{"id":56,"date":"2016-05-19T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-19T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2016\/05\/the-yegges-are-coming-the-yegges-are-coming.html"},"modified":"2016-05-19T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-19T21:15:00","slug":"the-yegges-are-coming-the-yegges-are-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2016\/05\/the-yegges-are-coming-the-yegges-are-coming.html","title":{"rendered":"The Yegges Are Coming! The Yegges Are Coming!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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In the movie Little Women <\/i>(with Winona Ryder), there\u2019s a scene in which Jo sits down at the piano and laments about the March family being separated. \u201cWill we all never be together again?\u201d she asks dramatically, without truly expecting an answer.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s the mindset I\u2019ve been in since about six years ago, when Ashlee left home. Before she got back to Colorado, Jessie was gone (those darn military guys capturing my daughters\u2019 hearts!), and though I love both of my sons-in-law, I\u2019ve done a little lamenting of my own about all of us being separated.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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When will<\/b> we be together again?<\/i> I\u2019ve often asked.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Well the answer to that is in eight days!! On the 27th, Jessie and Todd will, after much packing, fly out of Maryland one last time. Karl will follow in the moving truck a few days later. And just \u2026 like \u2026 that, I\u2019ll have all three kids, both sons-in-law, and all four grand babies within arms reach.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Can someone cyber pinch me?\u00a0<\/div>\n
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It really does seem unreal. Many folks in my situation would say they are blessed. But I\u2019ve never liked that term much \u2013 not when it\u2019s used in that way. As Christians, we\u2019re all blessed the same. We have a Savior who has made us His own, even though we don\u2019t deserve it. And living the Christian life? Well, it\u2019s hard. Some Christians face severe persecution. Some can\u2019t have kids, let alone be \u201cblessed\u201d by living in the same town with all of them. Our circumstances don\u2019t determine whether we\u2019re blessed or not. Whether we have \u201cevery heavenly blessings\u201d (Eph 1) determines whether we\u2019re blessed or not.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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And so, I\u2019ll say this:\u00a0<\/div>\n
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I am grateful.\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n

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Because being grateful is to say that I\u2019m receiving something (in this case, someone) I am unworthy to receive. I don\u2019t know why God has allowed Shaun and I to live in the same vicinity our kids live. I couldn\u2019t figure it out if I tried. My own Mom has wished to live in the same town as her three kids since I was fifteen, and it still hasn\u2019t happened. Why? Because God in His sovereignty didn\u2019t arrange it that way.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Point is, I didn\u2019t do anything to deserve close-by kids. But that\u2019s how it\u2019s worked out, and I am <\/b><\/i>grateful. Ecstatic. And also tired! When the kids visit, it\u2019s a lot more work to make dinner for three families than it for just me, Shaun, Andrew and Mom. It\u2019s work to babysit the grand babies. It\u2019s work to host birthday parties. Before Jessie gets here, it will be a lot of work to rearrange where my Mom lives, where Andrew has a bedroom, where I have an office, and to get new carpet installed in the bedrooms the Yegges will be staying in until they get settled at their own place. But just like when my kids were toddlers, it\u2019s worth it. Now that they\u2019re in their twenties, the work is different, but it\u2019s still hard. And worth it. Always.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Speaking of work, Jessie has volunteered to take over the cooking for the length of their stay. It took me about half of a millisecond to say yes to her offer. I will garden. She can cook.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Yes?\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Yes, please!\u00a0<\/div>\n
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My hands are taking a serious beating from all the weed pulling and dirt digging. My knuckles were close to bleeding today, and then I remembered some salve (for lack of a better word) that Ashlee made up for me about a year ago. No idea what\u2019s in it, because I\u2019m old and have chronic brain farts. But it has saved my hands from looking like one big scab.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Scab Soothing Salve<\/i>! That\u2019s what I\u2019ll call it.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Eww.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Anyway \u2013 enough silliness. It is enough to say that I am grateful for what I have in Jesus, and what Jesus has chosen at this particular time in history to bestow on me and mine: a not-so-little thing called togetherness.\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n

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And if you feel hateful toward me or jealous of me for that, then think of this:\u00a0<\/div>\n
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This blog was penned by a hurting person who can\u2019t eat hardly anything by mouth, wants to throw up every morning, is dizzy about half of her life, is dreadfully fatigued ninety percent of the time, who is in some type of pain 24\/7, and who still has not fully recuperated from her heart surgery five and a half months ago. I could go on, but you understand. There\u2019s plenty in my life to be grateful about. There\u2019s also a bounty<\/i> of circumstances in my life to challenge my beliefs about God\u2019s love, sovereignty, goodness, and faithfulness. Persistent illness is only one.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Let\u2019s just be grateful, period. Shall we? No comparing. No judging. No petty jealousies. Just thankfulness to the One who holds this world, and all it\u2019s inhabitants, in His hands.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the movie Little Women (with Winona Ryder), there\u2019s a scene in which Jo sits down at the piano and laments about the March family being separated. \u201cWill we all never be together again?\u201d she asks dramatically, without truly expecting an answer. That\u2019s the mindset I\u2019ve been in since about six years ago, when Ashlee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Yegges Are Coming! 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