Sunday Musing

At the dinner table Saturday night I explained to my children that cleanliness is next to godliness. And therefore our simple kitchen chores still need to be done so our home can be closer to the spirit, and I can be closer to sanity. I am happy to report that there was no complaining when asked to clean up after dinner. My only run in was with Isabel, imagine that. She was to unload the dishwasher and therefore didn't have anything to do but to bug her baby sister. I instructed her to pick up everything off of the kitchen floor. She could not do this without complaining the ENTIRE time. I can't quite remember what it was that she was complaining about, I'm pretty pro at tuning whining out.

In Relief Society we talked about Elder Bednar's talk More Diligent and Concerned at home. We mostly touched on how to show more love and to bear our testimonies. Have you ever born your testimony to your spouse? I don't think I've ever just born my testimony to Brent. He's heard me bare it in church and to the children. But He has never been the focus of my testimony bearing. When I think about it it kind of makes me feel a little awkward, which it shouldn't! We also talked about simple ways in which we can bare testimony to our children. Just on simple principles like choosing good friends, and wearing modest clothing.

We talked mostly about how to show more love. This is something that I struggle with. I've been conscientiously making an effort to hug my children more. To physically let them know that I love them. You'd think it would come naturally since I'm a mother and all. But it doesn't.

The one thing that I loved most about this talk was Elder Bednar's encouraging words that we just need to be consistent. The small and simple things that we do with our children are like brush strokes on a painting. They might seem small and insignificant, but in the end those small strokes turn into a masterpiece. Our children will someday be our masterpieces, but before we can see the end result, we have to faithfully work on the mundane and daily chores of life. It's all worth it. Worth suffering through the whining, complaining, basically modern day murmurings from our children. We are the ones that have to be firm and consistent.