This 'Mother hen' ...

     I have been struggling with feeling like a mother hen who just wants to gather all of her chicks close. I am well aware that all four of our sons, as well as our "part time kids", are now in their twenties and thus have every right to go off and live their own lives. And I am okay with that. In-fact, I honestly want them to. I just wish that their "going off" didn't include distance. Or at the least, could the distance be limited to with in a half hours drive?
     I'm sure I've mentioned before, how "our" Amanda went off to college and then ended up living in that general area. An area which is a good three hour drive from here. You drive south east from here to get there.
     Lance joined the Air Force. Currently he is stationed in Virginia, with his wife and their two sons. That is a considerable easterly drive from here.
     Byron too went off to college and ended up staying in that general vicinity, due to meeting and marrying Cyndi there. They have now blessed us with two grandchildren. But the four of them are a good three and a half hour drive south west of here.
     "Our" Kate stopped by last evening for a big hug. She heads off to medical college tomorrow. A trip that will end with her living three hours east of here. 
     As you know, Brent and Kayla are engaged. Brent has been offered and is considering a job which is located north of here. Several hours worth of traveling north. Will he take it? He hasn't decide yet.
     But if he does, that means we will have kids located east, south, west and north of us. And with all of them having their own lives, they thus have varying schedules. So trying to pull everybody together for an event is tricky at best. But I L-O-V-E(!!) it when we're all together! My heart thrills at the animated conversations and the resulting bouts of laughter. And the smiles. And the hugs. Oh do I ever love the hugs!!! 
     So like I mentioned, I am struggling with feeling like a mother hen who just wants to draw all of her chicks close.

                      {I found the picture on line HERE}

     As Kate pointed out, we are blessed. We have the privilege of being able to hear one another's voices via telephones. And if we're on different schedules, we can always pour out our lives, it's challenges, it's blessings, pictures of it, etc., via emails.
     I AM thankful for that. But I am me. And thus, I still struggle with it.
     And then this morning, I at random chose one of the episodes of 'The Waltons' currently waiting my viewing, which our DVR has recorded. I enjoyed the episode. It was titled 'First Day' and is about John-Boy's first day at college. But then at the end of the episode, as John-boy was writing and the narrator was  telling us what he was writing, the Lord yet again showed me that He can and does work through anything.

      "Family ties may lengthen to accommodate distance, but they are never broken."

     how soothing!