Florida time = Family Time

We had a great time catching up with family in Florida during February and March. We hadn't seen family in over a year & it was fun  to be with them and it was hard to say goodbye this time. We shared with church friends, but we really were in Florida to be with family.

So time with family...We got to celebrate Claire's b-day and my sister Katie's too. We did not get to celebrate my dad's though - he would have turned 63, but he got to celebrate his birthday in heaven. My dad finished his battle with cancer on March 3rd, 2012. I started this blog with an entry about my dad and how he still wanted us to go to France for the year even though he knew he was dying. We got to see him and be together for his last few days. He was waiting for me to come home before letting go of this life. It was a bitter sweet time that we all knew was around the corner.

Have you ever waited around for something you dread?
I was dreading for a year that I would get that call or an email saying I needed to come home. Dreading made me sick with worry and anxious about traveling. It was like a horrible doorway that I never wanted to walk through looming out in front of me, nearing ever closer.

Thankfully, Dad lasted and we made it back to the States and got to have time together. The Lord really worked it out well and blessed us. He even set it up that we would have a beautiful home with a fenced in backyard during this time. His timing is perfect. Imagine if I had to return to the States jet-lagged with little ones only to attend a funeral and turn around to head back overseas for language school again! So thankful that we had 2 months in Florida at the end of our French schooling. Time with family. Time with Dad. Time to help Mom clear out some things and Time to cope.

"For every season there is a time and a purpose under heaven." Popular song lyrics from the 60's taken straight from Ecclesiastes 3:

Ecclesiastes 3 (compliments of http://www.biblegateway.com)

 ¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 ²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

 ³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

 ⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

 ⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

 ⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

 ⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

 ⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.