Prayers

Sadie's prayer this morning: Thank you for my breakfast. Thank you that Carter could go to schoo. Thank you that Presty could go to schoo. Thank you that aw the kids could go to schoo, even Avie. Thank you that Sadie could not go to schoo. Thank you that Sadie can eat breakfast. Thank you that Mama can sweep in her bed. Thank you that Sadie can sweep, too. And that I can watch a show. Amen.

Do your kids watch Care Bears? Do you remember when they do the Care Bear Stare? Sadie does...

Sadie: Thank you, Heaveny Father. Care Bear Prayer! (She then shone her "belly badge" at the sky.)

The other morning, as the kids were getting ready for school, I felt that what we really needed to talk about for our morning devotional (We say a family prayer and read scriptures together and talk about important faith building things while bearing testimony to each other. At least, that is the goal.) was about being a friend to all people, especially those kids at school who don't have many friends or who are having a hard time. We were slow getting everyone ready on time, and we only had a couple of minutes before their ride was going to come. We said prayer first because it is more important, and I didn't want them to leave without praying together. As Carter began speaking, he said, "...Please bless us to work hard to make new friends, to seek out those people who are lonely or sad and to help them. Please bless us to listen to have the Spirit with us to guide us to those people who need our help the most. Please help us to focus on others and to serve them..." 

First of all, what eleven year old boy talks like that? Second, it strengthens my own testimony of God and of the gift of the Holy Ghost when he says a powerful prayer about things that I had already felt strongly about discussing with the kids, nearly word for word what I felt we should talk about. Third, all the other kids were actually quiet and listening to what he said. Fourth, I was able to just reinforce with a couple of sentences what I wanted them to think about and work on for the day, and they were able to get out the door just in time for their ride to school. 

Don't Let It Happen To You

This is kind of a personal post, but don't be scared away. I'll be back with funny kid stuff next time. 

I have been sick all night because of some upsetting news. A family very close to me, people I love and respect immensely, is dealing with a divorce. These are phenomenal people. Amazing. And they aren't the first of my close friends and family members to go through this recently. It is becoming more and more common, hitting close to home frequently. I imagine pretty much everyone I know is seeing these surprising divorces, not just in the marriages that we never expected to work but in the marriages that we have tried to emulate because they seemed to have such great relationships.

When I see this happening, it hurts. I have had physical pain, feeling the heartbreak, and I am not one of the injured parties. Except I am an injured party. Divorce injures everyone. I am not saying that it is not needed sometimes, and I will never be the one to judge anyone because I can't know their hearts or what they have been through. Even those divorces which are justified and where both spouses end up happier when they are apart still cause pain and suffering for many people. 

Each time I have had someone I know well going through divorce, I have thought: 

If it could happen to them, it could happen to me. 

These people are amazing. More talented than I am. They have more to contribute to their families and their communities than I do. They have energy and don't live with disability. 

As I was going through these thought cycles, feeling anxious and upset and sick to my stomach, completely unable to sleep, I came back to that thought. If it could happen to them, it could happen to me. 

Then I realized that I, like so many others, was feeling exactly what Satan wants me to feel. He is subtle. He tells us that partial truth to mask the lie in that statement. He wants us to keep thinking it so that we eventually become comfortable with divorce as a viable option. He wants us to let life just happen to us. He wants us to lose our choice in life. He wants us, all of us, to be miserable like he is. 

I do see the one true part of that statement. I see that I need to watch more closely what I do, that I need to work harder at making my marriage work and honoring the covenants I have made. I am grateful for truth. I am grateful for family. And I am grateful that I have spent a horrible night and day, thinking about these things. I should feel horrible about it. I shouldn't feel complacency about something that is destroying happiness. 

With all of these thoughts going through my mind, over and over, I also pray for peace and love for those involved. I hope that they do see the improved lives that they are hoping for. I hope they can find peace within themselves and find the happiness that is meant for all of us. I hope their children thrive. I hope they find the love they long for. 

If anyone needs a reminder about the importance of families, here is part of a wonderful (and scary, if you read the last sentence) proclamation full of truth:

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives--mothers and fathers--will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

© 1995, 2008 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Language. 35602 xxx

http://www.lds.org/manual/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng

Empathy

Bill wouldn't take Sadie to the store with him because he was too embarrassed to be seen in public with her in her Super Sadie costume. She won't take it off. She keeps saying, "Super Sadie to the rescue!" (I forgot I wrote about that a few weeks ago. I can now update that she has been Super Sadie almost every day the last few weeks. Sometimes she is wearing a Supergirl costume. Sometimes a blanket tied on like a cape. Sometimes a kids life jacket, possibly over a princess dress. She likes to change things up.)

Preston was in Sadie's room, and she thought he locked the door. (He didn't. She just couldn't open it.) I would have expected her, like any normal two-year-old, to be yelling at him to open the door and let her in. Instead, she was pounding on the door yelling over and over, "Empathy! Think about how someone else is feewing! Empathy!" Thanks, Daniel Tiger.

Over the summer, Avery has been finding all the kits that we had given Carter before we realized that he couldn't focus on one thing long enough to follow through on science experiments and writing secret codes and all the other things we thought he would like to do. She has spent every day this last week or so working on writing things in hieroglyphics. I don't know who's going to read all her letters, but it is cute. 

I thought morning devotionals might help our family to not fight as much and to have a more peaceful spirit. They have maybe helped a little. Sadie doesn't seem to understand the concept, or she wouldn't have been yelling during the whole thing the other day, "Sadie is not awesome! I am not awesome!" I think it was in response to Carter asking her to sit still and following up his request with, "Sadie is awesome!" 

Today Sadie told me, "You're not awesome, Mama. Actuawy, you are awesome."

Apple pears are a little weird. Not quite pear-y or apple-y enough but a little of each. 

I liked Sadie's made up song today:

I wuv you, my dear wittow Mama.

And you're so cute.

And you wuv me, too.

And Daddy wuvs me.

And Presty wuvs me.

And so does everyone.

And Carter and Presty are so the best.

And I wuv to shake my booty.

And I wuv to shake my booty a wot.