Matt and I don't have family here in town. Our closest family members are my parents, who live 2-2-.5 hours away. That's not far, but it's also not super-close. And while my family has been able to come up and see Eleanor and help out some, it's just not the same as having family here. But having Eleanor has helped Matt and I realize that even though we may not have actual family here, we do have a family, a community. Family isn't necessarily defined by blood, but by relationships.
-Family is having meals brought to your home three times a week from the week after we brought Eleanor home until mid-February. I'm not kidding. With the exception of last night, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday someone brings us a cooked meal. And usually there is enough food that we can have leftovers the next night. It is such a blessing to not have to worry about making dinner while trying to adjust to our new normal.
-Family is our house church giving us cans of formula that they haven't used after we had to make the switch to bottle-feeding.
-Family is members of our house church emailing or calling to check in and see how we are doing. This is after we made it back to house church for our first time since having Eleanor and I cried a lot, since this was the day after we made the switch to formula. It's so nice knowing others are thinking of us and care about us. And that we can be vulnerable and honest with them when things are hard.
-Family is people reaching out with their stories of struggling to breastfeed and having to switch to formula. It's the reassurance that things will be okay and that it's okay to grieve the loss of breastfeeding.
-Family is spending an entire Saturday afternoon with friends who are incredibly excited to meet your daughter. We were able to spend the afternoon with the family that I started babysitting over seven years ago and it was amazing to watch their entire family love on Eleanor all afternoon.
-Family is friends offering to come over for a morning or an afternoon and being willing to sit downstairs with Eleanor while I take a nap. This happened a few times the first two weeks that Matt was back at work and it was such a blessing to be able to get a solid hour or more of sleep and know that Eleanor was in good hands just downstairs.
-Family is getting phone calls from coworkers just to check in and see how things are going.
Matt, Eleanor, and I are so lucky to have amazing family - both in our blood relatives and in our community here in Indianapolis. It's definitely a reflection of Jesus for us.
-Family is having meals brought to your home three times a week from the week after we brought Eleanor home until mid-February. I'm not kidding. With the exception of last night, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday someone brings us a cooked meal. And usually there is enough food that we can have leftovers the next night. It is such a blessing to not have to worry about making dinner while trying to adjust to our new normal.
-Family is our house church giving us cans of formula that they haven't used after we had to make the switch to bottle-feeding.
-Family is members of our house church emailing or calling to check in and see how we are doing. This is after we made it back to house church for our first time since having Eleanor and I cried a lot, since this was the day after we made the switch to formula. It's so nice knowing others are thinking of us and care about us. And that we can be vulnerable and honest with them when things are hard.
-Family is people reaching out with their stories of struggling to breastfeed and having to switch to formula. It's the reassurance that things will be okay and that it's okay to grieve the loss of breastfeeding.
-Family is spending an entire Saturday afternoon with friends who are incredibly excited to meet your daughter. We were able to spend the afternoon with the family that I started babysitting over seven years ago and it was amazing to watch their entire family love on Eleanor all afternoon.
-Family is friends offering to come over for a morning or an afternoon and being willing to sit downstairs with Eleanor while I take a nap. This happened a few times the first two weeks that Matt was back at work and it was such a blessing to be able to get a solid hour or more of sleep and know that Eleanor was in good hands just downstairs.
-Family is getting phone calls from coworkers just to check in and see how things are going.
Matt, Eleanor, and I are so lucky to have amazing family - both in our blood relatives and in our community here in Indianapolis. It's definitely a reflection of Jesus for us.
Communities and friends definitely make up new families. Glad to hear you are all surrounded by so much love!
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