The Treasures of Family Time

Today, we went on our annual family pumpkin hunt.  This tradition started when our firstborn was less than a year old, I believe.  A tradition that has continued now for 9 years.  My husband and I enjoy the time with our kids searching for the right pumpkin for each family member, including our 2 miscarried children.  This year we also got a pumpkin for my husband and me and for my parents.  Eight pumpkins are now lined up by our front door...representing ten lives.  Some lives lasting over 60 years, others lasting less than 9 weeks in the womb.  Lives that matter, lives that we have been woven together with.  To say that our family pumpkin hunt is just that would be an understatement.  It really is a time to bond, to enjoy the beauty of God's creation, to remember those precious to us, to create memories that will (hopefully) last a lifetime.  Family time is not something to be lost in the shuffle of too much activity, too little interest in the lives of your family members, too much interest in the latest happenings on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Family time is a precious commodity.  You cannot buy, sell, or trade for it.  You can't replace it when it's lost.  It is a priceless, valuable, incomparable, amazing gift given us by the Father that gifted us the precious little people that look like us or joined us through the delight of adoption.  How can anything ever compare to time spent with family, with the littles that look up to us, want to be like us, and love us wholeheartedly?  In a time when Facebook, your phone, your emails, and so many other things are stealing away time that CANNOT be replenished or replaced, take a moment to stop...truly stop and be still and think.  Think about what you truly value, what God wants you to value, what your family needs you to value.  It isn't the latest like you got from friend #212 or the latest photo posted by your sister's best friend's uncle's girlfriend.  Do you really even know her?  Is she the one that gives you a hug everyday and tells you you're beautiful?  Is she the one that brings you a leaf just fallen from a favorite tree in the yard?  Or the one that draws you an amazing picture of the most unique creation you've ever seen?  No.  Nope.  Don't think so.  That would be your 4-year-old son that tells you you're beautiful.  Your 8-year-old or 5-year-old daughter brings you a leaf so you can admire the beauty of the colors like she did when she discovered it in the yard.  And your 6-year-old son has an amazing knack for creating scenes you could have never conceived of in your own imagination.  Yet, that phone buzzes in your pocket and you just have to see what it's all about...
Friends, today I enjoyed the treasure of time with my family.  My gifts from God...my honey and our 4 adorable children went on an adventure.  We went on a hunt.  Could anything ever be as special as that?  Could the latest comment, like, post, or photo compare to the treasure I experienced today?  I got to see three of my babies enjoy a corn maze - an experience they'd never had before.  I got to watch all my babies enjoy climbing on hay bales, see them look at goat and roosters, and observe them tasting a kind of apple they'd never had before.  I got to look in my honey's eyes and know that we were both enjoying this time with our precious gifts.  Time that truly goes by much too quickly.  Friends, this time is THE time.  TODAY is THE time.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week.  Certainly not next year.  The time to enjoy the treasures of family time is NOW!  Don't let another day go by that doesn't involve a hug for each of your amazing littles, a kiss for your man, and some good quality treasure...family time.  You could never regret skipping the dishes, the Facebook check, or the endless emails to take time to truly connect with and enjoy those most important in your life...your family!







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