The Day After Tomorrow

I can imagine how we all feel about a much anticipated event coming "the day after tomorrow".  In our case, the day after tomorrow is the beginning of the MTC for these two senior missionaries.  And what an emotionally anticipated day it has become!

Granny called Pop Pop this Saturday morning as part of a long term routine of talking to her precious father every week since we were married 38 years ago.  She has rarely missed a weekly call, but this call is very unique since she won't be able to call him every week from the Philippines.  He is healthy and alert and plays golf two and three times each week, and he lives in Virginia Beach.  Helen talks to him every week and usually flies out to see him every year.  This was a hard day for her as she hung up the phone.

Then we had our Thanksgiving dinner together this afternoon and that was equally hard for Granny and Grandpa and the kids.  It was a fun day and we enjoyed walks and playing in the park together and that is just the formula for what memories are made of.

We so often take our family relationships for granted.  We see the children and grandchildren almost every day.  We talk on the phone and make plans for special occasions and love being with one another.  It is just at that time of our lives that we finally can enjoy the "fruits of our labors" but are we ready to take the next step and sacrifice who we are for who we can become?  That is the big question!  And we are ready to make that commitment.

We are so very grateful for this time with our family.  We have been stretched and have experienced unbelievable growth together and now we get to take this to the next level to help share this precious Gospel with a new group of people.  But we are not leaving anything behind as we strive to  strengthen this already strong family relationship.  Our precious children will be resilient and will look out for each other and will continue to be a blessing to mom and me. They always have been.

What a great blessing it is to be a part of this precious family!  We are committed to living together through the eternities as a family.  I would not trade our previous experiences or those that await us for any other mortal reward!