CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON--The Moral of the Story

“Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.�

-- Leigh Hunt

Last summer, I mentioned in a column how strange it felt to not be with

our older daughter, Kelly, on her 20th birthday. I said I missed her and

prayed for her, but I was happy that she was having fun traveling with

her sister, Amy.

I also wrote that I knew it wouldn’t be the last time it happened; and

sure enough, I was right.

Last Saturday was Kelly’s 21st birthday, and my husband, Jon, and I

weren’t with her. I sure missed her and prayed for her, but I was happy

that she was having fun traveling with her sister, Amy. There seems to be

a pattern developing, and if it continues, I need to enroll in several

foreign language courses.

Jon and I couldn’t complain about not being with Kelly on her actual

birthday, though, because we recently returned from a fun family trip

with both daughters.

Kelly has studied in Buenos Aires for three months and will be there for

two more. We couldn’t wait any longer without seeing her, and we wanted

to celebrate her birthday. So we chose to have our family summer vacation

in Argentina.

Actually it was a winter trip, since it is winter there; but the point

was, we were together. For nine days, we ate, laughed, played and prayed

together while exploring a beautiful country. We had to be back a few

days before her actual birthday, so Amy stayed on for another five days

to be there and celebrate with her.

“It feels so good to be the four of us again,� Kelly said at our first

meal together, as well as many other meals.

She was right. Every one of our meals was memorable, either because of

the conversation, location or unaccustomed menu.

“Our family is so much fun!� Amy said repeatedly during our adventures

together.

She was right too. We laughed at being drenched by waterfalls while in a

small boat in a rain forest. We laughed as we froze while biking around

Buenos Aires. We laughed at my attempts to combine words of Spanish,

French and English. Jon and I repeatedly commented on how much we were

blessed by our children.

Every day we said a prayer of thanks at each meal. But more important, we

took time daily to pray for Kelly’s time in Argentina.

While we were there, we saw concrete answers to our past prayers for

Kelly. One prayer was for her skills in speaking Spanish, and daily we

witnessed and appreciated her near fluency. We also had prayed that God

would direct her to a great church, and we had the opportunity to enjoy

it one Sunday as well. It was a privilege to worship God together in

another language and a privilege to have the sermon translated for us by

our daughters.

I have a photo album and a heart filled with rich pictures and memories

from our trip. I realize that many of you are also heading to vacations,

either near home or abroad, with family or friends.

I hope you are all renewed by fun and playing, as well as by faith and

praying.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at o7

[email protected] f7 or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-No. 505,

Newport Beach, CA 92658.