Do you have DNA?

It is amazing to me how the simple moments of motherhood sometimes seem so profound to me.  Here is one that has been replaying itself in my head for days, and the lessons it keeps teaching me are so simple and beautiful that I wanted to share.

Because we are moving to a new city, we put our children in their new schools at the beginning of the school year.  It means that I have had to do much more driving back and forth and we have gotten to have some great conversations in the car.  A few days ago, when returning home, my 12 year old was talking to my two year old, and asked her "Do you have DNA?"  (He was holding a model of DNA that he had made out of licorice, marshmallows, and toothpicks that day in one of his classes.)  Of course, being two, she said "No."  And he explained to her what DNA was and that everybody has it, and then he asked her again if she had DNA, and she said "No."  Bless her little heart, she just isn't ready to understand what DNA is, and since it isn't tangible to her, she told him "No" even after he tried to help her see and understand.

In that moment, I felt so strongly that there was a profound parallel meaning in that conversation, and I shared it with my children.  Sometimes I think we are like that when Heavenly Father wants us to learn a lesson.  It might be as simple as "I am here, listening to you.  Can you feel it?"  If we are ready, we can understand and feel it.  Sometimes, we just aren't in the right frame of mind to comprehend.  And sometimes, like a 2 year old, we are just contrary and so sure of ourselves that we aren't truly open to whatever explanations might come upon us.

And other times, amazingly someone comes along and helps us to see what was there all along, waiting for us to understand it.  They might not have done anything awesome, just shared something they learned and understood, but they do it in a way that resonates with us, and suddenly instead of saying "no", we get it.  I love those moments.  And I love the people who share them with me and help me to understand things.

You have DNA.  And you are loved by a Heavenly Father who listens and wants to help you, when you're ready.