family love

/

The time fly's by so quickly

Christmas lurking right around the corner

In a few short days

I will be gathered with my family

Laughing, joking, soaking it all in

Happiness filling the air

I am so grateful for them

The time we spend together

How close we all are

The humorous things that arise

What a beautiful thing to be a part of

I stand here today with gratitude in my heart

For each of them

How unique they all are

The kindness that is in each of their hearts

The family bond that brings us together

What a blessing to be surrounded

By so much kindness and love

I am forever grateful to be a Belthoff

Wishing you and your family

Kindness, love, laughter, and smiles

As the holidays draw closer in

And you come together to celebrate

beauty surrounds her

/

She wanted to know how I got here

What path I took

How I knew what road to travel down

But the truth is you never know

You just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other

You do not know where you are going to end up

In fact there are moments when you think you will not even smile again

But you do

You always do

There is always a rainbow on the other side

A gentle hand lifting you up

Pointing you in the right direction

Individuals you never dreamed of are there

And they guide you

They help you to heal

And they open up your eyes to amazing beautiful sights

Things that were in front of you this whole time

When that dark cloud of gloom was following you around

But sunshine has peeked through and for the first time you can see

And you are in awe of the beauty and love that surrounds you

You realize how magical this place is

How much beauty is around every corner

And all you have to do is wipe the sleep out of your eyes to see it

Yours eyes are open now

So incredibly wide there is beauty around every corner

And you are grateful

So incredible grateful

For wearing your heart on your sleeve

Putting yourself out there

And continuing to step deeply into the umknown

Life is filled with so many unexpected surprises

And you are soaking in the glory or each of them

gratitude

/

This community provides so much support and love

Holding my hand as I gently take each step forward

Listening, reaching out, lifting me up

Great things happen when we come together

Holding up the mirror

Guiding each other to truly see

We are not meant to travel this journey alone

Each of us is interlocked together

We are stronger when we lean on one another

Thank you for your support

For helping me to see

And filling me up with so much love

I am truly blessed to have you in my life

the beauty of gathering

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Sharing our stories is what it is all about.  Sharing deeply who we are, the struggles we face, the roads we travel.  Sharing our dreams, our heartache, our insecurities.  Sharing all of it.  This is what is truly magical.  It takes strength to show up exactly as we are.  Five pounds heavier than we wished, dust on the floorboards, fears of not having anything of value to add.  But we show up none the less with our hearts on our sleeve.  And we are seen for exactly who we are.  You with your wide expansive heart,  your wise business sense, your adventurous spirit, and your quiet wisdom.  Love, pure love swirling around as paint get whisked onto paper and things get glued down.  Hearts opening, truths revealing themselves, and supportive love holding everyone up.  Realizations unfolding that we are all the same and we all are fearful of something.  Each of us sees that we are our own harshest critiques.  But as we gather we hold up the mirror for one another.  Reflecting back the beauty that we see in each other.  This is magic of gathering.  Sharing stories, making art, laughing, crying, and showing up.