Raising a family is hard work. It’s not a weekend project. It’s years of diaper changing, potty training, cooking, laundry, helping with homework, music lessons and ball games, boy friend/girl friend drama. That’s all happening while trying to earn a living.

Andersen Thanksgiving 2015

Add to that regular one-on-one time with kids, finding time to date your spouse, having regular weekly family times. Then throw in birthday parties, family vacations, and holidays. Sheesh.

The functional necessities of family life seem to take most of our mental time and effort. Building a family culture by intentionally planning regular times with your spouse, kids, and as a family can easily get put off.

Don’t.

It’s the ongoing, regular times of creating memories and closer relationships that will make everything else worth it.

Consistency Paid Off Again This Week

Case in point: your Thanksgiving this past week may have been nuts. I understand. We’ve had many Thanksgivings that were exhausting. Incredibly complex feast preparation. House guests. Sometimes long road trips.

But in the midst of all that, we always made sure we built great memories by having fun together.

Let me tell you, we reaped the benefits big-time this Thanksgiving. It wasn’t an accident—and it wasn’t just the result from all those other Thanksgivings. It was the sum total of all the family nights, date nights, and one-on-one times with the kids week after week, year after year.

Our oldest son and his family came back from California last week. Our other two sons who usually go out of town for Thanksgiving stayed here for the first time in years. So the whole family was together. And everyone independently arranged their schedules to maximize our time together.

We didn’t just have one Thanksgiving meal together—we had five significant family meals together. Aaaaand…

Hot tub parties. Campfires. Drum solos. Dance parties. Halo 5 events. Girls movie night. Guys movie night. Coffee meet ups. Decorating Nana and Papa’s house for Christmas. Baking—even wearing aprons. And, of course, a large plate glass window getting broken—no one lost their temper or any blood.

Some events were planned. Some were impromptu. Lots of adjusting schedules on the fly to be together some more. Naps when you could grab them. No drama. Laughing til you couldn’t remember what you were laughing about. Lots of photos.

Keep Chipping Away

Your Thanksgiving may have been more work than relaxation. It’s okay. Keep chipping away at building a fun, loving family culture. It won’t rise or fall on one Thanksgiving or one family night.

It’s a new week. Squeeze it for all it’s worth. One day in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to truly be thankful for your hard work and consistency. Take it from me—it’s worth everything.