Part 1: Meet Real Women

I found three different women who had one thing in common – they love gathering their families together!  Otherwise, they couldn’t be more different from each other!  Perhaps you’ll really relate to one of them and the tips and survival strategies that they share!

By the way, did you miss the prelude to this series? Catch up here!

Meet Kelly.

Stage of Life: Mother of kids from 14 to adult (including one bride-to-be)
Weekly Schedule: Nonprofit social needs ministry and home school teacher
Biggest Challenge: Small house and limited budget

Kelly is an introvert, but the highly connected kind (there are more of those than you can imagine)!  She recently took a Meyers-Briggs personality assessment, so we have the luxury of being able to look her up on sites like 16personalities.com.  As an ISFJ, Kelly will be intentional about how she is social, and will use her ability to connect deeply with those around her to grow a happy and supportive family. After spending an hour with her, I couldn’t agree more.

Meet Amy.

Stage of Life: Mother of two brides-to-be and grandma to two toddlers
Weekly Schedule: Management in the commercial business world
Biggest Challenge: Multiple large family gatherings in a relatively small span of time

Amy is definitely an extrovert!   Or is she an introvert with a well-developed extroverted side?  She loves people, and she doesn’t want to feel like she’s missing out on a single moment.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that she’ll miss the details for the sake of the experience.  Amy is very process oriented, leaning into the details to solve the problems.  She took an assessment with the Oxley Group through her workplace, which revealed she is adaptive, steady, and compliance-oriented; she’ll consider different perspectives before taking action.  Amy will know what her vision is, and be able to delegate the tasks that she knows others would be better at.

Meet Marcia.

Stage of Life: Mother of all adults and grandma to lots of little ones (great-grandma to one)
Weekly Schedule: Babysit the grandkids and DIY mastermind
Biggest Challenge: Coordinating schedules between adult children and their in-laws

Marcia, like many of us, is experiencing a personality shift as she progresses into a different season of life.  She used to be very extroverted, like Amy, but she’s admitting that she’s growing more and more introverted – content with her chosen circle of companions.  She is a planner, but not a rigid one.  She’ll get a rough idea of how she wants to do something, but is flexible in changing her plans if something better comes along.

What Did I Learn?

With all three of these women, I laughed a lot while talking to them.  I was inspired.  I even shed some tears at the shared passion we have for family.  I realized in a deeper way how God has uniquely called some of us to be the gather-ers.  I don’t know that any of them would consider themselves qualified to be professional event planners.  They just know how their family is designed and how best to gather them in meaningful ways.  Even in our own families, it could seem that no one else cares as much as we do because they don’t naturally see the need and work that we do.  While it may be tempting to cave to frustration, don’t!  God has uniquely equipped and called us for this role in our families.  They have their gifts and strengths.  These are yours.

After talking about the struggles and the strategies involved in gathering family together, I asked each and every one of them, “Is it worth it?”  Each one of them, as different as they are from one another, answered in exactly the same way.  A thoughtful, reflective, and decided “Oh, yes… Yes!”

Can you relate to any of these women? Maybe a combination of them?  I know I can! Let’s see how these real women can help us with our real families.  Later in the series I’ll share their best strategies, ah-ha moments from their own experience, and their favorite tools for planning (because not all of them are natural planners).  Coming next, though, are their different reasons for gathering (spoiler: it’s not just for the holidays), and what those gatherings look like to be the most meaningful to the family that is gathered.

See you soon!