My husband, Ron, and I have said for a long time that our family put the “fun” in dysfunctional!  Our son, Scott, and his wife, Natasha, have given us three beautiful grandchildren…Trinity, soon to be 6, Brayden, just turned 4, and Israel, will turn 2 tomorrow!  My, how time does fly!  We were living in North Carolina when all these babies were born and dear friends provided me with a plane ticket to be in Arkansas for each birth!  What a joy!  Our daughter, Wendy Rebekah, lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and our son and his family live in Bentonville.  Geography doesn’t hinder our “inside” jokes, or the pranks we like to pull on one another.

Ron’s twin brother, Don, his wife, Kay, and WonderDog, Jessy, came for a visit last week.  They live in Dallas and have four adult sons.  After years of living too far away to visit each other we have had the joy of having them in our home three times as they traveled to the northeast for business and ministry.  Don is an apostle in the marketplace and has a powerful ministry called “Fatherpower.”  Kay is a writer, editor, mighty woman of God, and brightens every conversation with witty comments.  Jessy and our dog, Gracie, became great friends and it was an awesome family visit.

Both our families love to read books.  As our two were growing up we read aloud from books every night.  When Scott was about 12 years old Ron read us the book titled, “A Day No Pigs Would Die” by Robert Newton Peck.  It is a coming of age story of a young boy and his family on a farm. His dad is also a butcher.  The day the father passes away is the day no pigs died.

The young boy was always hurrying from one chore to another to get on to his adventures.  Each time his dad had him repeat the chore until it was done right.  He would say to him, “Son, one done good beats two done ragged!” 

As Kay and I visited I was reminded of all the times we said “family phrases,” mostly quotes, to our children and now they say those same things to their families.  Time and distance may seem to affect our relationships but plugging back in and making new memories together is a wonderful gift!

Dysfunctional or not, we only get to have the family we have and in everything we do with and for them “one done good beats two done ragged” every time!