For nearly 11 years now we have watched all of the sessions of General Conferences as a family...just my husband and me...and babies. Those babies became toddlers, and toddlers became school kids who are venturing into tweendom. And all of those years of practice watching and learning from General Conference is really beginning to pay off. They can sit. They can identify principles. They can learn. They can feel the Spirit. They can record their feelings. They can ask questions. They can discuss what they heard with us.
They did all of that this weekend, with surprisingly little assistance from us, and that made me feel proud and happy for them.
However, as I was cleaning up this evening, I realized that the best part of Conference for me this time around was just spending time together as a family.
Now that they are a little better at watching Conference, and now that they are mostly in school, I guess I was better able to notice what an amazing gift it is to simply BE together with my family for two whole days, with no expectations, nowhere to be, no jobs to fulfill, only that we sit and listen and think and feel...and laugh and eat and smile and giggle and snuggle and...hear the true words of God, uninterrupted by commercials or other media.
Some of my favorite moments are:
- watching my nearly six month old roll and roll around on the floor and then sit by himself for the first time
-listening to my almost 11 year old pound out Christmas songs on the piano and hearing him say, "I never knew I was good at piano!"
-seeing my 3 year old walk in wearing my high heels and bathrobe pretending to "be old"
-enduring a holy fit thrown by my 9 year old who won't eat her lunch and tells the whole family that the only reason we think it tastes good is because we are "all weird" (then smiling as she willingly eats that same meal 4 hours later and says, "actually, Mom this is delicious!" To which I respond, "Oh, good! I always knew you were just as weird as the rest of us." To which she smiled sheepishly and then we laughed together about the whole thing.)
-looking around while the other children are being rowdy and seeing my almost 8 year old standing and singing during the congregational hymn, oblivious to anyone else, but being a great example at the same time.
And there was a really hard thing we were dealing with too, crushingly difficult, but even that was made a little lighter by virtue of just being together.
Some of my favorite moments are:
- watching my nearly six month old roll and roll around on the floor and then sit by himself for the first time
-listening to my almost 11 year old pound out Christmas songs on the piano and hearing him say, "I never knew I was good at piano!"
-seeing my 3 year old walk in wearing my high heels and bathrobe pretending to "be old"
-enduring a holy fit thrown by my 9 year old who won't eat her lunch and tells the whole family that the only reason we think it tastes good is because we are "all weird" (then smiling as she willingly eats that same meal 4 hours later and says, "actually, Mom this is delicious!" To which I respond, "Oh, good! I always knew you were just as weird as the rest of us." To which she smiled sheepishly and then we laughed together about the whole thing.)
-looking around while the other children are being rowdy and seeing my almost 8 year old standing and singing during the congregational hymn, oblivious to anyone else, but being a great example at the same time.
And there was a really hard thing we were dealing with too, crushingly difficult, but even that was made a little lighter by virtue of just being together.
So, nothing earth-shattering here, just a realization that the blessings of Conference are many and great and long-lasting if we stick with it...I want to remember these good times.
The Church is wonderful. The Gospel is true. The Savior Lives. His power is real. And I want to use it to become better for my family which I hope will last forever and ever, Amen.
The Church is wonderful. The Gospel is true. The Savior Lives. His power is real. And I want to use it to become better for my family which I hope will last forever and ever, Amen.
