Friends and family

We all know how important friends and family are. Loneliness is felt by those that have no friends or family. Happiness is felt by those that have many friends and family.

I'm very thankful for our friends and family - especially during this holiday season. We've had an incredible Christmas break. Part of it is due to the fact that our children have been sleeping in - a rare treat. Most of it has been the times we've had to get together with friends (and family too) - from birthday celebrations to Christmas to New Year's Eve, we've had some great get-togethers.

Last night we hosted our first New Year's Eve party in many years. We had our new growth group from Constance come over. We had 30 people here! It was a great time for all ages.

In some ways it's a small thing - we had a party and people came over. But this year it meant a great deal more to me. Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's the fact we were able to share our addition. Maybe it's the simple fact that we were able to participate on a larger scale this year - I don't really know for sure.

In my ramblings here I'm trying to say that it's an extremely good feeling when the circumstances come together in a way where our entire family is able to join a group of friends in a celebration. There can be challenges in trying to join the celebrations when your children have vastly different needs/abilities than most of their peers. There can be excuses such as "I'm too tired." "It's too much work." "My kids won't have fun." etc. When we put away the excuses and work at solving the barriers, we got an opportunity like we had last night.

A very large HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. I hope that you are able to make connections this year that bring meaning and fulfillment to your life.