family.

tomorrow i head back to school for the spring semester.
this past week was spent with family. we went up to illinois and indiana to see the majority of our family. i don't know if it's cause i'm older or what but i feel like this trip was extra nostalgic. looking at old pictures in my grandparent's basement, hearing old stories. something about it all just made me appreciate so much more the history of our family. where we've been. the generations before me, and hopefully the generations after me.
that plus all the stuff from encounter and reading John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, has got me thinking alot about life and family and purpose and all that jazz. thanking God for all that He's given us. and not wanting to waste the time that i have and not live it for the glory of God through my joy in Him and spreading that joy.
there's a stuffed bunny in my grandparent's basement where i slept this week. it has little elastic strings on it's feet. i remember 'dancing' with it whenever we visited my grandparents. the feet straps would slip around my feet and i'd hold it's hands and dance away. i remember it being so big i could barely maneuver it and then it being just the right size and then being a tad big. well now it comes up to my hips, barely. how could i have ever been so small and still remember it? and seeing the pictures of me going from a baby to what i am now, it's crazy. and the fact that my family has been instrumental in that growth, of course doing the obvious of feeding me and sheltering me, but the emotional growth and all that too. making sure i know i'm loved and encouraging me in everything i do. i can't help but be thankful for my family and want to show how much i love them.
and every one of those breaths and heartbeats it took for me to grow to what i am now was a gift from God. i can't think about that and not praise God and want to spend my life for Him and with Him.