A Light at the End of the Tunnel

I am excited for several reasons today. We have had family living with us for a few months now and they have found a house and are moving into it this weekend. I am excited for them and this new beginning that they are embarking upon. And I am excited to get back to a form of normalcy around here. I don't mean that in an offensive way at all. In many aspects, it has been great to have them around and get to know them better. But I think that both of our families would agree that it wasn't always the easiest thing.

I have also pondered the dynamics of families quite a bit because of several family adventures this summer. I have a good friend who said that families are not meant to live together. I find that an interesting statement. One, because I am LDS and believe that families are very important and two, because it is a reality that living together as a family can be rather difficult. But I think in this case, we have come to realize that our families are in different stages in life and we really just go about life in very different ways.

Because of recent events within my own extended family, I have come to realize something. That even siblings who have grown up together will at some point take different paths and learn and grow at different rates. They will end up seeing the world in vastly different ways despite a similar upbringing. So in reality, we are each our own person. A truly unique individual.
So then the challenge for family members is to find new ways to try to connect with each other. And this is something that will change as time goes on, because we will each continue to change. Who knew how difficult relationships would be? Especially those within our own families. But then again, the hardest things in life are the ones most worth doing. So keep looking for that light at the end of the tunnel.