“It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

“It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

Monday, April 18, 2011

BOOM Family


I once saw a newspaper article that was titled “Boom Town”. In the article it said that you could tell the economic future of a town by how many cranes were on the horizon. I think that that is an interesting and easy measure against which to see if the town is moving in the right direction. It’s a simple formula really, the more cranes the better the growth and the better the news for the town.

But how do you tell if your family is on the right track? It’s not as easy as looking at the horizon and counting the cranes you see. But it is necessary to have some sort of measuring stick so you know if you’re moving in the right direction.

When I was at uni, a lecturer said that the family was the “Oldest financial institution in history”. I am so glad that I have a greater and deeper understanding of what the family really is and not what the world would have me believe.

On the horizon of life there are many “cranes” we can look for that will tell us not of our family’s economic future but of our spiritual future. Obviously the more the better but a few that I believe to be most important are:

1. Family Home Evening (FHE). When I was growing up, my mother did her best to get my sister and me to participate in FHE. I’m sad to admit that we didn’t make it easy for her and therefore it only happened sporadically at best. Since the birth of our son, Treen and I have been doing our best to have FHE every week. It’s so much fun with the little guy. He doesn’t last long but we sing, pray, have a very short lesson then sing and pray again and it’s over. It probably lasts a total of 8 minutes but we do it. Now I know that Noah probably doesn’t get much out of it now but we do. I’m hoping that by the time Noah learns how to say no to things, FHE will be so ingrained in him that he won’t even think about trying to get out of it.

2. Doing dishes together. I guess this is probably a Woodfield family thing and seems a little odd. In a talk John Bytheway suggests that you should go home and start doing the dishes and when your parents (or spouse) walk in, see what you’re doing, are completely shocked and say “What are you doing?” You should reply with a completely straight face “A clean sink is a happy sink.” And go right back to work. Well I think that a clean sink is a happy family. I find doing the dishes with my wife is a great opportunity to work together and spend time just chatting about the day and life and stuff. Many a life problem has been nutted out over a sudsy sink and a damp tea towel.

3. Exercise. The way Treen and I got to know each other before we started dating was by going for a run each morning around Southbank. It was such a good and healthy way to start the day and it provided us with a good opportunity to talk and get to know each other. We kept up a pretty good regime since then by going to the gym and keeping an active and healthy lifestyle. However, since the little fella has come along we are finding it harder to keep up any kind of exercise routine. I do miss being as active as I used to be. I guess we just have to try harder because “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands” – words to live by, thanks Reece Witherspoon.


These are my three cranes of a happy family. They help my family keep things together. We’re not quite a “Boom Town” yet but we’re working on it. We’ll build more cranes and find new ways to strengthen each other. The important thing is that we work together and make it together. I love my family and think the world of them. There’s nothing better than having my own family!

1 comment: