Come to Jesus Moment
In addition I was getting emails from my own children's teachers about work that was still missing. UGH. It sucks to be a teacher and have kids that also don't get their work in on time. Now THAT, I WILL complain about. Because I know what goes on in my household and when I think its schoolwork, but find out its not--that's where the frustration starts to set in. At one point we were all in my bedroom, after my office hours had resumed, before David left for work, trying to figure out why everybody wasn't keeping to the schedule I had so cleverly (at least I thought so) come up with. Obviously, it wasn't a fool proof schedule cause I had some FOOLS UP IN MY HOUSE that must've thought the schedule was a suggestion and not LAW. No, babies, IT IS LAW. But seriously, what punishment am I going to give them? They've already been grounded for the last three weeks by our state governor. I'm not going to take away phones, its their only communication with the outside world. They don't even want to use the computers because they have to be on it half the day for school work. And when it rains, it pours. Literally. Like we've probably seen the sun 5 days in a month. So, yeah, a lot of things going on messing with my aura.
I think I had my Come to Jesus Moment as I was prepping the Donut Recipe Monday night and realized I had spent about 4 hours typing it up, fixing pictures, editing, etc. and only 15 minutes of the night was spent doing Come, Follow Me with the kids before I sent them to bed. Really? That's what my day had come down to? All of the blessed togetherness, no place to be, no deadline to meet and that's how I spent my time, typing up a recipe and attaching pictures? This blog was a welcomed distraction from all the pandemic stuff. It was me documenting things that brought me joy. And now it was another item keeping me from the kids. Nope. Not gonna happen. So I made my mind up to SIMPLIFY.
That's why I didn't post that biscuit recipe yesterday. It's not like I have a huge following anyway. And if I did, would that make a difference? Would it really be a higher priority than time with my kids? No. And although I DO appreciate those that follow this blog, I got to be real. This blog is all about the JOY I find in DIYs. Not the stresses I find. So I decided I'll post a recipe a week. I'm still gonna document things that mean a lot to me--time with the kids, ways to save money, life hacks, etc. I recalled some the talks of some religious leaders I had listened to over the weekend. One of the major themes throughout the talks was to "Hear Him". They encouraged listeners to think of all the ways they recall hearing the voice of the Lord, with answers to prayers, guidance, counsel, correction, confirmation, and more. I need to simplify and take more time to HEAR HIM.
I started yesterday. I listened to my heart tell me who to contact and see how they were doing. One of those whose face popped into my mind was a dear friend. In fact, she texted me before I could get to her first. She sent me a virtual hug. Love this woman! I asked how she was doing, how schooling was going for the kids and so forth. She shared with me how she was able to overcome the overwhelming she had when online schooling began. I was happy for her and intrigued! I asked her what their schedule was like (since mine was apparently not loud enough). This is what she sent me and with permission I am sharing with you:
Not only does their family board include their schedule, they use the bottom portion for a family quote, scripture and/or goals. You know how you have something great that works for your family or yourself and then for whatever reason, you kind of get away from it for whatever reason and before long its just a memory? I think that's what happened with my family. We didn't have a family council in a week or two to renew our goals, make adjustments and check to see if there were any concerns or suggestions.
I loved the family history portion of her schedule. I had felt a strong impression over the weekend to make that a part of our daily routine as well so I has excited to see that she was already implementing this. I asked her more about it. She shared one of the books they would be reading as a family to help connect to relatives, ancestors and culture.
And this is how I know my dear friend and I are kindred spirits. I already knew I wanted to start reading with my family and this was the book that I had chosen. I had received this book over Christmas from a friend of mine and my three older children each received a copy of the same book from our bishop. With 4 copies of SAINTS: The Standard of Truth at home, I think its pretty safe to say it was meant for our family to read. So I listened to my heart again and we began reading it yesterday.
This book contains a history of some of my ancestors including the sacrifices and struggles they endured on the Mormon Trail to escape persecution. During General Conference this weekend one of the speakers talked about a story from the Book of Mormon where an angel warned a rebellious young man to "Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of aHelam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he [the Lord] has done for them; for they were in bbondage, and he has cdelivered them," or in other words, remember the struggles and sacrifices of your progenitors and what they put on the line to give their posterity a better life. I LOVE THAT. I feel like we need that in our home, to have more gratitude for the sacrifices of our ancestors and not allow the daily blessings we take for granted to be wasted in idleness or in fear.
The Lord spoke to my heart again and reminded me of a prophetic promise shared by David A. Bednar concerning family history in his talk, "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn". His words reverberate in my mind often He said "I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36). And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories. As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives." I want this for my kids. And family history will be the key for us.
You know, as parents, we just want the best for our kids. My Come to Jesus moment made me realize that MY purpose in this life is to prepare my kids. Prepare them for adulthood, prepare them for parenthood, prepare them for godhood...it put things into perspective a bit more. Blogging is a nice distraction for me during this crazy time. But it has also served as more of an outlet so I can DOCUMENT JOY when I have LISTENED TO MY HEART. It helps recharge my batteries so I can be a better parent.
I guess the whole point of this particular post was to let my readership know that I may make adjustments to things I've previously scheduled or planned to make room for more important matters that speak to my heart. That's what we do as human beings right? Take a step back, view things from a different perspective and adjust as needed. Thank you for sitting tight with me and allowing me to be a part of your lives whether it is to learn from my triumphs or my failures. I hope we can remind each other to listen to our hearts often and document the joy we receive when we do. Thank you for being there for me to share my feelings! More to come from the heart very soon.
Comments
Post a Comment