Processing it all.

Every year I write a Christmas letter. Maybe I should consider penning one for Easter. So much has happened since I put up the ornaments and took down the tree. It has not been a great 3 months in many ways. But still, I see God's hand upon my family in an amazing way. And I am thankful. My body is reacting to the stress and I am glad to take a few days to process things. I have learned/am learning about priorites. The things that I have are just things. I don't need them. Getting my hair cut the other day my beautician asked what I wanted to do. "Just cut it. Any way you want as long as I can pull it back." These things just don't matter.
One year ago Easter I was in Haiti for my first time. I loved it. My daughters Gretchen and Gwenn were with me. I saw such incredible poverty but loved Jacmel and it's people. Those people are suffering. Gwenn and her family and the other missionaries and the children of the orphanage have lost so much. That's important. Not my haircut.
We could have lost my daughter Gretchen this past week. Watching her hooked up to a breathing machine and knowing I could loose her. That's important. As we cared for her newborn and her other 3 children I thought of how much I depended on her. I found myself with questions during the week and thought "I'll call Gretchen, she will know..Oh.I can't."
I always knew but now know more that family is so very imortant. And family isn't always what what the word describs in the dictionary. So many have risen to the occasion first after the earthquake and again with Gretchen's illness.
So while my body and my mind ache and sleep calls to me even though I napped long today, I am thankful. Hoping that there will be no more major events for my 2010 Christmas card and praying for sustained health for Gretchen and for the 'stuff' it will take to recreate Haiti.