That’s Family Life

This picture is what I will call, “Family Life”.

This summer, our 11-year-old dog Molly died from heart complications. She was a sweet Lhasapoo. I was away in Arizona at a youth ministry conference when she had passed away. Two days later, I am still in Arizona and our youngest daughter calls me and says,”Now mom, I don’t want you to think this was planned, but there are some Mini Australian Shepherds for sale, can you help me discern about buying one or not?”

I had known that her dream was to have a mini Aussie someday. So this sounds like no big deal, right?

Well one thing you should know, our two young adult daughters are currently living with us. Before you draw any conclusions, I want to tell you this: They both have college degrees. They are working at jobs from their college degrees; and have paid off their college debt. They are responsible in all their adult ways from paying their bills; and making their own decisions; as well as cleaning their living areas, and doing their own laundry. We love them, and we all are enjoying the journey God has placed us at today. We are living as an adult community with our daughters. Now that is all cleared up, onto why I am writing this blog.

I knew that if we said yes to the younger daughter about the Australian Shepherd, we would have to say yes to our oldest daughter and her dream of having a Yorkie! My first reaction was no, I want my freedom!!! I wanted to have freedom to travel, and not to worry about dogs in general. Then I thought to myself, there are three other members involved in this decision process. As a family we should all pray on it and give everyone an opportunity to express their voice. After discussion and prayer, we all decided yes let’s do this. Yes even I thought it would be OK!!

So now our family is comprised of two puppies, of different sizes and the four of us adults. It is not an easy task, let me tell you. The motto we have is “divide and conquer.” There is a particular puppy, Finley (Australian Shepherd) that sometimes needs all four us as we are running her down with a sock in her mouth. She loves to play keep away! FINLEY’S MOTTO – PLAY TIME ALL THE TIME. Then there is Emma. (Yorkie) Emma is refreshing for she likes to sit on our laps and chill out. EMMA’S MOTTO – REST TIME IS A GOOD TIME!!!

Prior to puppies, we use to go to church together. Now we are going in shifts! I would often wonder when I was by myself, if people were wondering what is up with Lisa and her family. One particular Sunday as I was leaving church, a family friend Fr. Peter, gave me a hug, and I said, “Well Fr. Peter you have had the opportunity to see our family at three different Masses this weekend. I bet you were wondering what is going on with the family?” I explained to him that we have two new puppies. He responded that he had remembered our other dog had died. He smiled and then said something so profound. “Lisa, this is what I would call, “Family Life.” He continued on by saying, “It is not always easy. However, it is a call to be there for one another even when it is chaotic and crazy. This is how we show others what family life is all about.”

I have been thinking about what Fr. Peter had said. He is right! Family life is messy and hard. However, I love my crazy, chaotic life and would not trade it for anything. On the hard days, we now say to one another, “this is family life.” Just by saying this somehow we are reminded that we are unified and can count on one another no matter what.

Why the photo of the wallpaper titled Family Life? Well, Finley decided it was a fun game to pull wallpaper off the wall. For the time being I am not replacing the wallpaper until the teething process is over. It now serves as a good reminder to me on how lucky I am to have such an amazing family and life. Or as Fr. Peter would say “family life.”

#Family #Life #Chaotic #Love