I did however have another thought, something that has actually weighed on my mind for years. I feel like it is finally resolved. So I am ready to write it down before I forget that it is already resolved :)
I come from a family of 6 girls, and we are TIGHT! Tight in the sense that we are all still very involved in, help with, and aware of what is going on in each other's lives. I don't know if that is because we are all girls, or because our parents planned it that way, but it is what it is. And I am very GRATEFUL!
Sometimes I wonder why we put all of our hopes into, "Families are Forever," and then wait for FOREVER to start on the other side. Forever starts now. Do I mean that being tight is all roses? No! But issues have to be solved at some point, another reason we should get a jump start on "forever." And I can testify that over the years, the issues get smaller and the good times get much larger!
Every Christmas Eve, my family gets together in Shelley, Idaho at my sister Kristine's house for the annual Christmas Eve Program. My sister Erin is in charge of printing a program for the nightly agenda. About 4 years ago, right before reading the Christmas Story, the program listed "ADVICE FROM DAD." My dad liked to give advice, sometimes it was about weird things like math, or even fishing, but we could tell that this was serious. He plead with each of us to "Pray for each other, there is power in prayer." Then he asked us a favor, "I want you to always stay close and happy with each other, because I would love for my grandkids to have 6 houses they can go to at any time for help or to feel at home." Well, I have never forgotten that night, or that advice. It sticks in my mind and reminds me to do whatever it takes to connected.
Here is the problem part. As the family grows, and spreads out, it becomes increasingly difficult to carry out the yearly traditions that help us be a tight family. As I thought about a year with no Christmas Eve party or vacation at Bear Lake, I was SICK. Knowing that, as a family, we are only going to get bigger, and physically farther apart, I went seeking to know how to feel good about this whole thing. I came up with 2 things.
#1. Focus on the day to day. Families are like testimonies. Testimonies cannot be "EVENT BASED." They must be built over time, day by day, one scripture, one prayer, one prompting upon another. Just because I go to the Sacred Grove, does not mean I have a testimony of Joseph Smith. Families stay close day by day, not because of large events. Don't discount the little stuff. When we are involved in the details, we weave ourselves into each others lives. My mother is brilliant at this. She knows all of my neighbors names, and actually everything that is going on in their lives too :)
#2. A while ago I read the book of 1st Nephi several times over wondering what would be important enough to put in the first book of the Book of Mormon. I came up with several things, but one stuck out to me, it is the following doctrine. SCATTERING IS A CURSE FOR DISOBEDIENCE AND GATHERING IS A BLESSING FOR OBEDIENCE. It is GATHERING that I am concerned about. Families become united as they are obedient. It goes back to the old triangle theory (see my Feb. 24th post). It is natural. When we are trying to be good, we want to be around each other, we want ties to be strong and we want to help.
I have come to the conclusion that, as we are obedient and put in a whole lot of hard work, the Lord will find a way to GATHER.....
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