I think I better understand why my mother always talked about her brothers and sisters so much

Our youngest grandson and his family was here this weekend. I loved it.

My most used tag on this blog is "Family."  I love writing and sharing about my kids and now my grandkids.  I have more than 2,700 posts on this blog and a great chunk of them is about my two kids, their spouses and their kids.  It's a record of their growth and how I related to them.  

I've often asked myself why do I mention them so much.  Am I bragging?  No, not really.  For me, it's a point of celebration where I can smile and I can see the evidence of the existence and presence of God.  And, it's something that I love being part of with my wife.  

I get my primary identity from being a child of God.  He adopted me.  But, I get my secondary identity from being a dad and a husband.  It hasn't come from the jobs I've held in my life or the things that happened to me early in my life.

Growing up my family was my mom and me and a little fox terrier dog.  That was it.  Now, it's eleven.  My wife and me, our two kids and five grandkids, two of whom are pre-born.

I think this blog has helped me sort through the pieces of my feelings about all this and sometimes I've done this clumsily. 

In the New Year, I hope to bring a little more intention, order and clarity to it.

My mom had six brothers and five sisters.  They all brought a special meaning and purpose to her life.  I better understand why.

I think this says it well. I've experienced this.

My wife plays with our youngest grandson this morning before he and his family left to go home.