Yes, I do realize that it’s January 17th and I am just now posting my Christmas pictures. Yes, I do realize that I had posted that this blog would be on last week’s line up. Yes, I do realize that this week is not last week. Yes, I do realize that I’m repeating myself so I’ll stop before YOU realize that I’m a little cray cray.  After a long week of blog posts, editing, meetings and Orlando travel for wedding planning…I may have gotten a little behind. Ok, I shouldn’t dramatize it too much like I’m an overworked mule. I did fit in a little two stepping in there so don’t feel too sorry for me! I’m such a Texan now, two stepping and all. NOT. Anyway, here is the promised and ‘long-awaited’ family Christmas blog post. Enjoy.
I talk about my family a lot on this blog but make no mistake, I have no intention of apologizing for that. They are definitely worth talking about. I know that people think that their family is the coolest but the reality is simple. They are wrong. In no way is that meant to be an offense but it’s just true. I’m sure that there are lots of families that could make a decent contender in this race of family awesomeness, but I’d put money on my family winning out every time. Delusional? Irrational? Arrogant? Biased? Maybe. Yet completely content in my bias-ness (yes I make up words all the time on this thing).
Unfortunately/Fortunately this biased outlook on my family has recently been challenged and left me with a refreshing perspective on the greatness that is the Powell family.
There were 17 of us. Yes, you heard me. 17. We were in a cabin in the woods with very little reception and even ‘littler’ to do. We are all different yet the same. We represent various ages with various senses of humor. We are laughers. We are criers. We are sarcastic. We are sweet. We are family.
After we sat around and shared about the Christmas contrasts having to do with Christ, my grandfather said something that caught my attention. “As I was listening to each of you share about what God had been doing in your life and your thoughts on Him, I began to get very prideful about it all. Then, in perfect time, I realized I hadn’t done a d#$% thing (my Papa loves to cuss for the humor of it. Let me assure you…it is humorous and effective). “The glory and blessings we are experiencing have nothing to do with us. It is all His doing and for His glory.”
Summing it up perfectly, my little sister said that she too had begun to have a sense of pride in who we were as a family because we are uniquely loving, gracious and simply enjoy one another. Not many families of 17 can live together in a cabin in the woods for a week and either live to tell about it or leave still having tender feelings toward one another.  “Yet, the thing that is amazing is that in reality we are remarkably unremarkable.” she said. “We have done nothing to be this way. It is all because of the grace of God.”
We are regular people. We are nothing special. We make mistakes. We have our problems. We don’t always treat each other right. We can say hurtful things. We can struggle to understand one another. We can let our sarcasm run unleashed. We can joke too much or not enough. However, in the end, because of the grace of God, we are functional. I like to think, taking the liberty to rephrase my sister, we are unremarkably remarkable.
Enjoy some of our pics from the week!
Here we are. Looking good and continuing to get bigger and bigger. In number of people of course…
The true us.
Lauran is my fav.
So here is the Powell family line up. Important to note: we had work crews for meals. The Reindeers. The Santas. The Ding-a-lings. Hence the hats. The Santas were the best. Just sayin.
Papa- The Herd Bull. The Patriarch who didn’t do a d#$% thing. 🙂 The man whose God-given leadership has brought us to where we are. The most intentional man I know. The one who puts everyone at ease. The one who would win Mr. Congeniality. The example setter for life and faith. The grandpa everyone hopes for.
Granny- The Herd Bullette (despite my jokes). The Matriarch who would give you everything she owned if you asked her…seriously. The most selfless woman I know. The homemaker whose home is the best place on earth. The faithful grandmother in love, wisdom and encouragement. The grandma everyone hopes for.
Cleve- My Daddy. The Bah Humbuger who has recently turned over a new leaf. See later pic. The fellow blogger, seminary student and man who knows everything. (Check out his blog at www.fearandcomfort.wordpress.com) The man with a great sense of humor and yet an unending source of wisdom. The best dad ever.
Susan- My Momma. The optimist who works harder than anyone. The bubbly woman who knows no stranger. The wise woman who doesn’t even know the breadth of her wisdom. The bold one, not afraid to speak truth. The greatest mom ever.
Allison- My sister. The teacher who keeps all of us laughing and dancing…see later picture. The compassionate one who loves deeply. The tender-hearted one. The singer. The dare-devil of the group. The one who loves to be with people…all the time. The life of the party.
Jacob- My brother-in-law (BIL as I call him). The trooper who has put up with three crazy sister in-laws who giggle incessantly when with his wife. The one who has had to endure a lot being the only outside male for too many years. The man of quiet wisdom. The hard worker. The one with a servant’s heart.
Beth- My distant cousin…ok not really. The one who looks like me. The twin. The one who has been my best friend since…well the VERY beginning. The bride to be and the doer of the family. The lover of people like none other. The go getter, get things done one. The one who is bubbly, outgoing and goofy. The disciplined one.
David- My soon to be brother in law. The new comer who handles our crazy antics very well. The Grinch impersonator (It’s impressive and somewhat exemplified in this pic but doesn’t do it justice. The guy who can be goofy with the best of them and serious with the other best of them. The guy who gives good advice. The guy who is going to take good care of my BFF…or else.
Mary- Me. The weirdo who writes this blog. Enough said.
Emily- My sister. The brainiac philosopher of the group who is literally good at almost everything. The athlete who also can model, write papers that get published and do chemistry equations with a smile on her face. The one with great insight and an amazing ability to communicate it. The one with a great sense of humor.
Stephen- Emily’s boyfran (see that Anjelah Johnson reference). The Pennsylvanian who handles our crazy mid-westernness very well. The man who is a genius with numbers and statistics. The guy who can wear shorts in freezing weather. The Sequence champ. The one who helps my sister drink more water…cause she’d never drink it on her own. The one with a really great laugh. The one who is passionate about the Lord and the depths of His majesty.
Jack- My uncle. The one that is incredibly wise and loves the Bible like none other. The pastor who has made a stand for what is right even when it was hard. The one who loves to talk about the deep things of God for they are worth talking about. The one who has the best stories from pastoring a church in the backwoods of Kentucky. Seriously. I feel a guest blog coming on.
Jonna- My aunt. The servant of all. The one that makes me laugh all the time. The one who acted as Madam Zelda and taught me how to put on makeup The great story-teller. The one with the greatest sense of humor. The one that makes everyone feel at ease in her presence. The joyful and compassionate one.
Jodie- My cousin. The computer genius. The Sprint expert. The one that makes me laugh. The one that tells GREAT stories. The fun-loving one. The one that I almost gotten eaten by a bear with in Yellowstone. Also a blog post coming on.
Mitch- My cousin. The family man. The tender-hearted yet securely masculine one. The one not afraid to speak his mind, especially when it is words of encouragement. The loyal one. The one about to get a really great gift in his bride to be 🙂
Lauran- My soon to be cousin in law. The joy to be around one. The sweet yet sassy one. The easy to be around and super enjoyable one. The one with a great sense of humor. The talented artist. The great new addition to the family.
Jon- My cousin. The incredible musician. The one that keeps us serenaded at all times. The super talented one. The thinker. The lover. The feeler. The not afraid to hug you even though you are ‘adults’ one.
That’s us!!! The unremarkably remarkable Powell family! We are crazy and I love it. Enjoy some more from the trip!
Guys night. Poker.
Girls night. Nail painting. Sharing hearts. Singing and dancing. Typical.
Not sure what I was trying to accomplish here.
Lauran’s first family vacation with us and we have a dance party. Might as well see the real deal right away!
Favorite/Most embarrassing pictures of the night. For both of us. Yet, too great not to share.
The Herd Bull.
These make me laugh.
One word. Awesome.
A few pics from our end of vacay ‘award’ ceremony. Hilarious.
This was the reenactment of their reactions on the roller coaster we road. Perfect description of their personalities.
The losers of the sequence tournament. Coincidentally both of the ‘newcomers.’ Initiation at its finest.
The winners. Also including a ‘newcomer’ so we covered our bases.
My dad’s award. A leaf. Since has turned over a new one and no longer a bah-humbuger.
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