I know it’s been a while, life has been very busy lately for our family, this morning I said farewell to my brother and his new wife who had come to stay with us for a week, it gave me another opportunity to reflect on my belief that families are one of the greatest gifts we have on this earth. I have not seen my brother for about four years, so I was really looking forward to catching up and meeting his new wife, whom I haven’t met before, we spent the week talking and spending time together, as we did this I noticed my brother and his wife and their great affection for each other, they would take every opportunity that they could to cuddle and be affectionate, me and my wife would smile to each other from across the room, sitting in our comfortable, but single chairs, smug in the knowledge that this affectionate stage would soon be lost to the mundane chores of work and family life, to be resurrected occasionally for brief moments in between dirty nappies, financial dilemmas and taxi driving services. It was not until today after I had bid them goodbye, that I really began to reflect on the week and the things that I had experienced, it was then that I realized, after watching the newly weds all week long, that I wanted to go home and cuddle my wife, I began to remember our first year of marriage and some of the really special times that we spent together, just enjoying each-others company. I went home and lay on the couch with my wife and we just held each other for a while, we didn’t speak really, we just held each other like we used to, when we were first married, before the house began to fill with children and time began to be filled with ‘more important’ things. I really enjoyed it…. I love my children, and could not imagine life without them, but the time I spent just holding my wife today, refreshed me like no other activity has in a long time, the children were still there, and there was still plenty of important things we could have been doing to fill that time, but just holding my wife and sharing that contact today was time that I will never regret, and am very grateful to have had, I think in the future as, Monday rolls on, and work, and life, continue to grind forward in their unrelenting way, I will ‘make’ time to be a more loving and affectionate husband, I believe it will improve my quality of life and also strengthen my relationship with my wonderful wife. I am so grateful for a church that teaches me to be humble and learn from my experiences, as I served a full-time mission for the church I was taught to always evaluate your experiences and look for ways to grow from them, and once you have done this to share this experience with others, this lesson has stayed with me, and I continue to try and live by it.