Saturday Morning Coffee~Favorite Fridays

One of the Hefty Traditions, dating further back than I know, is gathering for Saturday Morning Coffee.  

Every Saturday morning, even in sub-zero temperatures, Jeff's parents, uncle and our family get together at one of our houses to chat over a few cups of coffee.  On special Saturdays we even might have other aunts and uncles join us! 

Pre-children, Saturday Morning Coffee was pretty much filled with discussing topics of importance in our lives:  work, homes, plans, politics, and headline news.  Once we had children to entertain, we incorporated some games like wii or eureka into the mix.  

The food at on Saturday mornings is always delicious.  I sometimes make scones from scratch, or there might be breads, muffins and rolls....but a really great treat is to have a yummy Kringle.  (Will they have those in Reno?  I don't think I'd even heard of a Kringle until moving to Wisconsin.)

Whatever we do, and whatever, we eat is not as important as the tradition and what it signifies.  

Saturday Morning Coffee is one of the things that makes moving to Reno a difficult decision.  Jeff and I wanted to live in one of our hometowns so we would have family nearby.  The close relationship that Evie has with both sets of her grandparents, and even her great-grandma, is evidence of that closeness in proximity.  

But there are a couple reasons that making this move is also important to us and to our growth as a family.

First, as amazing as both our families are, God is the ultimate priority in our hearts.  As much as I used to say we could never leave Madison because of the wonderful doctors, educators and our families, I realized when this opportunity presented itself that our faith must be bigger than our fears.  If we have the strong faith we say we do, then we need to show it by going where God sends us.  

Jesus asks that we take up our cross and follow him...and sometimes that means leaving the comfort that we have built around us.

Second, this will take our marriage, our family, to another level.  Jeff and I need to see what we, as parents, partners, and individuals can do for our family.  When Jeff's parents first wintered in Florida, I'll admit that we were a little scared to see how we could handle things without our built in "back up".  We would need to find a sitter for hockey Saturdays, and we'd need to figure out how to always pick Evie up from daycare on time.  That first winter, when we accomplished all of this, and when we saw that God provided all of the answers to those questions... I think we realized for the first time that we ARE good parents!  

We never knew what we were capable of because we never had to try anything different.

Saturday Morning Coffee is proof that family values still exist.  It's about coming together at a given time each week to catch each other up, and build each other up.  We are sure to FaceTime in whenever we can (although the 8 o'clock CST start time will be a challenge).  And we will always look forward to it when we are home for a visit.