Saturday, December 20, 2008

Goodnight Kiss

Tonight Ray & EmmaLee & kids came over to watch the BYU game/disaster, and after they left, we tried to get Matthew to pick up his LEGOs. He refused & put up a bit of a fight, so we eventually just put him in bed and told him he wouldn't have LEGOs tomorrow. He was really tired by that point, so I think he was just happy to get into bed, but I was pretty frustrated. My biggest challenge as a parent right now is keeping calm in those kinds of situations, and I'm sure I reacted a bit harshly.

A little bit later, I heard a familiar "Daddy!" from his room, and I found him standing in his crib asking to get out. I told him he couldn't, and he asked for milk instead. When I brought it in, he was sitting in his crib, and as I handed it to him I told him that I loved him. He got up, gave me a kiss, and then laid back down. He basically melted away any frustration I had, and I was reminded of how much I love that little child of mine. We are told to become like little children, and tonight Matthew taught me a bit about what that means.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children

I teach youth Sunday School, and today we discussed 3 Nephi 22, where Christ quotes Isaiah to the Nephites. I'm like most in that I tend to gloss over Isaiah a bit, but as a teacher I had to try to explain why Jesus took the time to quote the Isaiah. Here's what I took away.

Near the very beginning, we are counseled (I really think this is in there for us as much as it was for the Nephites) to "enlarge the place of thy tent" and to "strengthen thy stakes." The lesson manual says that the "tent" is the church, and the stakes help keep the tent up and in place. The question is, then, what we have to do to strengthen the stake of which we're a part. What we came up with today was that we need to build up our testimonies, build up each other, and do missionary work - I'm sure there is more. I thought personally that I need to look for more opportunities to serve, be a better witness of Christ, and magnify my calling more as a home teacher.

Anwyay, I'd heard that passage before many times, but what I hadn't really paid much attention to before were the promises that come later in the chapter, which seem particularly powerful and prophetic given what we're dealing with in the world right now. Here are a few of them:
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
It seems like right now a lot of people feel a bit "tossed with tempest." It's probably natural to feel that way, but last week we had a regional stake conference at which Boyd K. Packer spoke via satellite. He said something that has really stayed with me since. I don't have the exact quote, but essentially he said that he doesn't want our people to fear. He said that we should have faith and hope and that we can have happy family lives despite everything going on.

I think some of what's going on is cyclical, and I certainly don't buy into people thinking that Obama getting elected has anything to do with the end of, well, anything. I think there are some huge moral battles going on right now - not just the marriage issue, but a lot of things. The economic stuff will pass, but it's really the moral trials that probably won't get easier, and conflict probably won't go away anytime soon either. I worry more about the things my kids will have to deal with than what I might have to deal with now. With all of that in mind, it was good for me to read through some of those promises and realize how they are correlated to having (and building up) the church and my stake in particular.