Uncle Matty’s in Town! + The Gift of Community

One of my three brothers came up from Santa Barbara on Sunday night, and since showing up has been totally serving us, unasked. Monday morning I woke up to him cleaning our house and then he took it upon himself to take care of John Shea, took him to the park for a few hours to run around and play, rocked him to sleep for his nap, offered to go to the grocery store for us, brought me back these AMAZING peonies !!!!! (my favorite!!!) and macarons, has been doing all of the dishes and letting me keep my feet up for our little girl’s sake. And today all over again. He has been a total dream. And not to mention, we absolutely love the guy and love getting any chance to hang out with him. If you ever need a good laugh, you should spend some time with my brother. He is hilarious and also has the best laugh. I think John Shea is going to ball his eyes out tomorrow when he leaves!

When my doctor first told us that I need to keep my feet up the majority of the day and no carrying John Shea, I immediately thought about the burden it was going to put on Cam. He already does so much with all day long intensive language school, studying at night, getting in playtime with John Shea in the afternoon… and I thought, oh noo, this is going to totally exhaust him to add my role ontop of his. He is amazing and would never think that himself, only what he needs to do for his family, which is why I am soooo thankful the Lord has been refreshing us with loved ones stepping in, and blowing us away by their help.

It started with Nana Beth (Cam’s Mom) when she was out here for nearly two weeks. She took over literally everything for me since I was on full bed rest then. She even made sure to cook us a meal to freeze before leaving and did all of our laundry every day, and took the time to get out stains and fold it all. That one task alone is huge for us because have you ever seen how fast our dirt loving boy goes through clothes?! She graciously helped us in every way and we are so, so grateful.

And then there’s my friend Lindsay. She lives in our neighborhood and has been coming by almost every day just to sit on the couch and have a cup of coffee together while our boys run wild in the backyard, which has been just as much a blessing to John Shea. One of the mornings she came over, she made me stay on the couch and cleaned our entire house! And she doesn’t even like cleaning, haha! She said that it had to have been God giving her a cleaning bug and as if she knew that it was driving me crazy that I haven’t been able to. The other night two of our friends brought by an insane home cooked dinner (she is from Okinawa!) of real, true curry, something we’ve missed since moving. My friend Sommer came by today and just sat on the couch with Matt and I while John Shea was napping and brought flowers. I’ve started writing snail mail with some really sweet ladies from church (!) who are praying and offering help if we need it.

I’m reminded again how huge community and fellowship are and what a crucial and amazing part of life it is. I’ve been reminded too of the importance of being vulnerable and open. Family, friends, neighbors, even strangers… it has been such a gift to see how people have wanted to step in and help. I hope we will always do the same for those around us! I’m curled up on the couch right now next to Cam with Matt on the other one, drinking tea and feeling so thankful. God is so good.