A thing of joy and beauty

Rich's patriarchal blessing says that our family home evenings will be a thing of joy and beauty. When I think about what that means, I expect evenings where we quote scriptures, sing lovely songs, and have deeply spiritual Gospel discussions. It would look like one of those pictures in the Primary lessons with everyone sitting around listening attentively.

That is not what our family home evenings are like. Our family home evenings are loud. There is a lot of Rich and I going, "Shhhhhh!" There is a lot of wiggling and funny comments and poking siblings. There is also a lot of fighting. Family members fight over who gets to sit next to Mom or Dad, why it isn't their turn to conduct, who gets to lead the songs, which songs we sing, and which person gets to be the last speckled frog left on the log. Lessons must be pretty short or we begin to lose people. I have heard that children learn to sit reverently by practicing it in family home evening. We can't seem to manage reverence. We are more worried about managing the crying. If everyone is happy, then we call it good, even if they are loud.

The other thing about our family home evenings is that the dishes are never done beforehand. It is something like a family tradition now. It seems we can we can either do the dishes or have a family night. When our oldest children were little, the First Presidency made a statement that inspired us on this point. It said, "“We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities." We decided that highest priority meant more important than anything else, even the dishes! I was so grateful that they didn't say to give highest priority to a clean house or a consistent, orderly bedtime. We never could have done that. But neglect the dishes for family time? Alright!

So I was thinking last night about the description "a thing of joy and beauty" as we struggled through another family night this week. We were making a Christmas CD for grandparents who are serving a mission far away. We only had one hour before basketball practice, even without doing the dishes. Our opening song was almost ridiculous. Some children made faces for the camera, while others sang opera. Unfortunately, things seemed to go downhill from there. Anna cried because she wanted to hold the video camera. Jeffrey cried because he didn't think he was going to get a treat because he never ate dinner. Siblings bugged other siblings. Siblings ran through the scene when other siblings were performing violin or piano or harmonica pieces. I am sure you get the picture. I am guessing you have been there. Please tell me someone else has been there! Anyway, I love the scripture in Isaiah "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." I guess this chaos and craziness is a thing of joy and beauty. I guess families who love each other, even when they fight like crazy in a small space a lot of the time, are a thing of joy and beauty to the Lord. So are parents, and children, who are doing the best they can. I guess it doesn't have to perfect, or even quiet, to be pleasing to the Lord.