This picture—my heart all but bursts every time I see it. 

It was taken five years ago on the day our daughter was born. In it, my husband is giving her her very first bath while our proud extended family looks on.

It was a sweet moment on a hugely special day, but gosh–what was captured in this photo is so much more than that.

This photo represents everything I could have ever hoped for my kids: That they would have an extended family who shows up in their lives and loves them so deeply. 

That they would have grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to do life with.

Loved ones who are always there for them, whether it’s in person or over the phone from halfway across the country.

These people who surround us don’t just appear for holidays, birthdays, or special occasions.  

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They’re there for Saturday morning basketball games and Thursdays when I send a last-minute text saying, “Can you grab the kids from school today?” 

They sew tooth fairy pillows and make Halloween costumes and help with homework and build model airplanes and carry on traditions and call to see how the spelling test went.

They ask for sports schedules so they can do their best to make it to the games, even if it means driving three hours to watch before turning back around to be home for another obligation that evening. 

They send Valentine’s cards and “just because” notes in the mail.

They give thoughtful and intentional gifts to our kids because they’ve put in the effort to really get to know them—their likes, their dislikes, and what fuels the fire in their hearts.

They are supporters, cheerleaders, confidants, and safe spaces.

My kids are surrounded with love at every turn, and it is the absolute biggest blessing I ever could have prayed over their lives.

That they will know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, they are loved. That no matter what, there is always someone they can call. There are hands to reach out and pick them up when they fall, and enthusiastic cheerleaders rooting for them when they succeed.

“You’re so lucky,” we hear often, and we know it’s true. We really are.

My heart overflows with immense gratitude when I think of the family members who are so very present in our lives because I’m fully aware of how precious they are. Not everyone has a village, and we hit the lottery of life to have a built-in one we call family. 

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No matter how old our kids get, I hope we never take for granted this gift we’ve been given. We’ll forever strive to be there for our people the way they’ve always been there for us.

To our extended family who pitch in constantly to help us raise our babies—you’ll never know how much your thoughtfulness, ride-giving, babysitting, advice, unconditional love, and countless other things you do mean to us.

Your presence in our lives is everything.

It truly does take a village, and we couldn’t do this without you.