Summer in the hammock. Every day another beautiful lake with natural, woody shores.
One hammock next to the other, the whole family. On two birches, two oaks and one pine tree.
My favorite trees. Soft leafy shadow. Soft wind.
Peaceful reading, sleeping or talking.
A sister who eats up all our grapes but cooks a delicious bean-stew later on.
A really red colored sunset, with no mountains in the way, so we can see the big ball sink behind a silhouette of trees just above the hilly horizon.
Cousins who spend the night in the woods together in their hammocks and squeeze into a one-man kayak together; finding adventures, laughing and giggling in their own world.
A Campfire at the new fireplace in the garden next to the birches.
But also a sick brother-in-law who can´t handle the world.
Family.
“You have to take it like you have to accept your relatives”, was a well used idiom of our tourist guide in Israel 25 years ago, relating to the bad weather we had back then.
Family.
Often exhausting, sometimes embarrassing or frustrating, because you are not able to help.
But it is like it is and everybody belongs.
We know all the tics and failures of each other and family is too close to pull yourself together for long.
Nobody is perfect.
And sometimes your family is shamelessly clear in telling you so.
Closeness brings happiness but it can get on your nerves too.
We say something that hurts without thinking. And the most annoying failures are those you know from yourself.
Is it possible to find joy in each other and be generous with our forgiveness?
And our grapes?
Am I able to jump over my own shadow and get into the world of my four year old nephew?
Although there is the possibility of getting my hair wet and not being able to finish reading my book?
Withdrew or participate?
And when is it better to have some time for myself anyway?
I want to be honest but also flexible. Get involved and embrace surprises.
Love. Be thankful.
What better place to train that, than on a family visist in one of the most beautiful places I know?
“Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children learn proper behavior from their parents.
Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love.
Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant.
He didn´t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us.
Love like that.
Don´t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn´t fit our style.
Thanksgiving is our dialect.“
(Ephesians 5, 1-2 and 4)
