Die Dankbarkeiten

Today we are Grateful for:

Jamie- Artichokes

They were on his pizza for lunch today. Yum!

Emma- My body

So she can run and jump and play and help people.

I'm glad she's still young enough to be happy with her body and active enough that her body's happy with her. A lot of older girls are not grateful for their bodies. I hope Emma can remember how truly amazing the body is and how very blessed she is to have one that can do so much.

Ender- Cody (?) Song

I can't elaborate on this because I'm not really sure what he's talking about. He likes singing and being sung to. He knows several songs, apparently some that I don't know.

Weston- Chips

We had chips with our taco salad tonight. Weston picked the chips out of the salad to eat. So they were on his mind during scripture/thankful time.

Gina- To be a parent

One thing that has really struck me time and again as a parent is that trying to understand and teach my children helps me better understand my relationship to my Heavenly Father. Those days when I get frustrated when I tell a child over and over again not to do something and warn them that this thing is dangerous to them, I think how often the Lord has warned us against temptations that will bring us sorrow and how we are often slow to hearken and learn.. Or when I try to explain to my child that I know how to do something but they insist on doing it their own wrong way, I think how often I have trusted in my own knowledge and not relied upon my wise Heavenly Father. Or when I get fed up with the constant whining I have to remind myself not to be a whiner and complain. Or when I struggle with how much to do for my children and how much I should trust them to do for themselves and remind myself how much the Lord has trusted me with (His children for example) and that equipping them with Gospel knowledge is the best thing I can do for them, as He has done for me. This insight has helped me be more patient and loving as my Father is with me and helps me better appreciate and rely upon the patience, love and trust my Heavenly Father has. My faith increases as I better understnad that He truly knows best for me and my family and can see much further than my immature vision reaches. Parenting isn't easy but I can learn through the ultimate example. I think this is why "family's are central to the creator's plan." How can we learn these lessons and progress without ourselves being a parent. Truly, this is what it's all about.

Acknowledgements: My fabulous photographer brother Nate took the three pictures of the kids. I want to give credit where credit is due because I can't take pics like that and because I wan him to keep taking pics like that for me.