What Do You Celebrate About Your Family?

I celebrate being part of my family.  Since the Lord began to increasingly open my eyes to the needs of the orphans of the world, He has also also given me a heightened sense of the blessing of my own family.  I wrote a blog post "Entitled to a Family Vacation" a few months ago about the things we who are in families take for granted.  Today, in a similar yet different vein, I just want to introduce you to my family and celebrate each of them.  This post is especially intended for those who have at least somewhat healthy families.  What do you celebrate about your family?
 

Yes, I do realize that I "outkicked my coverage."

I celebrate my wife, Loretta.  We celebrated 20 years
of marriage this past June.  Some have been wonderful, and some have been rocky, but she has been an incredible partner in the journey on which the Lord has led us.

She loves animals, and you'll get to meet every one of them.  She is fiercely loyal to her family, to her friends, and to our church.

One of my favorite parts of my kids growing older is the increased capacity to enjoy date nights/date days with Loretta.  We'll do something for Valentine's Day in a couple of weeks, but guess what?  We will wait until February 15 (Shhh, that's our secret), when we get our personal spending money, when the restaurants aren't overcrowded (and overcharging, in some cases), and when all the candy is on sale . . . and we won't be any less in love because we waited a day!


This is my daughter Ashton and my younger son, Drew.  Ashton started driving, and everything about our family dynamic changed, as we knew it would.  She is at work or church just about every night, it seems, so the time I get to spend with her seems much more valuable these days.  She has more of a plan for her life at her age than just about any teenager I've ever known (and I taught a couple thousand of them over my years as a teacher and coach).

Here, she's taking Drew out to lunch.  That's cool on so many different levels!

The little fella is nine years old and has something my other two never had, a roving gang of neighborhood kids to play with most every day.  I never really had that as a kid, either, so it's pretty cool to watch them paint their baseball field on the vacant lot, build and paint their clubhouse, and ride up and down the street in or on their various kid vehicles.  Drew has a vivid imagination and is one of the most interesting nine-year-olds with whom you could carry on a conversation.

Garrett, my middle son, is a "fresh-more" (started the year a freshman but will graduate with this year's sophomore class) at Lewisburg High School.  He is in his first year of high school baseball, and I can't wait for the season to start.  Most of my best high school memories came from the baseball team that I was a part of, and I had the privilege of learning some of life's toughest lessons through a game.  I'm proud of him for working so hard to make the most of his opportunity.  Garrett has learned the values of being a part of the team and of being coachable, values that are in short supply in sports and in life.

And we love our pets:

Molly, the cute, cuddly puppy  (She's actually playing in the first photo.)

Molly, the ferocious guard dog

Mookie (aka Mr. Fatty Woo, among others)

Mittens -- what a dumb cat

And then there's Mr. Fluffy and his pet squirrel, Buschy (actually, his tail)

I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to the Ainsworth family.  Even more so, I hope that you will take the time to celebrate your family today.  Not everyone is so blessed.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,

Al