My mom and dad will celebrate 50 years of marriage this weekend. I say 'celebrate', as I hope they will go out to dinner and that a few of my siblings will take them out for breakfast or something .... me, I sent a sweet treat - chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered cherries. I figured you can't go wrong with chocolate!! ( I could not get away to fly how -- something about this FSA testing....LOL )
The 'party' will come this summer when my siblings and I will HOST a picnic day in our hometown - of Watertown. It will be the first time in 6 years that the 9 of us are together again -- oh wait - scratch that - we all got together in January when our Grandma went to heaven but the time was TOO short ...so maybe this summer we can get that family photo taken which seems to happen only one every 13 or so years....!
The photo above --is dated -- I LOVE the black and whiteness of it all with our grandparents at each side!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad -- I look into the eyes of those young kids and can't imagine and yet....I was there myself once... almost 28 years ago.
It is hard to imagine but my folks were YOUNGER in this photo of our wedding than I am today!
Yep! I believe they would of been about 42 and 43.... and I am almost 50 -- THAT just seems so unreal. Unreal. Unreal. Unreal.
I am old.
No.... I am just realizing again HOW fast time flies.
Anyway, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, with all of my heart - I wish you the BEST weekend and I know we will enjoy many family memories and fun this June when we have our picnic!
50 years.... 50 years of Christmas's 50 years of Easter's and many and many Sunday drives and midnight checks into the barn to check on a cow......
How does one put 50 years of stuff in a blog that can be read in 5 minutes? I am going to try - but first a prayer --
Lord, I pray for my folks right now, that as they reflect and enjoy the presence of family and friends and celebrate ...I pray that they will draw as close to YOU as possible and that the desires of their hearts are received. Lord, I pray for their health -- thank you their healthiness right now and I pray that will continue even after Dad eats all those cherries! Lord, I pray you would bless them financially as they are getting ready to retire and yet...probably won't because they both seem to keep busy. Lord, I pray for their friendships - old and new -- for their trips -- while visiting a Farm Progress Days Farm and speaking to total strangers to visiting with old snowmobile fans. Lord, I pray for their hobbies and their interests that as they continue to grow that the love they found within each other some 51 years ago -- would just be as strong or stronger today -- and brand new! God, I pray that as we celebrate 50 years - we also will celebrate many more - I truly know that their hard work, persistence, and resilience and the prayers of many have kept the 9 of us ..... somewhat normal! I pray their best qualities live on within each of us. I pray that as we continue to walk in this life - that we can do whatever we can to make their lives a little sweeter. I thank you Lord, for giving me my parents -- as THEY are the exact parents YOU planned for me and THEY did the best they could -- they indeed are to be honored and praised. I am very proud to be called the 'oldest' and the first - but most of all, I love them dearly and want ONLY the best for each of them -- IN Jesus name, Amen.
So, 50 years have produced much. I tried to do the math -- with 9 children, with all of us playing sports -- mom ( mostly ) and dad probably watched and attended over 3400+ middle school and high school games.
With 50 years and 9 children... I think I calculated that mom was pregnant for over 90 months...
With 50 years and working on a dairy farm..... there was probably over 287 visits from the Ice Cream Truck..... over 8665 runs of 'cleaning the barn'........ probably 45+ years of attending the Dodge County Fair and with grand kids.... the numbers could start over.
These 'facts' are only a sampling -- I sat today and tried to calculate how many basketball games and then the cost spent on Football stuff as 3 brothers played -- even the insurance premiums... and decided it was WAY too much for my brain to comprehend.
Then I sat and tried to come up with 50 memories -- and I have plenty -- but.......
Then I got to thinking -- and I know that I know what my folks are most proud of...it is us. The 9 of us. And so, I will share 'us'....
This is me ,our daughter, son and my man. The 'first' grand kid was produced in 1991 and then came another 24+ ....and there is ONE on the way.... I believe due at the end of this year!
Dear Mom and Dad, I learned something very powerful from the two of you -- being relentless and being tenacious. I have watched both of you endure much -- suffer much -- and yet, I have seen you both give mercy and grace to many -- and my prayer is that as you grow together in the next 50 years...that you would both show grace and mercy to each other! I pray we, as kids... always honor and believe the best for both of you -- thank you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for providing a home and teaching me MANY qualities that I know are because of ..you BOTH. I love you -
This is my sister Jeanette and her husband.
Dear Mom and Dad ...she has given you the first - 'great grand kid'...and that is OK by me...LOL!!! Dad, Jeanette indeed has your gift of conversation and mom ...your gift of always looking for the good in others. Always. I love this photo of them...they have been through much and they continue to smile and share the experiences that God has allowed within their lives to help others. I am very proud of my sister and what God has done in her life in the past 6 years since the home going of their son -- what a legacy Blake left. I continue to have my 'iron sharpened' with my sister around as she holds me accountable and I love that. There are only 2 of us here in Florida, the rest are in Wisconsin and I am blessed she is here.
This is my 'elder' brother Daryl and his family. He was the first born boy -- Tigger, his nick name, and he was that little red headed kid that -- made you'd smile one moment and you'd want to smack him the next. I know that as the first son, there was extraordinary circumstances within the growing up years and I thank God that I am able to witness now .... a sweetness where father and son can live and breathe together and work side by side.
Dad, it is truly an answer to my prayers and I know it is a God thing. I can just see both you and Daryl sitting and discussing this blog and determining what I was trying to mean by that last statement ...LOL. And I love how you take trips now together, and I love the fact that you both can look back and enjoy each other now -- thanks! As I still pray for all of my family, I continue to pray that all of these kids ( now all teens and one is going to college ) grow in stature and wisdom with God as their strong tower. However, they have a pretty good legacy already within their reach --as their parents are pretty god lovin cool.
And this is Aaron, son #2. This photo was taken this past winter as their number #1 son has taken on the family tradition of being a Marine! I am very proud that my brother served our country and now my nephew is following in his father's footsteps.
Dad, Aaron takes after you -- as you never wanted or allowed anything to be done .... ok, I will say it ..."half ass"..... Aaron is Mr. Perfection and I am pretty sure it has rubbed off onto his children as both excel in what they set their minds too. That is a quality that is lost in many of today's jobs and 'work'...one that was handed down from the baby boomers in which my you were at the tail end of. And Mom, the creativity of yours has flown up and over both of these grandkids! Jarod was quick to be promoted within his company and that little one on the left raises National Champion Rabbits! I am so thankful for this family and am blessed to call them 'mine'.
Christopher is the middle son and he is the one with the MOST kids -- so far!
Mom and Dad, I see so much of you both within his life -- his wisdom and his patience ( ok, maybe he has a few more patience qualities from you MOM....) but I do see both of you within him and his family. Mom, I saw how you always wanted to help others and do community service like when you went door to door and raised funds for the first POOL in Watertown and I see Christopher doing that as well - being involved with much including his church family. I see a carbon copy of a young Jim...in the oldest grand and I see a very young looking Mary Ellen within one of those girls! However, what I see collectively within this family is love -- love for family and love for Christ and it is a beautiful thing!
My sister Diandra and her family. How I longed for another sister in among all those boys and God granted both Jeanette and I favor. She was spoiled, she had a temper.....but she certainly made us laugh.
Dear Mom and Dad, I sort of 'claim' a little of her upbringing -- well, I was about a tween when she arrived and by then you both were very busy with the farm....and as JJ would say, I did ANYTHING to get out of barn chores!! LOL. Anyway, I love seeing the FB photos of Dee grabbing you Dad and heading to Farm Progress Days or the June Dairy Month Breakfast and I love it that you, Mom, can teach those girls sewing and all the little 'stuff' you did not have time to teach us because you were so very busy...and we'd of probably squawked at trying to learn from our mother anyway.
This is they younger brother, Trevor, and his family.
Mom, I am going to claim this one as well -- as I bet I changed more diapers than any other -- then again, maybe not. I know I probably got him dressed more often than a few of the other siblings! However, here is another brother that is a great dad and provider to his family -- a quality that you , Dad, displayed. Thank you Dad for working so hard to make sure we were fed, clothed, and we had a ride to school and wherever! Trevor indeed has the Peirick Perfection Position Gene but he also has a work ethic that You instilled in ALL of us Dad -- and Mom, no matter what, cows had to be milked, hay had to be baled and work was done. Mom, you saved out butts on MANY an occasion and we all appreciate YOU!
This is Nate, or Nathen, or Nathen Jay...or Jay -- pick a name and he will answer to it. The youngest brother and the one that probably gets picked on the most -- of course -- he is the baby! This father of three boys is expecting later this year - well, Tina is ! I see such a playful spirit of fun within this family and just like his brothers -- he has that work ethic, that drive of perfection, and the willingness to change a diaper or two. You always have a smile on your face Nate, even when one of the boys is in trouble or having chocolate milk with his cereal for breakfast.
Dear Mom and Dad, you did well with this one! That playful spirit comes from Dad and his mother -- as he would chase us around the farm in the summer and pretend to scare the crud out of us or tell us stories of 'a tonya ya tusha' and that smile probably comes from Mom who always made fun out of everything -- even milking cows at 12 midnight or singing show tunes while waiting on the next wagon of hay to unload in those hot summer days!
And LAST but not least -- Britty!! Her God given name is Brittan Leigh or is it Brittan Lee? (inside joke) Anyway -- this 'baby' of the 9 of us was conceived on a snowmobile trip back when I was in high school. Yep, I remember being disgusted when I realized my parents sex life was still pretty active -- eww.....! My mom was VERY pregnant at my high school graduation and my freshman roommates at college decorated a bulletin board for me when she arrived while I was at UWW. There are 19 years between my youngest sister and myself and she is certainly the favorite. Yep, she is and she owns it!
Dear Mom and Dad, within this one I am sure you see the 'end' of your babies but yet within this family now, I am sure you see much JOY and peace. And, a great excuse to go driving to the badlands... I know Brittan brings you both joy and she has a hold over you both like I have never witnessed --- it MUST be because of being the baby -- you now have an inside dog!!?? How many times did we ask to have a toy dog and all I would hear is 'dogs are for the farm, chasing cows'....LOL My oh my how time changes hearts...heads...thoughts....and one become different! Dad, I have to admit -- 7 years ago when I met with you at Perkins with Brittan and her first born and we ate breakfast -- watching little Haidyn get syrup all over you and you not fussing or sternly telling mom to get the 'kid cleaned up'...I thought - WHO are you and WHERE is my dad?? I admit, you have mellowed and I am a little jealous that I have not been able to see the transition like the others did -- but I am glad for it -- as I look forward to many visits in the future! And Mom, in Brittan, you did a great work, she is a strong and beautiful example of that tenasity and resilience as well -- that you taught her -- and me...and all of us! Bless you Mom!
With all the silliness put aside - Brittan got mom's talent for many things - one for sure, talented hands! And she has Dad's ideas and she has been known to be a bit stubborn as well -- but she is MY baby sister!
There, with that --
God in heaven -- God who placed EACH and every star -- it is with ALL authority in the Name of Jesus that I claim each and every one of these precious people ( my siblings ) and their spouses and family -- to be YOURS. Each one of them is at a different place and spot in their relationship with you, but I am claiming Acts 16 and believing that all will see Satan cast into that lake of fire and we will enjoy heaven together as a family! God in heaven, I declare protection over each and everyone of them -- and I want financial security and I pray they they won't rob You Lord of what is Yours. I pray that as we gather this summer in June in Lebanon to celebrate the 50 years of marriage - that it will be a blessed time of fellowship, fun, and memories. God, I would not trade a one of them for a million dollars -- ( well, Ok, maybe...Carson - Just Kidding...seeing if anyone reads until the end!) God as I said, thank you for my precious family and I pray that we will all celebrate each others 50th and enjoy many more parties. God in heaven, I thank you for my mom and dad and what they have meant to me in my life. I am ALL of their best qualities and I am their legacy. Lord, I thank you for them and I trust that You continue to draw them close. Lord, bless them in a mighty way and I boldly claim May 1st 2015 as a healing day -- for many and much within our own lives -- God wins - Victory Dance!! Amen......in Jesus name, Amen.
I love you MOM and DAD - Happy 50th! - chell
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please let me know how this touched you . . . thanks!