This morning is the first time in 10 days that I have been out walking with Chester (our dog) in the morning. After having dropped Stephan and Natalie off at the airport early this morning, I am enjoying the sun that seems only to be shining here in the south as I remember the beautiful moments we have had these past days.
We tried hard to keep away from appointments and social media because we wanted to make sure that we were soaking up the time with our kids. It is strange to call them that: kids. Stephan and Natalie have now been married for almost 6 years and Sean and Jill are past the 6 month mark of their marriage. But this was the first time that we were all together. It was the first time for Stephan and Natalie to meet Jill and vice-versa. So radio silence at this time was more than appropriate.
We are so thankful for the opportunity we have had to get to know each other in these days. It has been thrilling to see how our daughters-in-law have shaped our sons, to see how our boys are men, and to see thee couples shaping, forming, becoming. The time was too short (is it ever enough?), but we were thankful for every minute.
We had time with all four down at camp on the 15th, where church family could also get to know our kids. Stephan and Natalie visited Sean and Jill in Brussels for a day as well. And then we all met up for a day in Brughe. We are thankful for the little bits of conversation that we could have, for the moments to discover more about each other. The boys have heard all of our stories about them, but now the girls could hear some of them too. And now we, as parents – with the safe distance of time – could hear some of their stories that we didn’t know.
We also got to spend some tourist time with Stephan and Natalie in Amsterdam, Haarlem and Oxford – all because of church family who took care of us as well (Jim and Ruth Krumrei and Johan and Ludwin Huyghebaert - and the Boonaerts family who watched Chester). Take the time to look at as many of the pictures as you dare and feel free to ask us any of the stories that go along with the visits. Here are our pictures of the time together.
We are so thankful for the time that the kids made for us, for the financial ability to make this possible and for the life and love that God gives us in this family.
