Missouri Loves Company

           This weekend,  I watched as many people near our last town were devastated by a tornado.  I sat, prayed, and checked Facebook. It was all out of my hands, and I was too far away to do anything but pray. No direct friends of ours lost their home. I loved all the posts from my friends and their offers of help. I cannot imagine the misery they must be tempted to sit in. The stories from those affected are sad but hopeful.  I know their holidays will be much different than they expected.  Most of them are grateful this Thanksgiving for the greatest gift they have received: life.
         Monday night, I was reminded again of all the wonderful people we left behind. Charles had most of the little ones in our bedroom watching "Different Strokes". They used to watch this show once a week while I went to a small group). There they all were watching a familiar program, and my heart longed for the comraderie of my dear friends that we have left. It brought on a torrent of emotions as the realization hit me that all the people I used to see weekly (or even monthly) were hundreds of miles a way. What did I do? What any woman in my situation would do! I swept the floor.
           I swept and swept until the floors were all cleaned upstairs, and then I vacuumed the basement (lots of ducklings=trails of woodchips). Some people shop for therapy. I clean. As I cleaned, I prayed quietly for the friends I was missing and asked God to bring new ones into my life. Then, I sat down and watched part of a movie with my Gracie, my youngest girl.
          As I put the girls to bed, I still felt lonesome; but God hears every prayer and the next few hours were filled with excitement and wonder as my oldest two girls and I stayed up to watch the next batch of ducklings hatch. At first we were just hanging out with the week-old ducklings. All but one waddled onto Half-pint to take a nap. We laughed as they would preen Half-pint's fuzzy jammies and her long brown hair. Then, we heard some loud peeping as the newest batch started breaking free in the incubator. We laughed and talked like old friends as we named the new batch of ducks "Lola", "Agnes", "Oliver", and "Peter". I know how silly that is since we won't know their gender for a while.
          I believe God gave me open eyes that night to see two precious friends that He had left right in front of me: my daughters. If we had still lived in our old town, I doubt I would've stayed up. I was often too preoccupied to take time to hang out. Having fewer friends and less groups to attend is giving me time to focus on what matters more...family. I'm grateful this holiday season for my opportunity to get to know them better.
           We had almost two weeks with the Grandmas, and it was wonderful. I've had repeated requests to go back and visit our last area, but I need to put it off till the ducklings and baby boy has gotten a little older (to tolerate long trips better). Carrie, my 5 year old, is already dreaming up a visit back to our old town for her birthday in March to visit a favorite friend. We'll see what happens. We'd love to have more visitors here in Missouri, but I'm so thankful for Facebook to help me stay in touch. Missouri loves company, but we will take the memories and the mail (whether electronic or postal )we get with gratitude. 
            I miss you all and I'm praying for you all!

To read more bloggers talking about their less than perfect holidays,  click here.