on family goals

We have been reading and thinking and talking and playing . . .due to some unexpected test results in asymptomatic friends, all 4 of us were quarantined for 10 days.

After getting over the sudden shock, we realized that 10 days to be fully. together is actually a pretty wonderful. Colleagues took things over at the hospital, and the four of us found a new rhythm that we have never had before.

I (Arianna), didn’t physically set foot out of the house for 8 days, revealing the very real homebody under the busy exterior. And in the quiet nights, we found ourselves having some deep conversations.

I read a lot of books while the girls did school, one of them was I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown. . .at one point, she is lamenting the effort that only goes half-way when society moves toward real change:

Why can’t we push for relationships that are deep, transformative, and just? Allowing these efforts to alter our worldview, deepen our sense of connectedness, and inspire us toward a generosity that seeks to make all things right.

I stopped on the page for awhile, long enough that David asked what I was thinking. . . these 34 words, this is what I want for our girls, for our family, for our lives – for deep, transformative relationships that change us and push us to better things.

I hope it is the story we are living.

Sunday, we talked with the girls about it, and gave them one last assignment for this last week of online school at home, to write the phrase in their own words. Their answers prompted some more discussions, and I loved seeing who they are in their interpretation . . .