What Family Does…

I still remember the cold, wet feeling of condensation on my small hands as they pressed against the large, plate-glass window of our living room. My 8-yr-old brow furrowed as I watched tiny snowflakes make their way to the ground. “What was to become of us!?” I thought. A terrible predicament on Christmas Eve. 

I remember mother panicked in the kitchen “What would she feed us for dinner when no groceries had been bought?” Much less the usual Christmas fare. Father frantically searching for a good Samaritan by the way of a mechanic still open for much-needed, Christmas-depends-on-it car repairs. In small town Oklahoma, circa 1976, not much is open late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. Neither grocers, even if your car was working, nor mechanics, as we quickly learned.

I don’t remember a single present I received that Christmas!? But I remember riding shot-gun next to my uncle as we made our way through the heavy snow in the dark of night to Lawton, Ok (our intended Christmas destination that year). I remember giant snowflakes finding their way to the windshield of my uncle’s car and watching the wipers quickly wiping them away. 

I remember waking the next morning to squeals of cousins and siblings, alike, beckoning me to to come to the window to see the wondrous sight – a White Christmas! I remember the vast beauty and majesty of that blanketed, white winter-wonderland scene. I’m sure my aunt was sick with worry as she watched my uncle leave the night prior with snow falling; leaving to go rescue the family of six stranded on Christmas Eve. This is what family does… they LOVE, fiercely!

I remember having had pancakes for dinner for the first time, ever. The night before Christmas… And I remember my mother cutting her single pancake in half to share. Ashamedly, I had let it slip “I was still hungry” after having eaten my two. This is what family does (especially, mothers…) they LOVE, sacrificially! 

When the call came early 2015, my heart had been lovingly prepared by the Father and I already knew… this is what family does! They answer the call… and they make their way… and they prepare room on their proverbial plates and in their hearts and lives… and they fight the battles… because this is what family does. They LOVE, instinctively! Because the example had been set so many years and Christmases, ago. First, by the Heavenly Father. And then… by the family who believes! 

‘What Family Does…’ is a follow-up, companion post to A Meaningful Journey – This Side of Heaven 2015. Click link to read: https://www.rachelwrains.com/2016/01/a-meaningful-journey-this-side-of-heaven-in-2015/