Kids and stages are funny. I remember three being hard with my older two. I think. Time plays tricks and looking back at any stage makes me long to cuddle the, usually, chubbier, younger version of my child. I was just looking at photos last night from two summers ago. Peter was so much rounder than his growing-like-a-weed current self. His hair was bright blonde, it was a summer shot, and long. We just buzzed all of his hair off last night because we discovered on Sunday that Jillian had head lice:/, which made me miss that beautiful hair even more. So I truly can't remember what was hard before. I can recall moments of frustration, at first with them, and then with myself for not responding well. Moments I responded unjustly because of, honestly, my own lack of understanding as a parent and because I failed to control my temper. Looking back, I know those moments were not nothing. They affect my children's confidence today. Thinking of such moments makes me so grateful for the Atonement. Because I am human, I cannot be the perfect nurturer I want to be, and though I am constantly striving, sometimes I fail even to strive. And for those moments, there is the Atonement. There is apologizing and asking forgiveness from my children. Listening to General Conference this weekend made me long to rid my life of the unnecessary that can be like literal clouds, overshadowing the important, my efforts to teach the gospel in my home. The desire for the gospel to be forefront in our home is why I do what I do...but how often I forget!
Several things stood out to me from conference but I'll just record a couple here. Elder Bednar counseled us to "be careful not to carry around those nice but unnecessary things that can weigh us down and distract us." Hit the nail on the head. And from President Monson:
- I never feel a tinge of regret for being too kind.
- Every day we are given opportunities to show kindness.
- Why is it that those we love the most become the targets of our harsh words?
- Bottom line is the reasons do not matter!
- Let us not demean or belittle. Build and encourage. We must be careful to not destroy confidence!
- Only forgiveness heals.
Wise words from a man who has lived them. In the Ensign this month there were two stories that stood out to me about his life that I want to remember and emulate.
We can be positive and we can be happy.
On one occasion President Monson said: “We … can choose to have a positive attitude. We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. In other words, we can choose to be happy and positive, regardless of what comes our way.”
One day I was waiting outside the First Presidency boardroom. I had been invited there to take part in a meeting to discuss temple matters. I sat quietly outside the room, alone. I thought the First Presidency was already meeting and that I would be invited to join them in a few minutes.
As I sat there, I could hear someone walking down the hall whistling. I thought to myself, “Someone doesn’t understand proper protocol. You don’t go walking around whistling outside the office of the President of the Church.”
A moment later the whistler walked around the corner—it was President Monson. He was happy, and he was positive. He greeted me warmly and said, “I guess we’ll start the meeting in a couple of minutes.”
Even with the weight of the whole Church on his shoulders, he is an example of happiness and he always has a positive attitude. We should be that way.
We can follow the promptings of the Spirit.
President Monson beautifully stated his devotion to the Lord and his commitment to following the promptings of the Spirit with these words: “The sweetest experience I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone’s prayer or someone’s need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him.”
That is a pattern that each of us should want to follow.
The rest of this article can be found here and is called Follow the Prophet.
