The Family that Plays Together Stays Together

Families come in all shapes and sizes. They range from large families living on very little, to little families living with excess, and everything in between. One common thread that all families share is the process of meshing potentially great individuals into one great whole.

This "whole" is the basic unit of society. All larger units of society depend on this smallest and fundamental unit, the family. The strength of this basic unit is the building block for the strength of the world itself.

As a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, sometimes commonly referred to as the Mormons, the strength of the family is of utmost importance to me. My beliefs in a life after death, with the potential of living with my family for eternity (which is a REALLY long time), helps to influence my decisions when it comes to relationships I develop with my family members.

This understanding is the basis for all my efforts to build the strong family ties that will last forever.

Sometimes it's hard to mold the individuals that make up the family, together in one common goal, but it is always easier when you do it with love. A constant supply of warmth, kindness, and just plain charity towards one another, can make up for a multitude of potential or past mistakes.

There are many suggestions for increasing a family's commonality, especially when that is a priority in your family. I have found that among other things a family can do to become unified, learning to have fun together, is on the top of the list.

One of the ways that my family has fun together is on the water. We are really water "dogs" at heart. We have set aside a certain time every year to spend at one of our favorite places, Lake Powell. This has been a tradition, for as long as I can remember, carried over from my childhood to my own family today.

We have evolved from camping on the beach in a tent, when we were first married (young, poor, and struggling to make ends meet), to a houseboat, where we feel we have died and gone heaven. Some of our most memorable times have been spent there. We have danced, sang, swam, skiied, boarded, laughed, played, cried, and bonded together in that beautiful desert oasis. Friendships with each other have been strengthened as we just took the time to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Sometimes it has been a sacrifice to try and keep our commitment as a family to this yearly vacation. It has been financially challanging at times. It has also proven to be a challange of scheduling as our children have grown older and have more things that have demanded their time.

We all, individually, have come to realize that the benefits have outweighed the sacrifices by far. The value of just "playing" together has proven to be one of our biggest staying factors when it comes to building our cohesive family unit.

When challanging times have arisen we have had a general reserve of playful memories. These have seen us through the temporary difficulties of just living life and it's everyday trials. We have learned to laugh together and that is a real asset.

This life is a time to strengthen family relationships and make memories that will last forever. I believe this to be one of the reasons that our Father in Heaven sent us here to earth. We are here to build an eternal family.

Regardless of our individual circmustances, when it comes to a family unit we are all part of a larger family, a member of God's family. For this reason, and many more, people all over the world generally consider the family to be the highest priority.

Parents, generally, are concerned with how they can become a bigger influence on their children than the other massive forces pulling at them. Of all the helps that I have discovered that are available to parents today, in my opinion, one of the greatest resources is a document called "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." It is direction given to help the family unit remain the focus of our world today. It offers direction to the family that can give us more peace and happiness in our lives.

Just like you, I think I have the greatest family in the world. I can't imagine ever living without them near me. I find comfort in the message given by a living prophet of God today, one that teaches me the importance of my family and instructs me in the principles that can help me to live with them forever. The relationships you build today can be here to stay. I know this to be true and it brings me peace.