A Christmas to Remember

The week before Christmas, 2007, Gail and I made an quick overnight stay in Durham, NC. Our two daughters, Rachel and Sarah and their husbands, Ramon and Terry made the trip with us. There we visited with Nathan, our son, and his wife Tricia. All of us wondered if this group would ever be together again for another Christmas.

You probably know Tricia's story, so I won't go into it here. But that Christmas she was perilously close to death due to the advanced stages of her cystic fibrosis and that fact that she was 5 months pregnant. Her ability to breathe was rapidly coming to an end. She would be admitted to Duke later that week and wouldn't emerge until May.

So we drove the almost 4 hours to Durham. We exchanged gifts, laughed a lot and went out to eat together. The picture is one I took of all the kids. Though they were smiling, behind the smiles was a sadness we all felt. If you've seen recent pictures of Tricia you see the immense change now that she's healthy. (She's on the right.)

God was gracious to us in miraculous ways in the months to come. Now those six have increased to 8 and a half (Rachel's got one in the oven). Best of all, we'll all be together this Christmas. And with the addition of a foster granddaughter it's even better.

I don't care if I get anything in my stocking. My heart is full and overflowing.