Oklahoma, take 2

We are trying it again...visiting family that is. The last visit, over Thanksgiving, didn't turn out so well. All of the previous day's meals being purged from 5 of the Gamble's wasn't a fun way to spend Thanksgiving when I typically spend more time eating rather than...well...you get the picture. But we are here again to actually see my family and spend a little more time with Sheila's.

It's never been convenient or fun living away from family, but it appears to be the path God has chosen for us. When we were graduating college, I had many friends who said they would go where God led as long as it was in a certain area or not in another certain area. We never felt like that was really submitting to God's Will. So we live 9 1/2 hours away from my kids' grandparents. It definitely makes it tough at times, but it makes the visits all the sweeter. As I have reflected on this I have often thought that despite the disadvantages, there have been some blessings:

• Early in our marriage and with our first child we HAD to depend on each other and had no other family to run to when conflict arose;
• We made more and better friends because we didn't have family to spend time with;
• We have had other people "adopt" our kids as grandkids;
• We always have a reason to visit the promised land of Oklahoma.

I know the road that God leads us down is not always convenient or what we would choose, but it certainly has been the best path.