filio family: Family Home Evening

So, we finally did this right! At least, I think so! We decided that we were going to commit to doing this. I got home from work and we had dinner. We turned off the t.v. and spent some time together. Michelle made a yummy dinner, as usual, (with white rice of course!) and then we had our family home evening. It's not that we never did it before, it just always felt like we weren't committed to doing it. We sang and had the opening prayer. Michelle had the lesson. She taught the same lesson she used for her class in primary. It was about appreciating what blessings we have received. It was a very interactive lesson. We had one big tub of water, and an empty cup. We had a spoon to scoop water into the cup. We all took turns and each person said something that they are thankful for. To my surprise, Owen enjoyed it a lot! He kept saying: "My turn!" And of course, he was thankful for his toys, his movies, the t.v. etc. But the more we talked about the things we were grateful for...Owen started being thankful for more special things like: "I'm thankful that daddy's home." He was also thankful for "Heavenly Father" and for Jesus Christ, and then he was thankful that I haven't gotten into any car accident and that I'm getting better. I thought it was cute! But the more we thought of things we were blessed with, we started filling up the cup. And then it was overflowing with water, which symbolized how we have truly been blessed by our Father in heaven with so many blessings. Our cup truly "hath runneth over". I thought it was an awesome lesson!

And then we had play time together. A co-worker of mine gave me puzzles for Owen. They were all 25-piece puzzles. They were at Owen's age level, but come to find out, I am below that level! I hate puzzles! Always did! So, we raced to finish our own individual puzzles, and guess who lost? I won't say who! But the second round I won! (only because I cheated!) But we all had fun!

I think this is the very reason why the church started this program - not for the church - but simply for the families to find extra time to do things together -to be closer. I read an article entitled "Make time to be holy." And it was something that I think was written for me. I have always wanted to find time to read scriptures, or spend more time with my family, but my excuse is always: "I don't have enough time." But this quote has truly helped to put things in perspective:

“We will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secondary as a pattern in our lives. Never. …When we put God’s purposes first, He will give us miracles.… Those apparent prison walls of ‘not enough time’ will begin to recede, even as you are called to do more.” President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, “Education for Real Life,” Ensign, Oct. 2002, 18, 20, 21.

Oftentimes, we forget the simplest of things, and then we complicate things by trying to come up with something new. I am actually glad that I have the opportunity to make changes in my life. They are not drastic changes, more like improvements. I am happy to have a family who loves me even when I make bad choices at times, but they are still to love me. It makes me think of our Father in Heaven. How hard must it be for him when we don't find time to remember Him? But I know that He is there for us and that He loves us...always.

Slow down! Icy Road Conditions!

The picture above shows what happened to the car after I got into car crash on my way to work. I left at 6 a.m. hoping to beat rush hour traffic not thinking about the bad road conditions. I haven't gone to work for a couple of days and I know I needed to get back in the office. it was about 3 miles from my house where I was driving over an icy bridge and I lost control of the car. I don't remember much from what happened other than the fact that I tried to gain control of the car as I was swerving left and right and I missed one car, but another car headed towards me from the opposite direction hit me right on and I spun around. It all happened really fast! I remember checking to make sure I could feel my feet. And then I called 911. A police officer was there within minutes. The trip to the hospital was unbearable even though they hit me with morphine! I laid on that stretcher in the emergency room for hours because they wouldn't move me until all the x rays and scans were completed and evaluated. It was a pretty uncomfortable 5 hours! But I got out of it okay without any major injuries - just a few bruises here and there. I was glad! I am grateful that my life did not end then! I had a few thoughts go through my head as I hit that truck. One thing was: "Did I buy enough life insurance to sustain my family? and "Am I ready to go?" Sadly, the answer to both questions were no. And it makes me realize how short and unpredictable this life is. I really want to be a better person, to really cherish every single minute I have with my family. I love my wife and my son, and the rest of my family, but to go through an experience when it seemed like everything was to be stripped of you, it really opens your eyes to a better perspective of what is truly important in life.