Something I am grateful for . . .

In Nature
  Dad and Girls: Animals (Megan)
  Mom and Boys: Delicate Arch

that makes a beautiful sound
  Dad and Girls: Flute (Liz)
  Mom and Boys: Violin (Nathan)

that tastes good

  Dad and Girls: Chocolate milk
  Mom and Boys: bacon

that smells amazing
  Dad and Girls: vanilla
  Mom and Boys: cinnamon

That has been hard for me
  Megan: goalball ("It is fun, but sometimes it hurts.")
  Michael: allergies ("I have learned things because of them.")
  Nathan: Jumping off the diving board for the first time ("I was so scared to jump off hte diving board for the first time, but once I did I had so much fun in the pool.")
  Liz: goalball and school
  Mom: vision ("As hard as it is sometimes, we have received many blessings; a closer family and we have been blessed by the service of others." The best part of sharing this though was when Liz said, "I didn't even think of that." This is just another example of how she faces challenges with optimism and joy. Something that is a definite challenge doesn't feel hard to her because of her attitude towards it.)
  Dad: callings ("They can be hard, but they help us learn and give us the opportunity to serve.")

that I would like to share with others
  Dad and Girls: The Gospel
  Mom and Boys: The Gospel

that is older than me
  Dad and Girls: Parents (Family for Megan because she is the youngest)
  Mom and Boys: parents

that I recently discovered or learned
  Dad and Girls: math (Liz learned to make cool designs based on math principles)
  Mom and Boys: math (Nathan learned things that he can easily apply to his every day life), American History (Mike loves what he is learning about the founding of our country.

that shows a vibrant color
  Dad and Girls: the sky, the sunset
  Mom and Boys: Christmas lights

that has words on it
  Dad and Girls: scriptures
  Mom and Boys: books, scriptures

that makes me feel strong
  Dad and Girls: Adrenaline
  Mom and Boys: The Holy Ghost (what a powerful response from Nathan.)

that makes me laugh
  Dad and Girls: Dad
  Mom and Boys: Dad (all kids, in both groups, said this without hesitation)

that makes me cry
  Dad and Girls: Our Savior (Megan says that she cries when she thinks about Jesus dying on the cross for us.)
  Mom and Boys: hymns

that represents my country or culture
  Dad and Girls: flag
  Mom and Boys: "Old Glory" (Mike wanted to make sure it was in quotation marks.)

that is someone I love

  Dad and Girls: grandparents
  Mom and Boys: Jesus Christ

It was a wonderful opportunity to take time to think about what we are grateful for. I love how the list include the big, important things, and it also included the little everyday things that bring us joy. It was special to have some insight into the kids thoughts too.

A Lesson Learned

I wrote several months ago about a significant experience relating to Michael's peanut and tree nut allergies. This experience taught me a lot of lessons. I still consider it mostly my fault, but I was so grateful to see some of te good fruits that have come out of this experience.

On Friday Michael had an event at school. Afterwards cookies were served. He came home and told us, "I didn't have any cookies because I saw they were the kind with macadamia nuts, and I didn't wan tot do that again." He went on to tell us that a friend told him about normal chocolate chips cookies and how his friend said he would get one for Michael. Michael told us that he told his friend that he didn't want one because they had been on the table with the nut cookies. It was wonderful to watch him be confident in his decision, and seeing how well he handled it without feeling left out or liked he missed out.

But the best part was knowing that he, with no mom or dad there, made a good decision for himself.

I have talked about trials before, and specifically how, as a mom, I wish I could remove some of the challenges that my kids face. But sometimes I realize that I am grateful for trials, because of the lessons they teach. And even more amazing than watching lessons be learned in myself is watching my children learn lessons for themselves.

Come Unto Christ

I have thought a lot about this scripture on the final page of The Book of Mormon.

Moroni 10:32
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Isn't that our goal? To become like He is, to be perfect like He is. And to realize that our quest to become like Him is only possible because of His atoning sacrifice. Because of the Atonement we can overcome sin and imperfections and be strengthened to endure the challenges of mortality. How grateful I am for this indescribable gift!

I thought about this quest to Come Unto Christ as I listened to our Primary children sing in Sacrament meeting a couple of weeks ago.  They sang this verse from "The Family is of God".

A mother’s purpose is to care, prepare,
To nurture and to strengthen all her children.
She teaches children to obey, to pray,
To love and serve in the fam’ly.

I love the whole song, but for some reason this verse about mothers really stood out to me. I thought again of coming unto Christ, and how we must bring ourselves unto Christ, but also we have a great effect on others, to help them in their journey to Christ And as a mother I have a profound influence on my children. I must never forget that.

Then I thought about a painting that I have seen in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. It was attended this past spring when the baptistry was renovated. The painting depicts a street in Jerusalem during Biblical times. In the corner, there are women sitting together with buildings in the background, and there is a small grouping of men watching the three main people in the painting. And the focus of the painting is a mother, her daughter and Jesus Christ. The girl is walking with a crutch. The mother has her arm around her daughter, and they are both intently looking at the Savior, who is standing near them with his arms outstretched. There is no way of knowing what this mother has gone through to bring her daughter to see and be healed by the Savior, but you can tell it is important to her. The young girl has a look of joy and hope on her face.

This painting will forever remind me that I need to do all in my power to help my children come unto Christ that they may be perfected in Him.