QUIET ON THE HOMEFRONT!

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The house is too quiet. Zachary shipped off to football camp this morning and it feels like our home has been evacuated. Funny how one person shifts the entire dynamic...especially when that one person is the energizer bunny.

At dinner tonight Jacob smiled, "It's quiet in here." He's silently happy because now he gets the full use of their game system-no sharing, no arguing, no "Mom it's my turn." Kids are pretty cut and dry...It's all about them. But even that will be short lived because Jacob leaves tomorrow to go to the beach with friends.

That leaves Mac and Ben...since Johnny is already long gone...and of course-there's me...The glue that holds this crew together.

I have to admit...When they're absent I miss them. Something seems uneven and the chemistry feels a little off. I think I'm at that stage in my life where I've learned to Love the crowd and the commotion and the comical way everyone fits together.

Families really are an amazing dynamic and a blessing in disguise...Not that anyone is invisible...Sometimes they're way to visible...But still, they teach us tolerance and understanding...respect and gratitude...And they produce a unique feeling of purpose and belonging in a world that often makes us feel isolated and alone.

Families are the great gift from God that keeps on giving long after the farewells or the miles of separation or the eternal passing from this life to the next. Families are the fuel that makes this world go round and really keeps us grounded in the reality that we are all part of an amazingly creative life force that somehow saw a sense of order amid all our human chaos.

I'll try to remember that in a couple of days when everyone is safely back home, back to their old tricks and each one boldly proclaiming their dynamic presence!

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