Labor Days

Labor Day weekend has officially begun at our house – the last hurrah of summer. The kids are asking if they can work the phones and have a bunch of school friends over to swim and have the final big baseball game in the yard before climbing on the bus next Tuesday.

I considered cleaning my house last night, but figured that was a futile task with kids coming, so we grabbed ice cream and went to my parents’ house to watch the Phillies game.

I love having my parents close by. My children saw both sets of their grandparents yesterday, and I was thinking how important that consistent interaction is in their lives. Generations of love and investment, all of which reinforces who my kids are in the world and who they belong to. One of the things that I say to my kids all the time is, “Remember who you are and Whose you are.”

I’ve never been able to figure out the correct way to spell Whose or Who’s or whatever, but mostly I say it anyway. I capitalize it because my children know I am not only referring to their family, but I also mean God. I want them to understand now, that no matter what happens or where they find themselves, they are grounded and they belong to Someone.

Giving birth to them was a treat, and raising them is even more, but ultimately they were gifts that were loaned to me – to us, their family. Letting them grow to be what God intends, guiding them to discover their own path, is the greatest task I’ve been given.

And modeling how God feels about them, well, that’s a labor of love.

Where I've been

This is a picture of my kids with their new cousin, Levi Samuel. My sister gave birth last Saturday, and the week before I watched her other children so she could rest and prepare. We had lots of fun, but I was up to my eyeballs in stuff and couldn't seem to get to my blog. Here's a picture of the whole gang now:

Good lookin' bunch, huh?

"Holy Days of Our Lives!"

Today marks 16 whole years that Steve and Wendy Melchior have been married (yes, yes, we got married on 7-11. It's even nuttier that my birthday is "10-4, good buddy"). Even though we had a soap opera wedding, complete with a big headpiece and poofy sleeves, we have managed to have a sitcom life.

I heard someone say once that children are due two things: the assurance that Mom and Dad will always love them and the guarantee that Mom and Dad will always love each other. We are pleased to offer our children both.

My cousin Wayne

Only a very few understand what it means to grow up as an alliteration. Wendy Wicks does - and so does Wayne Wicks. This is my cousin who I am crazy about. Yes, he is one of the Canadians.