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| My original family... |
As you can see, my blog got a face lift via inspiration by my sister-in-law Brenda. Brenda is more tech-savvy and a heck of a lot more stylish than I am, so when I saw her working on it (during the Penn State game, that's how we know she married in :-p-but props to her for even being in the same room as football for 3 hours)), I felt like I should follow in her footsteps. Maybe her stylish side will start to rub off on me too... one can always dream, right?
It is no secret that my "family" had been multiplied over the past three months. I have acquired a new set of parents in the form of in-laws, one brother-in-law and three sisters-in-law (I've always wanted a sister, and in the matter of one month I got three. Talk about an abundance of blessings.) And along with the "who" of my family being rearranged, my definition of family has been altered as well. I can state 100% that marrying into the Holdcrofts has positively changed the way that I view family.
Before I met them, family to me was the people that I lived with and some people that I saw on holidays. On my dad's side, I have 22 first cousins and I am the youngest of 8 grandchildren on my mom's side, so I wasn't really close with my extended family. Family were the people that you obligatorily loved, with the select few whom you actually really loved (as I got older, this has changed; I am now close with most of my cousins on my mom's side, and it's awesome when we are together). I had my mom, dad, and brother, and as far as I was concerned, that's really all I needed. When I was in trouble, I had them; when I needed money, I had them (I was usually told to work more hours, however); and when something great happened, we celebrated together.
But then I started dating Steven, and I met one of the kindest, generous, and most chaotic families that exists. Steven is the oldest of 4 and had the energy of a puppy on Five Hour Energy, which set the precedent for the other 3 kids. Each of them played 2 sports seriously, and had a multitude of other activities on top of it. They are always going here or there, spending weekends in Pittsburgh or where the latest tournament is, and planning their next adventure. But despite all of the business, or because of it, they all love spending time together. The first few times I was at the Holdcrofts, I was flabbergasted that all 4 kids were home on Friday hanging out together. I was like, "Who would want to be at home on the weekend when you could go out with friends?! I just want to be out of my house!" But they genuinely love spending time together; they respect each other, compete amiably, and jest affectionately at one another.
That was a radical new idea for me: wanting to spend time with family over friends. And as I was pondering that, I started observing what made the Holdcroft family different from the Brodie family, and it's quite basic: 1) the Holdcrofts (immediate and extended, and the Arnolds as well) are much smaller (Steven has a TOTAL of 6 first cousins) and live in a mostly concentrated area so it's easier to grow together; and 2) Tim and Michele live their lives by one word: give. You give 100% of yourself and your resources to whatever you commit to, whether it is time, energy, money, or whatever else you have. And when it comes to family, you give 150%. (This is not to say that the Brodie family is a bunch of slackers, but its easier to observe something when you are an outsider of the situation. Your shout-out goes without saying.)
Tim and Michele have been abundantly generous to Steven and I from the beginning. From 4 years of long distance dating to a quick engagement and a hurried summer, they have been there every step of the way with open arms, ready and willing to do whatever they can for us. So I've tried adopting that philosophy into my own life. When it comes to my siblings (whether full or legal), Steven and I try to do the best we can for them during the moments that we are together, whether it's going to Kiwi, filling up a gas tank, cooking dinner, or being a Bed and Breakfast for the weekend. We give because we want to, because we were taught by the best, and because family deserves 150% of our efforts. And hopefully someday, we will be able to give back to them a fraction of what they have given to us.
It is much like the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. We have a little now, but we want to bless others with what we have. If we do that, then we will have an "abundance" promised to us. And I know that Steven and I are already excited to give it our all. Just like we were taught.
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| ...my new family! |
