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"EHVA-body! GET ON THE COUCH!

Now depending on which word in the title you emphasize, you will greatly affect the meaning, intent and response to the directive.

I realize I misspelled everybody, but I typed it as I heard it in my living room just the other day from our 3-year-old grandson, Charlie.


That's our Charlie, and that look describes his personality - he's just HAPPY to be here!  Pop Pop (Frank) suggested that since the whole family was present, we should all watch a movie... To which Charlie responded by leaping toward the couch and inviting all to join him.  Can you hear him?? "EHVA-body get on the couch!" and in Charlie-fashion, he giggled with glee!!  I love that boy!

He really had no idea what movie we might watch, and I can assure you, he didn't care at all what it was.  The goal was everybody on the couch... together...

Nostalgia crept up on me... as I took a journey back in time to a particular Friday night.  I could have picked any of them, because for several years, Friday night was Family Movie Night at our house complete with popcorn and cokes, a movie, and everybody on the couch.  We didn't own a sectional couch then, so all 6 of us on the couch was a bit tight, but we made it work - at least 2 blankets and we were off to the movie!

Often on those glorious Friday family nights, I would find myself a little distracted by the dust on the coffee table, the popcorn kernels that inevitably ended up on the floor, and the bickering that ensued because the popcorn bowl didn't get passed down at the first request. 

It didn't seem to ever turn out just like I wanted or planned; I wanted everybody on the couch, but I wish I could have ignored the dust, not been bothered by the kernels, and gently smoothed the ruffled feathers of my children's frustration. 

  Over the years I read numerous books, articles, and devotionals about how to create memories for our family.  Most of them included extensive planning, specific activities and even some scripted dialogue.  We never seemed to have all the ingredients, the right tools, or the best attitudes to create these glorious memories.  I ended up feeling extremely ineffective and terribly defeated which equaled FAILURE! 

What I have recently realized is the memories are SWEET - not just for Frank and me, but also for our children.  They do remember the bickering (not the dust or the popcorn kernels), but they laugh at the thought of all 6 of us squished on the couch... no wonder they bickered, they couldn't  breathe!

I have decided that Family Friday movie night has some biblical basis....

From Ecclesiastes 3:1,
"There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens."

A time for everything means WE have to allow the time for the activity.... and sometimes the activity isn't planned to perfection, it is to be still and...

GET EHVA-BODY ON THE COUCH!



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