wherever, whenever, however

One of my (many) passions is family. I grew up in a home where family was a priority. When my husband and I went through pre-marital counseling together, one of the exercises we were asked to do as a questionnaire on our family, from which our families were then plotted on a grid. My family came up as abnormally close...no surprises there. As a whole, I get along quite well with my siblings, and I'm very close with my parents.

I'm a huge advocate of family meals. Growing up, often the deepest and most meaningful conversations happened around the table over a meal. There were many laughs shared around my parents dining room table, and also many tears. Supper was never to be missed by anyone! My husband has a demanding job, in which he often is needed to put in overtime hours. When we join my family for dinner (unless ABSOLUTELY necessary), we all wait for my husband to join us before we begin eating. It's just the way things work in my parents home.

However, I do remember a time in my life when meals were on the go...Tuesday's during my jr. high years were the manic days in our home. Tuesday was the day that we had music lessons, among other commitments. I can remember bolting from the school when the bell rang, signifying the end of another day, and hoping into my mum's van where my bag full of piano books was already waiting. We'd drive to the opposite side of the city for my piano lessons, and from there I often didn't see my siblings until 9:00pm that evening as we all had various activities we needed to be at.

But before anyone was dropped off after school we ALWAYS hit the McDonald's drive-thru for McFlurry's. And as we downed our McFlurry's on the way from point A to point B conversations flowed. We'd catch up on our days, on the challenges we faced, and everything we'd accomplished.

I look back on this time, and although I'm sure Tuesday's were the day my mum dreaded, for me the were often the highlight of my week. The point is, often times life gets in the way of the dinner table...and although I definitely believe that time spent together over a meal should never be replaced, sometimes you just need to make do with what you have. For my family, that meant staying a family even as we dined on drive-thru from McDonald's.

Life is busy. So go with the flow, create strong relationships with your family, wherever, whenever & however it may look for the season of life you find yourself in.