This devotion is another page from my wife’s recently published book, BITS ‘N’ PIECES OF MY HEART.  Colleen’s treasured memory shares God’s light as it nourishes a family with His love.

Living close to parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members allows you to spend more time together.  Sometimes you can live down the street, a couple miles away, or just an hour’s drive.  When this is the case, your family can have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, attend church together, and get together for all kinds of fun activities.  Unfortunately, there can be reasons that prevent this from happening.  Mommy’s or Daddy’s job may require you to move to live in another town, or even a state far from where your family is.  If this is your family’s situation, special planning is often required to visit your relatives.

During most of the time after our girls were born, we found ourselves living in different states, far from where my immediate family lived.  They lived on the beautiful eastern shore of Maryland.  At the time, we were living in a very small town near the border between Florida and Georgia.  It did take much thinking and talking before we decided that I would drive to Maryland with Taryn and Heather.  Since it was October, we planned the trip so we would arrive in my home town on the day they celebrated Halloween with “Trick or Treating” for the children!  We planned to arrive just after the time that children would be heading around in my mother’s neighborhood.

We arrived at the perfect time.  The beautiful sunset hung over the bridge that led into the town.  Street lights were already helping guide the children and families walking in the neighborhood.  My mother’s house was a block from the bridge at the entrance of town.  I parked the car around the corner so she wouldn’t be able to see us from her doorstep.

The girls’ Granny had been a floral designer for many, many years in her brother’s flower shop.  This was helpful when we chose costumes for them to wear.  It also helped to know that pink and purple were Granny’s favorite colors.  Heather was an adorable flower! She had green pants on, and wore an extra-large green hoodie sweatshirt so the sleeves hung over her arms to make “leaves”.  I had painted a pretty pink and purple flower on cardboard with the perfect sized center to fit around her face.  Taryn was inside a big box with a hole on the top and two sides for her head and arms to come out.  We had covered the box in glittery gift wrap with pink and purple hearts.  Since I had worked in my uncle’s shop I was fortunate to learn some design skills.  I was able to make a big purple bow to tie around the top of Taryn’s head.

Our plan was to walk from our car to her yard at the other corner of the block.  We walked quietly to the shrubs around the side of the house, and waited until there was no one on her sidewalk.  As I hid behind a bush, but was close enough to hear, Taryn and Heather slowly walked by the front picture window to the sidewalk, and rang the doorbell.  When the door opened, they smiled and sang “Trick or Treat”! Granny’s eyes widened with love and excitement!  To say they received some sweet treats would be an understatement.  They received sweet, surprised “Oohs, Aahs, Hugs, Kisses, and much, much more”.  To say that her granddaughters and daughter surprised their Granny doesn’t even come close.

I came out from behind the bushes and joined in the best, loving family celebration.  The “Trick or Treat” surprise was the beginning of a special week-long visit with Granny.  Words cannot begin to express the importance of our time with her.

From Psalm 133:1:  “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!”