What I Believe: Investment =The Big Pay-Off

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."  
-The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I know this is true.  I witnessed it repeatedly all weekend.

I mentioned that we'd celebrated Mr LKP's birthday at his parents' house the other night.  And since then, I haven't been able to shake how incredibly happy I've been (Not that I WANT to really, it's just kind of surprising at how elated I've been all because of a night spent with family), nor quantify it all in words.

Until now.

Now don't get me wrong on being surprised either.  I do so very much love my in-laws, as I love all of the family we have been blessed with.  It's just that something was outstandingly different this time...or perhaps made so much more obvious this time.

The meal, as was also mentioned, was scrumptious.  I'm not sure the deliciousness stopped at the recipes used nor the spices employed.  Perhaps everything tasted better because of the company kept while enjoying the meal...AND dessert.

Mr LKP's grandmother, aunt, sister, and step-grandmother left to tend to some things at their houses.  Our niece and her brothers were picked up by their mom to head home to Idaho.  One of the other nephews decided to stay longer with us for some boardgames.

We enjoyed a fabulous game of "What's Yours Like?" with Mr LKP's mom.  We laughed, and giggled in spite of ourselves.  Mini-Me finished up some homework, and then we quickly broke for some more cookies and drinks before starting another game.  Before heading back into the game table, I stopped at my FIL's room to ask him a mild-mannered question.

ONE question launched us into an hour-long conversation, and a fabulous opportunity to ask him MANY questions.  But mostly it afforded me plenty of opportunity to just sit at his feet and LISTEN.  He and I haven't had such a conversation since Mr LKP was deployed.  I've been missing those kinds of covo's with him.

What was also a fantastic side-blessing of that was that the others went ahead without me as they played a new challenging game we have, called "Dicecapades."  NONE of us had played it before, therefore there was the added difficulty of figuring out how it all worked.  To my complete and utter amusement, while I was talking with my FIL, we could hear rousing laughter and hollering and merriment not only coming from the game players, but most especially from my MIL!  She normally maintains a very quiet voice.  So to hear her enjoying herself and time with her grandkids was most wonderful.  My FIL and I couldn't stop smiling each time another wave of amusement came from the dining room, during that hour.

It's true what is said that, "The family that plays together, stays together."

And after this weekend of time spent with my in-laws, and some time spent with my dad's family Saturday, and some time spent with members of my mom's family (there was a baby shower Friday night), and even time spent with Mini-Me's dad's family (his parents came to Mini-Me's last home basketball game on Thursday night), I believe simply it isn't always about playing.  In fact, I believe that the family that interacts together, stays together......whether that interaction is over a meal, or a board game, or over photo albums, or over memories, or over life's victories, or over life's sadnesses.....the details can be so different.

The DETAILS only matter most as long as they are the details that pull us all together again.

"To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there."  

-Barbara Bush

BEING THERE is the key.  It's a verb; an action.  

• It requires undivided attention.  It requires putting the cellphone, or iPod, or laptop, or iPad, or video games away.  
• It requires being in the moment together. 
• It requires our authenticity; it requires everything we've got to actually BE THERE. 
• It requires investment.

INTERACTING = INVESTMENT.  
INVESTMENT = THE BIG PAY-OFF.
THE BIG PAY-OFF = ETERNAL HAPPINESS.

Plain and simple, the family that invests in each other, stays together--which IS eternal happiness!

(source: google images)

  

If You'd like your own copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, you can help yourself below:
The Family a Proclamation to the World