but our flight back was cancelled due to an ice storm in Dallas the day we were scheduled to fly back. I’m not complaining though! That extra day was a blessing!
Thank you to everyone who I got to see on my trip, I would include everything that happened, but that would be like writing a small novel, so I’ll just leave you with this quick glimpse.
