For example, I see now, more than ever, that having children was and is a necessary part of my journey. They help me to feel joy, they help me to learn, they help me to see things in ways I never might have seen them otherwise. I love to learn and grow, I love to share learning with others. I rejoice in their successes, and realize that my Heavenly Father must rejoice in mine. For me, I have grown and deepened since I have become a mother. Finding ways to teach them, and finding ways to learn from them has been humbling (which I need often) and enlightening. I often feel inspiration when I ask God for help in directing my children to become their best selves, which has deepened my faith in Him and in His love for me and my kids, I know he wants us to be happy, and that we have amazing potential. (As does everyone.)
Yesterday, we read this book for Family Home Evening. (Family Home Evening is the name of a program encouraged by my church, which is simply an evening at home where the family learns together or does activities together. It's all about building strength and unity in families by taking a time out from all the other things the world has to offer and spending a dedicated evening together once a week, usually Monday evening.)
It is not a book I was very familiar with, until we checked it out from the library last week. It has beautiful pictures and a beautiful lesson, although the story has quite a bit of sadness, as the birds make many foolish and damaging choices before anyone figures anything out. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I will not say any more about the plot line than you may be able to figure out from the lessons we learned, but I highly recommend it as a lesson teacher for any parent, or any teacher wishing to help their students learn some valuable life and social skills.
We had a wonderful discussion about how people will see what they are looking for: if people are looking for reasons to be angry, looking for a fight, they will find it. If we are looking for similarities and reasons why we can be friends, we will find them. We discussed how when someone is looking for a fight, it's often a better choice to not fight back, to either walk away (or swim or fly) or to put up a "shield" where we do not allow others unkind intentions to hurt or anger us, because when people fight and argue, nobody wins. We talked about how one person can spread bad ideas (or good) and how those can, in turn affect those around us.
I was awed and inspired when James piped up with this metaphor for life. "Mom, it's like a dandelion. It spreads its seeds, and then those seeds grow into plants and spread seeds." BOOM! He got it, he absolutely understood the concept, and put it into a picture he could share with the rest of us. We talked about how any one of us can be a dandelion which spreads goodness, truth, and happiness, or how we can spread thoughts of contention, frustration, and ill will, and how those in turn become seeds and spread. 
I often find myself frustrated with James. Because of his learning disabilities, he requires immense amounts of patience to memorize facts (like letters, numbers, math facts, spellings of words). Some concepts, though, especially the deep ones, he just latches onto and understands so quickly, and he even can add depth to a conversation about them. I am in love with his comparison of being a dandelion and spreading seeds of goodness everywhere (or seeds of contention and evil--you get to choose.)
That discussion reminded me how special all of my children are, and how much I have to learn from each of them, if I am willing to let them teach me and not just the other way around. My testimony that God's plan included having and raising children was firmed by the feelings I had as I listened and participated in this discussion with my children, and I am grateful that they were sent here to help me gain perspective on my journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment