A Glimpse

Every once in a while I get a glimpse of what I think God wants us to feel in families– why He organized us this way– why He wants us to be married and have children.  Maybe it was even a glimpse of what it is going to feel like in heaven every day?  I got this glimpse the other night.

Chad was home.

He was bathing Locke and Croft in our back bedroom.

The kids were playing happily in the tub together.

Elle and Crew were sitting at the bar in the kitchen doing homework.  Peacefully. Elle was typing a persuasive essay on the computer.  She was reading and rereading paragraphs.  Crew was working on a math worksheet.  His little brain was thinking out loud — muttering math facts under his breath.

I was doing laundry- walking back and forth between the kitchen and the bathroom and the laundry room as I put clothes away.

I would walk in and out of these peaceful scenes and I was struck by the contentment and happiness in each room.  I felt so much joy and love in my heart for my family.

It was interesting to me that we weren’t at Disneyland.  We weren’t on a beach or at a park.   No one was eating ice cream or popcorn or pizza.  We hadn’t spent any money. No electronics were on.  No friends were over. We were all just home doing the “boring” basics of life.

Actually, to take the observation a step farther, we were all working.  I was even doing laundry and I still found joy.  But the joy wasn’t in the laundry, but in the peace in each room.  The on-task behavior.  The helpfulness.  The safety. The togetherness. The necessities getting done.  Each member of the family doing his/her part.  Father and mother helping each other as equal partners and children busily engaged in their own responsibilities.

I got a glimpse of understanding that night of what I think God intended us to feel in families– what He wants it to be like for us – why he organized us into families. I got a glimpse of how good family life can be and how much love and happiness are accessible in the family unit.  He wants us to be able to experience these moments regularly and often.  God wants us to feel the deep peace, joy and contentment that can come within the bonds of a united family.

The week after my special glimpse, the chorus from the Primary song, The Family is of God, kept going through my head.  I sang it as I worked around the house.

Like the song said, God gives us families as a way to share His love.  That overwhelming love and peace and joy and contentment that I felt was actually God’s love.  I realized later that I got a glimpse of God’s love that night in my home.

Fast forward 15 minutes and I was back in the trenches of real time parenting.  Crew and Elle started fighting.  Locke and Croft were out of the tub due to over splashing.  And the marathon bedtime routine started.  But I took my eternal glimpse of God’s love that night and tucked it away in my heart.