Power of Examples and The Power of God in Our Lives
Last night we went to a piano recital for my kids. One of the students performing was a young man in our Stake who has Down syndrome. He was placed in the front of the room with the other students. His mother sat directly behind him, so that she could remind him to be quiet through the performances. Every so often he would turn around, wave at his dad, and loudly whisper—“I love you dad, I love you dad.” His turn to perform finally arrived, and he was ecstatic. I could tell that music connected with his soul. When he was finished with his piece, he clasps his hands together, and threw them up in the air, shaking them from side to side as he seemed to be shouting, “hooray, and hooray.” Again, I was touched by his enthusiasm, and his genuine love. The last number of the evening was played by his sister, and much to her embarrassment—he insisted on her bowing more than once, because of his pure joy at how well she had done.As I watched this young man express love to those around him, I thought of his example of pure love. I looked at my family, and I was reminded of the precious gift they truly are. I found myself moved to tears as I recommitted to speak of my love more often, to express it in action as well as word. Sometimes I get so busy with the day to day tasks that I neglect to stop and enjoy the moment. I don’t want the “moments” to pass me by.
The other day as I was working with my son on his reading, I
found myself getting frustrated. Jacob struggles with reading, but he is
extremely capable. As we work, he gets better day by day. Sometimes he has a
desire to persevere and to work, but other times—it’s just too hard. It was one
of those “it’s just too hard” kind of days, and I found myself losing my
patience at his lack of effort. I’m not sure what the “best” parenting
technique would have been in this scenario, but I know that being impatient
wasn't the technique I should have been using. Last night’s recital reminded me
of the sanctity of our families, of the things that matter most, of the
importance of patience even when it is so hard to be patient. I’m grateful to
my Savior for his patience with me. Because of Him, I get to have a “redo”
today. The atonement is a beautiful gift. I cannot adequately express through
words my gratitude to my Savior—He loved me enough that He gave His life, so
that I might continually work at becoming more like Him. Today I will start
again. I will pray to be guided, and as I seek Him, I know that day by day I
can overcome. I can express the love that is in my heart, and I can be the mom
I want to become.
My girl’s have been in piano for quite some time. Every
spring they play in what is called “Spring Festival”—they don’t necessarily
perform for an audience, but rather a judge. The judge holds their music in
hand, while they perform. She critiques everything about what they
are playing—their dynamics, quarter notes, eighth notes, tempo, crescendos,
memory, timing…essentially the song has to be perfect in order to receive a
superior. Once a superior is earned for three years, then the pianist is
presented with a trophy of achievement. It is something my girls have worked extremely hard to obtain. This year happens to be the third year for both Hailey and Amber, and they have been anticipating the Spring Festival for quite some
time. When they received their music, all was well for a time; however, it soon
became apparent that the music Amber was being asked to perform was outside of
her ability. With only a few weeks left to her big performance, Amber
approached her dad for a Father’s blessing. In the blessing, Amber was promised
that if she continued to work, the Lord would bless her with the ability to
perform. At Amber’s next lesson, her piano teacher was amazed at her progress.
At the following lesson, her teacher admitted that she had been worried, and
explained that Amber’s progress was a miracle. Amber told her teacher of her Father’s blessing, and her teacher—with tears in her eyes—bore testimony that
the blessing had been pronounced upon Amber’s head. That Sunday, Amber stood
during Fast and Testimony Meeting, and bore her testimony of the Priesthood
power. She explained how she wasn't prepared for the festival even though she had worked extremely hard to be prepared. She bore testimony of the power of Heavenly Father in our lives' when we turn to Him for help. She testified that her progress was through Him. After Sacrament Meeting, while in Relief Society, someone commented on
Amber’s testimony. One of the women touched by Amber’s testimony was a visitor
to our ward. After the meeting, she asked me to inform her mother (who was in
our ward) of Amber’s results as she would be praying for Amber throughout the
week. I was touched by her kind thoughts
and her willingness to pray. The following week Amber performed her songs for
the judges with very little mishap, and received a Superior on both of her songs.
The hard work and dedication had definitely paid off. With a great deal of relief, I silently put
the whole experience behind us; however, the following Monday I received a
phone call from the mother of the woman who said she would be praying for us. It had slipped my mind to contact her, so when I received her call, I felt
terrible that I had neglected to report. I think I secretly wondered if she was
truly interested in the results, or if she was simply being kind. The mother explained
to me that her daughter had been praying for my daughter’s success, and needed
to know how the piano festival had gone. I was touched that the woman who had
said she would pray—truly did pray. I was also touched that she remembered
Amber, and I could feel the Spirit whisper a tender mercy we had been given. I
was grateful to this woman for her generosity, and thanked her for following up
with me.
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