Dear Family and Friends,
Christmas is here! On behalf of my family, I would like extend our Christmas greetings to you and yours.
From Our Family…
To begin, it has been an emotional and exhausting year for Lisa as she had to re-order her priorities so that she and her family, extended family and friends, could to tend to the needs of her ailing mother. The challenges to help care for her mom were compounded by distance and by the additional demands that accompanied her promotion to Director. Yet because of their collective efforts, they were able to do the nearly impossible; they were able to give her the gift of nearly full-time care for the better part of nine-months.
In our feeble attempt to alleviate Lisa’s stress, Ian and I had to step up to the plate. We tried our hand at laundry and grocery shopping, so that she could come home to a reasonably clean house, a few days clean clothes and enough food in the house to pack Ian’s lunch. Apparently, only his mom can get the lunch thing right. It was our gift to her as our way to make her feel like we had it all together.
Her absence was noticed by Ian the most but he handled it like a champion, growing up before our very eyes into fine young man. Now a freshman in high school, he is finding his niche. He is the social one; very active and out-going. He, too, added his needs to the mix by taking drivers training. Now, he is looking forward to the day when he can drive on his own. If the first snow of the season is any indication, he may need a little more time with an adult in the navigator’s seat.
Kelsey is still at home. She found a career path that shows promise as a recruiter for a staffing agency. It is her responsibility to encourage other adults to act like adults. Her job is stressful at times, still she seems to enjoy it and will begin the process of obtaining her certifications after the first of the year. As for the guy in her life, she has found companionship but has yet to announce that he’s a keeper; unfazed by his Buick.
Taylor moved away to Mississippi State University, an SEC school, taking a position in its Health Education Department. Now, she has to re-learn the English language in a foreign dialect. She has found the word “y’all” to be very useful and is trying to get us northerner’s to include it in our everyday vocabulary. After the first of the year, she will begin taking classes in pursuit of her Masters’ degree.
She too has a guy in her life. Although not officially engaged, he gave her a cowbell as a symbol of his devotion. I, for one, am unclear how to convert cowbells to karats, but have to believe one exists in this long-held tradition at Mississippi State.
As for me, I was the unstable one. My leap of faith more closely resembles a walk through a maze in the dark. I still do some writing, mostly in the wee morning hours well before daylight. Feel free to follow along at alvandyk.com. There is some stuff there you might find interesting.
If you were wondering, I still have Parkinson’s, but with the support of my family and friends, I am committed to living a life full of passion and purpose.
…Our Christmas Wish to Your’s
As the year comes to a close, I am drawn to the idea of gifts, particularly how we get spun up about what to give to whom. It was during one of those early mornings that I was reminded that we have a gift that awaits us. Maybe there is another way to think about gifts this season. Maybe Christmas is about being a gift to a hurting world that points others to the Greatest Gift. Lisa was a gift to her family. Ian and I made a feeble attempt to be a gift to Lisa. And our girls, by their very presence, brighten the lives of those whose lives they touch.
We all have been given a gift by the One who freely gives to all who ask. Some of us will treasure our gift, leaving it unopened, only to admire the beauty of the wrapping paper. Others of us will accept it, open it and experience Peace beyond what we ever thought possible. And there are those among us that feel that they are undeserving of the Gift. My prayer for you this season is to accept that gifts are just that, something freely given to those of us that are undeserving, and receive it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
Rejoice, your Gift awaits.
Merry Christmas from the Van Dyk’s
Al, Lisa, Kelsey, Taylor and Ian