We are the Family that Walks

This morning, I'm happy to be on my friend Adam Jeske's blog, Executing Ideas, reflecting on our family's obsession with walking. You can find the post here.

And here's a sample:

In our neighborhood, we are known as the family that walks.

Some think we’re crazy and others admire us. All of them see us and every day our reputation grows. We walk when it’s warm. We walk when it’s cold. We walk when we’re early, rushed, or on time. We walk in a pack or in smaller groups. Sometimes we take the long way, other times we take the shorter route. And it’s not uncommon to see us speed-walking like Olympians (’cause when you’re a competitive family of six, no one wants to be the last one to the corner).

Heck, to others it must seem like our goal is to drive as little as possible.

Come to think of it, they’re right.

In his book Never Mind the Joneses, Tim Stafford articulates the idea of a “family culture.” He writes,

“Family culture creates the wonderful sense of relaxation we get inside our own four walls…Here, and only here in the heart of the family, does everybody understand. Here we have a sense of freedom to be just who we are.”

So let it be said: who we are is a family of walkers. It’s our culture. It’s our nature.  

Our Picture Wall

One of my favorite Dixon family Christmas traditions is putting pictures up on our wall. Maybe you do this too?!?

When we get holiday picture cards in the mail from our friends and family, up they go on our family room wall. And so for the duration of the season, the ever-growing wall of smiley faces is a reminder that we are relationally blessed. 

A few days ago, as I looked at the pictures, I was struck by the diversity up on our wall. Because not only are we blessed, we are particularly blessed in the breadth of diversity represented by our relational base. 

Here are four ways we experience that diversity.

First, we've got friends from all of the eras of our lives. 

Really, the wall is like a walk through Dixon family history. There are family friends that go back for generations. There are childhood friends. There are friends from college, friends from our ministry years in SLO, friends from the mid 2000s when we were just getting started as a family here in Fresno, and more recent friends from just down the street. It's fantastic to stare at the wall and remember the goodness of God expressed through a lifetime of friends. 

Second, we've got friends and family from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. 

There are Asians, African Americans, Latinos and more on our wall. It's a beautiful mosaic. We love being a part of an ethnically diverse community, one that reflects the Revelation 7 community we'll all be a part of in heaven.

Third, we've got friends around the world. 

This year, we got pictures from France, England, Bosnia and Canada. It blows the kids' minds that we get pictures from that far away, and I love it that they feel that way. After all, we're trying to raise up globally minded kids!

Fourth--and this hit me most powerfully--there's a vast diversity of experience represented by the pictures on our wall. 

Many of the pictures came with notes and letters, and the letters tell the stories of this year. Our community has experienced loss this year. And pain. And heartache. But also joy. New kids have been born. Others have grown up and gone to college. It's as if our seasonal picture wall demonstrates the entire emotional range of human experience. 

Merry Christmas everyone!