Article on feelings while having dinner with family
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Early one morning our daughter ran into our bedroom and announced, “Mom! Dad! It’s raining in the basement!”
We jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. The dishwasher had malfunctioned during the night, flooding our home. My nine children sloshed around the soggy house, trying desperately to get ready for school. Meantime, my husband and I dragged our food storage from the soaked storeroom to the backyard, where minutes later the sky darkened and rain began to fall.
I could tell it was going to be one of those days.
Later that evening around the dinner table, our soggy familyof 11 shared their own sorry tales of the day’s disasters. Our high-school-age daughter broke her front tooth while playing powder-puff football; our junior-high-age children either forgot their band instruments, left gym clothing at home, or missed the bus. Our daughter who attends the university could not find her car in the parking lot and was late for work. Our kindergartner had an accident at recess that required an immediate change of clothing. As the final blow, I realized we had changed our home owner’s insurance policy to a higher deductible which had gone into effect just three days earlier.
After listening to these seemingly never-ending tales of woe over dinner, my five-year-old daughter blurted out loudly enough to be heard over the din of conversation, “Mommy, couldn’t Heavenly Father just put a rainbow over our house?”
We all turned to stare at her, then burst into laughter. Suddenly, we realized that dripping carpets, broken teeth, lost cars, and tight budgets weren’t the end of the world. We still had each other, and soggy or dry, our greatest joys came from being together as a family. Talking about our day at dinnertime had helped us remember that.
Our family time around the dinner table has provided healing balm for many such trying days. With the busy lives each of us leads, we’ve found that mealtime together has taken on added importance. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “It is important for us also to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally, that whatever changes outside our home, there are fundamental aspects of our relationship which will never change” (“Ocean Currents and Family Influences,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 112–13). Despite differing circumstances, every family can make eating at least one meal together every day a family priority. Following are some ideas that have helped our family make the most of mealtime.
We jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. The dishwasher had malfunctioned during the night, flooding our home. My nine children sloshed around the soggy house, trying desperately to get ready for school. Meantime, my husband and I dragged our food storage from the soaked storeroom to the backyard, where minutes later the sky darkened and rain began to fall.
I could tell it was going to be one of those days.
Later that evening around the dinner table, our soggy familyof 11 shared their own sorry tales of the day’s disasters. Our high-school-age daughter broke her front tooth while playing powder-puff football; our junior-high-age children either forgot their band instruments, left gym clothing at home, or missed the bus. Our daughter who attends the university could not find her car in the parking lot and was late for work. Our kindergartner had an accident at recess that required an immediate change of clothing. As the final blow, I realized we had changed our home owner’s insurance policy to a higher deductible which had gone into effect just three days earlier.
After listening to these seemingly never-ending tales of woe over dinner, my five-year-old daughter blurted out loudly enough to be heard over the din of conversation, “Mommy, couldn’t Heavenly Father just put a rainbow over our house?”
We all turned to stare at her, then burst into laughter. Suddenly, we realized that dripping carpets, broken teeth, lost cars, and tight budgets weren’t the end of the world. We still had each other, and soggy or dry, our greatest joys came from being together as a family. Talking about our day at dinnertime had helped us remember that.
Our family time around the dinner table has provided healing balm for many such trying days. With the busy lives each of us leads, we’ve found that mealtime together has taken on added importance. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “It is important for us also to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally, that whatever changes outside our home, there are fundamental aspects of our relationship which will never change” (“Ocean Currents and Family Influences,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 112–13). Despite differing circumstances, every family can make eating at least one meal together every day a family priority. Following are some ideas that have helped our family make the most of mealtime.
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