Seeing the Good

SEEING THE GOOD

Seeing the good in the everyday crazy moments is charity. There are moments when my heart is filled with frustration towards my children, because they are not listening, or because they are not working hard, or because they are choosing to be disobedient. As I pause and reflect on these moments, I wonder what would happen if I could pause for a minute--prior to my disciplining--to see the good in each situation. I wonder if I did allow myself this new perspective, if I could teach more effectively. When Jake wasn't working hard on his morning chores, I wonder if I had pointed to what he was doing right, and then reinforced what I needed to improve--I wonder if the confidence I would have offered for doing something good would have encouraged him to succeed in the area I was hoping to see improvement?

Can you imagine? I love the way you are doing..., and I like how you... and then, I could add: Would you be willing to work on (fill in the blank) for me? Seeing the "good" when "bad" is happening is definitely something that will take a bit of work. The natural man in me wants to resort to demanding for the situation to change rather than patiently working through our trials. The scriptures say that we must have long-suffering and patience--I don't think demanding correction falls into that category. No--I think "demanding" falls under the natural man, and the "I'm too lazy to take time to parent correctly". The scriptures also say that if we have faith, we can be healed from all afflictions. That means that through my faith, I can absolutely trust that God will help me improve. I have no doubt that the process of SEEING THE GOOD is a worthy goal in which God will be well pleased. I have a long way to go, but I am willing to put my trust in Him.

Daily Reflections

We went to the cabin to celebrate Jake's birthday. I hate how time flies by so quickly. I couldn't help but ponder on the year previous. All day long I kept thinking about what we were doing a year ago on Jake's birthday, and how we celebrated. I marveled at how much time had really gone by, but in my mind--how quickly that time passed. One of my favorite songs talks about how we are going to miss these moments someday, and how we are going to want them back. I kept thinking how much I wish I could pause time, and really enjoy every single moment--each second. But, simply wishing for time to move slowly or to freeze entirely, isn't going to make it happen. Instead, I have to live in the moment, and love every second of it. This is a tender mercy to me. That I have a little boy that I love with all my heart. That he wants to get baptized now that he is eight. That he is a part of my life. That I will always be his mother, and he will always be my little boy.

In that process of being his mother, I also learned great life lessons this week from a dear friend. I think God puts people in our lives that help us to grow and become. Heather Pruett is one of those for me. She and her family came to the cabin with us to celebrate Jake's birthday. I watched Heather and Vaughn (her husband) parent their children, and I was reminded of techniques of parenting that I had long forgotten. I remembered to parent more through teaching than reacting. Sometimes reacting is the easy way to solve a problem for the moment--simply telling the child what to do, because that is the best way, but it doesn't teach. Parenting through teaching helps the child learn to correct the error, so that there won't be a next time. Heather also reminded me of an app that I had once told her about that I had long since stopped using. I don't know how I had forgotten to use this app. It is one that teaches and helps me to grow spiritually. I was grateful for the reminder. Finally, Heatehr and Vaughn were an example of grateful prayers. I think my family and I need to be more grateful in our praying. I was grateful to see their example and learn from them. I am truly blessed to have such great friends. Spending time with Heather this weekend made me desire to reach out to people more often. After all, I do believe that Heavenly Father puts people in our lives to help us become all that He knows we can.