Family in Crisis

"Each of us will have our own Fridays -- those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death -- Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

I really enjoyed this quote and I feel like it really gives hope to all those who are struggling through a personal crisis. This week, we talked a lot about family crisis in many shapes and forms and what that does to a family as a whole, as well as what it does to the individuals in the family. In this quote, I feel like it does a really good job of explaining not only that everyone will experience a crisis at different points in their lives, but also that those times will end, and life will go on in a way that is different, but still progressive than it was before.

A crisis is different for everyone, for someone it could be the loss of a child, for others it could be the loss of a job. One crisis is not greater or lesser than another since everyone experiences pain and joy in different ways at different times. Something that I found that was interesting this week was how we talked about what that may do to a marriage and how men and women react differently to crisis and how that can cause further problems and perhaps make the issue worse.

For example, a husband may lose his job and feel like he cannot provide for his family, so he withdraws from his wife emotionally and physically as he tries to cope. The wife, however, takes on more responsibility in providing for their family does not see her husband as a failure, but instead takes on the responsibility but is hurt by her husband’s withdrawal and feels as though he is emotionally abandoning her in their time of greatest need.

Looking back in my life, it is interesting to identify the family crisis that my family has gone through and endured. In addition to a crisis, stressors in a family are things that put a strain on relationships and situations. These things could be something like moving, having a baby, buying a car and going into debt, etc. Growing up in a military family, we experienced many of these stressors over and over again and looking to my parents and how they handled so many of these stressors so well and how they were able to keep our family together and so strong.

Another factor of a family crisis that is important is HOW a family deals with the crisis. I feel like this is the most important thing when it comes to stress in a family. Going back to the quote at the beginning, the perspective had there that there will always be a Sunday is so important to come through a crisis stronger than you entered it. This being considered, having that strong family unit who can depend on one another for love and emotional support is so critical to have that strength and can not only help each individual but cause strength as a family.

In the end, families are the best ways and situations to be able to endure through a crisis. We are stronger together, whether that is a family that you have because you are blood-related or because you have made your own family in-spite of your circumstances.

Some late night fun close to Rexburg while my boyfriend's family was in town!