Family

I have not written here for a long time, it seems. I have put in a few weeks of work after treatment, so I've been busy. I'm very grateful the Lord orchestrated the opportunity for me to transition to a 32-hour week. I have found I don't have quite the energy I did before treatment, so 32 hours is plenty. I have been enjoying getting back to work, though, and I'm so grateful to have a job I enjoy. The people I work with are wonderful and the work is rewarding. I have found that it helps tremendously to get eight or nine hours (preferably nine) hours of sleep every night. (I have always envied a bit people who can get by on five or six hours a night and still function well...not me! And now I seem to need a little more.)

A recent visit from my sister, Dawn, who lives in Idaho, was welcome--we took a long walk on one of the few nice evenings we have had this season (so much rain). Four (of five) of my sisters and my brother and I met at my mom's home in Casselton. It was great to get together. No one had a camera, of course, so Erik took a couple of pics with his phone. Since one of my sisters, Tammie, is a coast-to-coast truck driver, we don't see her very often at all, so I am grateful for the short visit we had. We missed Candy, who lives in Arimo, Idaho.

The bonds of family are strong. And I think the relationships we have with our family members provide clues to the personal, close, unbreakable bond we are invited to share with our Lord. Of course, family ties do break; I have heard of longtime feuds and parents "disowning" children (whatever that means). But, I believe, those bonds are not broken without pain and suffering, a troubled spirit, and perhaps often, a perpetual sense of something being wrong.

A couple of days ago, I downloaded to my Kindle a book of poems by Christina Rossetti. She wrote "Goblin Market," one of my favorite poems (worth reading). Until I read through it again, I had forgotten one of my favorite quotes is from that poem. The poem is about two sisters..and this passage about sisters is quite wonderful--and true (that spoken by someone who has been exceedingly blessed with five sisters--and a great brother):

"For there is no friend like a sister,
In calm or stormy weather,
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands."

Feeling grateful tonight...