Why I Bother
It's conference weekend around here again!
I love General Conference, and we've got some family traditions going on now that make it something to look forward to! Crepes with Nutella or powdered sugar, pictures of all the general authorities on the wall so they can put stickers on the speakers, treats for various games like bingo, and conference packets to color. We've even got a computer hooked up to our big TV in the living room now so we can stream it right into the living room (a relief to finally have room for all seven of us to watch without going to the chapel).
Doesn't that sound just like the perfect Mormon family? Worthy of Pinterest, perhaps. Yeah.
Before any of you get envious (or incredulous), the reality's not quite so picture-perfect. Crepes get burned (I tend to get distracted while cooking them), the kids shove each other over who gets to be the one to put the sticker on the speaker, there's the endless whining over what color of jelly beans are given out ("I wanted blue! BLUE!" "Um, K, there aren't any blue ones...."), orange juice spilled all over the floor, kids shoving each other on the couch over who gets to sit next to mom, candy wrappers and food and torn up bits of activity papers all over the living room floor, and multiple choruses of "Shhhh!"
Yeah.
And if it ever quiets down enough for me to actually hear the speaker, I doze off in the blissful peace and wake up with a start, wondering what the speaker is actually talking about.
Still, I do manage to have some spiritual uplifting moments, thoughts that reset my view on the eternal, rather than the transitory day to day stuff I'm usually mired in. Best of all, I know that all these talks will be quickly archived on lds.org and I'll be able to go back to them in the quiet of the morning before the kids are up and study them in depth.
So why do we bother? Did I mention that the kids look forward to this? All our craziness is nothing if not memorable. The kids already get excited each time I mention that General Conference is coming up.
We're hoping that someday (years in the future, probably) that will translate into an enthusiasm to listen to the words of the living prophet and apostles. They hopefully will realize just what a special occasion General Conference is!
And at the very least, they'll have some very memorable times of family togetherness to look back on.
I love General Conference, and we've got some family traditions going on now that make it something to look forward to! Crepes with Nutella or powdered sugar, pictures of all the general authorities on the wall so they can put stickers on the speakers, treats for various games like bingo, and conference packets to color. We've even got a computer hooked up to our big TV in the living room now so we can stream it right into the living room (a relief to finally have room for all seven of us to watch without going to the chapel).
Doesn't that sound just like the perfect Mormon family? Worthy of Pinterest, perhaps. Yeah.
Before any of you get envious (or incredulous), the reality's not quite so picture-perfect. Crepes get burned (I tend to get distracted while cooking them), the kids shove each other over who gets to be the one to put the sticker on the speaker, there's the endless whining over what color of jelly beans are given out ("I wanted blue! BLUE!" "Um, K, there aren't any blue ones...."), orange juice spilled all over the floor, kids shoving each other on the couch over who gets to sit next to mom, candy wrappers and food and torn up bits of activity papers all over the living room floor, and multiple choruses of "Shhhh!"
Yeah.
And if it ever quiets down enough for me to actually hear the speaker, I doze off in the blissful peace and wake up with a start, wondering what the speaker is actually talking about.
Still, I do manage to have some spiritual uplifting moments, thoughts that reset my view on the eternal, rather than the transitory day to day stuff I'm usually mired in. Best of all, I know that all these talks will be quickly archived on lds.org and I'll be able to go back to them in the quiet of the morning before the kids are up and study them in depth.
So why do we bother? Did I mention that the kids look forward to this? All our craziness is nothing if not memorable. The kids already get excited each time I mention that General Conference is coming up.
We're hoping that someday (years in the future, probably) that will translate into an enthusiasm to listen to the words of the living prophet and apostles. They hopefully will realize just what a special occasion General Conference is!
And at the very least, they'll have some very memorable times of family togetherness to look back on.
Comments
They look forward to it and sometimes will sit still. But I have laundry to fold and new talks to watch today and will watch again today, hooray.