So what's it been like this year for Laura and Steve?! (Link to pictures at the bottom :-)
Just as our blissful and seemingly busy years before children gave way to the longing for children we didn't yet have, so the years (or were they days?) of empty nesting have given way to the satisfaction of engaging grandchildren as often as possible. In our case, that's pretty often, and for that we are most grateful.
We were home for Thanksgiving and will be home for Christmas. In fact, I expect to spend the entire year without leaving the US. That may seem normal to you, but it has not been common for me, so I am learning new ways.
While people talk about God loving us like a good parent, they could continue by highlighting the unconditional love I see on the part of so many grandparents, sometimes with a satisfied glow and sometimes with a heartfelt longing. This has been a year to understand that more personally. (We do love our adult kids too, but they're so busy ;-)
On the other hand, we're also growing old, and we notice more aches, pains, and losses. Keep this in mind when you hear us or one of our peers bemoaning the decline in the world as we know it. After all, we are perceiving the world from our own decline, whether that means exhaustion or perhaps, as I have noted earlier this year, irrelevance.
And yes, we are grateful for what relevance and energy we still have. If it weren't for our excellent imaginations and (sometimes fading) memories, we might be totally content! Contentment is a good gift and we are thankful for what measure of it we enjoy.
The suffering this year has seemed nearer at hand. To pick out a few--my sister's brain cancer, desperate migrants hoping for rest from their suffering, horrible wars offering little hope of resolution, and broken systems that may never be fixed.
Yet here we are, passing through another year and marking the approach of winter by renewing our hopes, anchoring our faith, savoring what we can savor, and grieving what we must suffer. May you find a peace that is otherworldly in the midst of whatever you are facing and companions to walk alongside with grace and forbearance.
And thank you for connecting with us. Along the way I grow more aware I will never find the perfect friends and family, but I can take another step to enjoy the people that are alongside me. You wouldn't be reading this if you weren't one of this company we so enjoy. We are grateful for you.
I heard a prayer once that began by orienting the supplicant first vertically--on earth, subject and reliant to a greater power, and hoping for good outcomes in a world that seems out of control. You may have heard the same prayer. It continues by focusing on the immediate--having what we need for today and getting along with those around us. Then there are our two problems with evil--the stuff we do that's not in our own best interest and the evil that comes at us from seemingly every side. The prayer ends more quickly than we might expect, but right back where it started--the world is not about us, even though that's the way we experience it.
Peace and great joy be yours! That is our wish for you. With love, Steve and Laura
Steve and Laura Spinella
US: 1930 Springcrest Rd, CO Springs 80920
mail: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
--
This is an email list for friends of Steve and Laura...
To reply to a posting, send email to steve.spinella@gmail.com or just hit reply to email Steve and Laura
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to TEAMspinella-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
To see past emails, pictures, et al, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/TEAMspinella?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TEAMspinella" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to teamspinella+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/teamspinella/CAB%3Do-CFONgR8G81FLE3SVgAuffsa8HwhNae9KLMMrULr%3DRTRtA%40mail.gmail.com.
