Well, this started a pretty hilarious chain of picture messages that was a glorious collection of some of the nastiest faces we could pull.
If you were to ask me what kind of family I had, my reply would be that I have the best family anyone could ever ask for.
When we get together we laugh. We cry. We fight. We tease. And well, we mostly laugh.
There are no "hidden under the rugs" or "skeletons in the closets".
We are straight up, in your face, what you see is what you get kind of people.
And I love everything about all of them.
I have always been taught that you put your family first. We have always supported each other in every dance competition, basketball or football game, wrestling match, mission, marriage, child birth, heartache, achievement, screw-up, and anything else you can think of.
At times some of us have fallen off the path and there has never been any doubt that we wouldn't support each other through it with a firm but loving "get your crap together or we'll kill you" kind of nudge.
I truly would not be here without that support.
I know that family is central to God's plan for us. We were not meant to be alone in this life or the life to come. We are meant to be surrounded by people we love and who love us back. And that could be any type of "family" we choose it to be.
Not all of us will be blessed to have children or spouses of our own. Some of us haven't been blessed with them yet. I'm one of them. And like I've said before...that's ok!!
I have never and will never say that I'm alone. I know that I was sent here to the greatest family anyone could ask for as have so many other people.
I have many friends that don't have the best family or home life. They fill certain voids with wordly or temporal things. They are grasping for anything that will let them know that they are loved.
All I can do for them is let them know that I know that they are loved and that I think that they are great. It is not my place to make them feel judged or ostracized just because their life or their choices are different than mine. And sometimes that's all we can do. Sometimes all we can do is let people know they are great. That they are loved. That they can find happiness.
My sister sent this to me a while back:
Well Meg, I think you're great.In this current journey of self discovery, I've decided that I'm going to focus on the things that make me happy. The things that make me grateful.
Today, it's my family.
Earlier today I listened as my little brother stood and told a congregation his testimony of the Savior. It blew me away. To hear such a strong, simple testimony come from a 20 something kid was just awesome.
I spent most of the day hanging out with my other brother, his wife and baby, and my parents. We video chatted with my sister and nephew in UT and my nephew had to tell me about all the random things a 3 year old tells people.
For the most part it was a lazy day. But it was an amazing day. It was a day I spent with my family.
Am I going to say we are perfect? No. We have had our knock down drag out fights. But, those usually end with someone releasing some bodily gas...to put it nicely, and someone laughs and we end the fight with hugs and kisses all around.
I have always known that no matter what is going on, you have to let the bad things go. You have to enjoy what you're doing and if you don't, find something that you do enjoy...or just suck it up and make it enjoyable.
I could go on and on about the life lessons and the fact that my family is amazing but I'll stop it there.
Here are the things that I will say:
You're never alone.
You have a family, whether by blood or by choice.
Whoever your family is or whoever you've chosen them to be, love them. Unconditionally.
I'm so happy that I have these crazy people I call a family and whom I love more than life.
I'm so grateful to know that my family is eternal and that my Heavenly Father's plan for me is to be with them forever.
No matter where I am in life, I have them.
And if that's all I ever have, that's all I'll ever need.
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