Growing Into Awesome

Formal Family Portrait ca. 2011

I have heard the phrase many times before, "They're such an awesome family!" I didn't really know what that meant but I knew I deep down longed for it. I knew I didn't have it. My kids were young, a lot of work, and not necessarily all that much "fun" to be with. Of course you always "love" your kids but kids are demanding! If given the chance, I would almost always choose to get a baby-sitter and get out of dodge for a while. I guess that would imply that I didn't really think they were that "awesome." Little did I know, that we were growing into awesome.

I figured it out, what this "awesomeness" actually means. It means love. It means adoration. It means kindness. It means affection. It means laugher. It means #1. It means best friends. It means...I love YOU and I want to be with you!

We weren't in that place. I believe it doesn't just happen. You may get a glimpse or two but I think when your kids are young it's harder to see. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realized how awesome we really are. A sister missionary that was here recently kept telling me how awesome our family was. Now, granted, I think she told a lot of families that, deep down, somewhere I started to think about that and maybe even believed her a little bit. Well, this week should have been anything but awesome. We've been sick with some kind of stomach bug. To various degrees, the kids and I have all been struck down. So, needless to say, we've been homebound for a few days. Today we didn't really even leave the house. We're in no hurry, with nothing too interesting to do. For the most part the t.v. and electronics have been off and it's just been ...us. So what have we done? Talked, played games, hung out, played piano, prayed, read scriptures, ate (kind of), taken naps...together. And guess what, it was awesome! Just us, being together, showing kindness, laughing together, snuggling, reading, playing...just being awesome!

So, how did we get there? Like I said, I don't believe it just happens with no effort whatsoever. It happens with consistent togetherness, even unpleasant togetherness. Let's be honest, there is lots of unpleasant togetherness before pleasant awesomeness happens. Between toddlers and teenagers, life can be pretty darn unpleasant! But I must say, I'm beginning to see the fruits of our labor (and least you forget, it was labor at times). But, boy is that fruit sweet! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I believe it's what we all yearn for. That place where we belong. That place where we are somebody else's #1, best friend. It's in our home and in our families.

So, bring them home! Turn off the electronics. Draw them close. Play with them. Talk to them. Read with them. It might take a while and you may be faced with some resistance, but be strong and do it anyway! They really want you to. Don't do the easy thing. Before you know you, you may just look around and realize how completely awesome your family has become.