A Talk on Prayer

Speaking in church is always fun. NOT!

I hope that my girl was actually listening in church today as I spoke these words, but in case she wasn't, here they are for her (and my other two babies) to read later on in life. 

Prayer

I didn’t know what to speak on. We weren’t given a topic. Not sure if that is more stressful than actually being given a topic or not, but either way, I am sure I would stress. In fact, I know I would stress.

I kept trying to come up with a topic that felt right. My Sugar suggested some ideas, but nothing seemed perfect.

Until my daughter said something to me in the car one morning on our way to school this week.

Let me paint a picture of how her influential statement came to be.

On this particular morning, the 4th day of returning back to school, we were all stressed, rushed, and flustered. My girl got it in her head that she wanted to wear some necklaces with her cute outfit that day. Who am I to stop a girl with an eye for fashion? She knew just where the chains were, but couldn’t find the charms. She sat quietly and thought for a second (possibly offering a silent prayer), and then it came to her. She ran to her desk downstairs and began to search. She looked for a few minutes, shuffling the items in her desk around from left to right, until she found one. Pleased with herself she held it up and said, “See Mom, it says 'I am a Child of God.'” I smiled, happy that she found her charm, but even more happy that it was THAT charm in her desk, because I am sure there are many others hidden in there.

As she grabbed her charm, I was rushing everyone out of the door so we could take our “Morning Back to School picture” (I know I am ridiculous with all my pictures, but oh well, stop judging!), she placed her necklace and the not-yet-attached-charm on the inside of the car door just resting them both on the handle. I did not know that this is where she placed them. I came from behind, shutting the car door, hurrying to take the picture so that we would not be late to school. Afton and Jack smiled. Picture was cute. We were good to go!

When we returned to the car, Afton opened the door panicked. “My charm?” She was fighting tears, trying to explain where she placed it and I quickly became frustrated. I asked her all of these questions, “Why did you put it there? Did you think about if that was a good spot for it? Why didn’t you just hold it in your hand? Why didn’t you ask me to hold it? Why Why Why?”

After I had asked all of these questions, I looked back in my rear view mirror. My frustration with her, quickly turned to disappointment in myself. I was without a doubt, the worst MOTHER in the world. I saw her sweet, distraught face and realized that I had missed an opportunity to really help my little girl. I tried to quickly rectify the situation. To undo all of the negativity that I had just placed in her mind, and fix it positively. I said, “Afton, let’s pray and ask for help.”

Try and picture her face as you hear her response. “Why? Heavenly Father doesn’t hear me anyway. He doesn’t listen when I need him. It’s fine. It is just gone forever.” THIS response helped me decide on my topic.

My little girl, who was just so excited to find her “I am Child of God” charm 5 minutes earlier had now got it in her mind that Her Heavenly Father didn’t hear her prayers, or even care about her at all. She had given up, decided that all hope was lost, and nothing could fix the situation.

I told her that Heavenly Father hears her prayers, loves her, and wants to help her. I explained that Heavenly Father can’t do it all however, and that we have to work along with Him. We have to be responsible and make good choices. I apologized for my reaction and tried to get her to see why we should pray, even though she was so upset. All of my words went in one ear, and out the other. She did not want to hear me anymore, and I couldn’t blame her. Who would want help from someone who just made a difficult situation, even worst?

As we pulled out of the driveway, Jack said, “What about our prayer?” It was his turn to offer our morning prayer (which takes place in our car as we drive to school), and he did a great job. He said, “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, for our families, and for Jocelyn. And please bless Afton to find her charm. It is special to her. She needs your help. Bless us all to have a good day. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”  His sweet prayer, solidified my topic on which to speak on with you this morning.

Prayer.

Now I could go and share with you what Webster’s Dictionary says about prayer, and then compare it to the Bible Dictionary, but that is just the old school way of writing talks. I used the new school way to write a talk. A new form of references.

Pinterest. (Vicki Gibbs is totally muttering under her breath "Oh Jenn, Why are we friends?”)

On there I found a quote by Jeffrey R. Holland that says exactly what I was trying to say to my sweet girl that morning, but WAY better!

My girl was not willing to pray at the time. Her dream outfit was ruined forever. She just did not believe that her Heavenly Father even cared about something so little, or even a person so little.

At this point, I’m sure you are you curious about whether my daughter has found this missing charm or not.

Well, let me explain a little bit more about my daughter. My girl is definitely my child, and like me, she has the habit of losing things on occasion. Eventually we find them, but it takes some time. During that struggle, both her and I tend to go through the same cycle. Panic. Frustration. Anger. Desperation. Then finally, RELIEF.  That relief ALWAYS comes after we have calmed down and prayed - Earnestly prayed to our Heavenly Father.

Dr. Charles F. Stanley – a senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta, founder of In Touch Ministries-  said it best.

I asked my daughter last night if she had found the charm. Her response was no. She went on to explain that she "kind of prayed yesterday morning for it and looked for about 13 seconds." With this sort of effort, it is not surprising that my daughter has not yet found the charm. She admitted that she, herself, has not earnestly prayed to her Heavenly Father about it. She also gave an exact answer as to how much time she took out of her busy life to look for it.  Sadly, she is expecting Heavenly Father to do it all. She is not putting forth ANY EFFORT TO FIGHT THIS BATTLE. Another great quote I found on Pinterest, was by Gordon B. Hinckley. He said,

She gave up that morning, and allowed Satan to let her think that Her Heavenly Father doesn’t love her or even hear her prayers. I, myself, reacted in such a terrible way, that I only helped fuel this misguided thought. So quickly she felt alone, hopeless, and loss. As her mother, I needed to be more patient, and loving, like my Heavenly Father is with me. As He is with all of us.

It is my responsibility as her parent, as a parent, as member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to teach her the power of prayer. I began to feel really upset with myself for not only reacting the way I did, but also for not instilling in her the value, importance, and special relationship that only comes through daily personal prayer with our loving Heavenly Father. How could I have done such a disservice to my own daughter?

While on Pinterest, under the search topic of LDS prayer, I saw one of my links to my little family blog. It was about a FHE we did 48 weeks ago, titled #didyouthinktopray. I read through the post, as it had been some time since I wrote it. Jack said, “I pray when I need a friend.” My Sugar said, “I pray when I am nervous about my family.” I wrote, “I pray when I need to be patient.” – Ironic considering I admitted earlier in this talk about how I exploded on my daughter for losing her charm! And Afton said, “I pray when I need comfort.”

Reading their words, I sat and thought to myself, “See, I have taught my children the importance of prayer. They do have a testimony of it, they know how to use it and most importantly, they know why to use it.”

But although I have taught them the importance of prayer, am I continuing to help them strengthen that testimony of prayer by my example? Am I teaching them daily the importance of this question – Did you think to pray?

In primary, I always loved the song, “Love is Spoken Here.” I sing it regularly to my babies when I put them to sleep at night. My favorite verse is of course, the mother’s.

This song reminds me, writing this talk reminds me, and many experiences in my everyday life remind me that I need to be a better example to my children, and especially a better example for my sweet daughter, specifically about prayer. I need her to know that her Heavenly Father does love her very much. He hears and answers our prayers. All of our prayers! 

Pres. Thomas S. Monson said,   

It is my hope that you have learned from my mistakes, that I picked the right topic to speak on, and that you have felt the Spirit hear today. We all should heed the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, 

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

For speaking in church, I got to play with my baby in nursery. 

Turned out not to be such a bad experience talking in church after all.

Back to School!

So I made these printables to help my babies get READY for school on their own. Afton is going to be in 1st grade and Jack in Kindergarten. The hope is that with these reminders, our mornings will be smooth, scream free, and most importantly, tear free.  (I am totally talking about me crying, not my kids.)

However, I just can't figure out how I want them to visually track their personal progress. I want them to see their accomplishments as they have worked hard to complete each of the requirements on the R E A D Y letters. I know, I know. This will take practice and patience. I get it. 

Input would be nice!

My thought is to frame each of these letters and then stick a long metal strip (magnetic) on the wall underneath the frames. I will make picture magnets of both Afton and Jack that they will move along on the metal strip as they complete each task. Hopefully ending each morning at the Letter Y. Help me! I am struggling to fully visualize this one! Does this sound like it would work or should I do hooks that say "Complete/Done/Get off my back MOM!", or something along those lines? 

HELP!!!!!

"Trail Closed - Heat Kills"

We tried to go on a hike.

We packed up, ready to hike down to the river, drove all the way there, only to read the trail sign.

"Trail Closed - Heat Kills"

So, apparently it's hot in Las Vegas, and you shouldn't go on this trail between the months of April - September. Who knew? It wasn't on the freaking website we looked at before driving out there.

We had to change our plans and change them quick before we had a mutiny on hands.  Afton and Jack were growing quite restless in the car. Jocelyn was passed out, thank goodness.

We left that stupid trail, and proceeded to Lake Mojave, which was about 20 minutes from where we were.

It was a good choice. The freaking heat was no joke, but the water was the perfect cure!

We all had a good time. Jocelyn splashed around in the water, then tried to catch lizards on land, Afton and my Sugar jumped on cliffs, and Jack practiced his diving. I just enjoyed seeing my babies have so much fun while I got a bit of a tan, and ensured that Jocelyn did not drown or jump off of a cliff. She is so WILD!

So glad the sign said, "Trail Closed - Heat Kills." 

We didn't need that stupid trail anyway!

Feeling Fancy

At the beginning of summer, I saw a post from my sweet friend Laura talking about how her daughter, Avery was pampering her from ideas she read in a Fancy Nancy book. I remember thinking to myself,  "Bummer my girl doesn't have this Fancy Nancy book. She's got just about every other one."

Then one day, my girl who was supposed to be taking a nap, (Yes she still naps!) came downstairs and said, "Mom, we have got to do this. And I mean like right now!"

It was the book! Fancy Nancy Ooh La La It's Beauty Day.

I was ready to be pampered. We sat. She read. I listened. We discussed. And then she thought, "Maybe we should take notes on the important stuff. Then, I can just use my notes about the book to help me run my spa."

Now, who am I to stop my 6 year old daughter from this opportunity of reading for important details, organizing it into specific sections, and then wanting to use that information for her own personal business later? I could not stop her, and more importantly, nor would I ever stop her. The mom in me was thrilled. The teacher in me was freaking ecstatic!

We learned the importance of measuring accurately, discussed fractions, and reviewed proper food handling procedures, again. Somehow the reminder of not sticking your tongue on the honey spout is always needing to be said. 

She was so excited to be pampering us both. I'm not going to lie, I was excited too. I loved every minute of it, just like my friend Laura and her daughter did.

I lied, I didn't like the part when Afton accidentally dropped a chunk of smooshed bananas and honey into my mouth. Yuck! 

But the rest was awesome! Can't wait for the spa to do some more pampering. (I just need to the operator of the spa -Afton- to understand that clean-up should NOT be done by the actual guests -Mom- at the spa!)

Hotel Hell

At 3 in the morning on Halloween, our baby girl woke up fussing because she had been teething. This was the millionth night in a row that she had done this and I was going crazy (different kind of crazy from my usual crazy), but Daddy got up because he heard something else other than just a fussy baby. I rolled back over (Because I am a mean mom) and then I heard him say from the bathroom, "Oh no! Oh this is not good." I thought he was having stomach issues (Poop - you know what I mean!) I got up to check on him and walk right into a puddle on my closet floor!

Our house had flooded! Freaking water EVERYWHERE! It destroyed our master bathroom, the master closet, the master bedroom floor, and our downstairs family room. It went through the ceiling and was spraying our entire downstairs like a giant sprinkler because the fan was on. All because some little piece of plastic on the toilet decided to stop working. It was seriously a piece smaller than a nickel! To to reiterate what my Sugar said, "Oh no! Oh this is not good." However, I wish it was just an upset tummy. 

(Total Blessing sidenote- We were supposed to go out of town earlier that afternoon but we changed our mind last minute. Can you imagine if we had left? We discovered the flood only a few hours after it had begun. Our whole house would have been destroyed after a 3 day weekend in Utah! Thank you Heavenly Father for looking out!)

Once the insurance people figured out all the damage, and the steps to fix it, it was determined that we would have to be in a hotel. Our kids were STOKED to be living in a hotel for a ****few**** weeks, I was not entirely thrilled. However, I was thankful to not have to be home while they did construction. We checked in on November 3rd!

My babies loved the... 

"Rolly cars, 

giant beds, 

soft pillows,

and sweet tubs."

These tubs weren't any different from our tub at home, but we did get to do this activity that I refused to do in my own tub. I had no idea what it would do, but the hotel was okay. Ha! I am terrible. 

While in the hotel, they had to remove all the damaged water areas - walls, ceiling, and flooring, deal with asbestos (UGH!), and then put it all back together. We were told at first, "You'll be back in your home by Thanksgiving!" I knew this was a bunch of crap, but still kept my fingers crossed. 

This is my closet area. Only my part of the closet had to be boxed up. Some 40 boxes later, they were finally done. I am not exaggerating. That means I was the only without access to her clothes. Clearly, this was not going to be a good thing! My Sugar wears scrubs every day so he didn't care. I could still get into Afton and Jack's rooms so they were fine with clothing. But me, no. Are you feeling bad for me? Well, you should be dang it!

While they worked on construction, we had to continue our normal everyday life as if we weren't living in a hotel. 

That meant... 

breakfast and dinner in the hotel eating area,  

getting our homework done on the hotel putting green, 

finding places to explore, 

 

play, 

and try to enjoy some nature.

We did our best.

Time was passing, progress was being made, but Thanksgiving had come and gone. Remember their promise?

We just took pictures in front our house as we came to check on progress.

  

With signs of completion close by, but still hoops to jump through to get it finalized, now the promise was, "You'll be in before Christmas!"
Oh you had better believe we would be in before Christmas or this Mom is going to go all crazy on someone. Like postal crazy! Don't mess with me man!
I tried to be patient, but I was going a bit crazy!

So I sucked it up and tried to continue our normal life, again, while in a hotel.

Can you believe that Super Why found us even in a hotel? 

The hotel concierge delivered him to our table at dinner.

Their faces made me realize that living in a hotel did not have to be Hell. 

They were making the most of it and loving every bit of it. 

I needed to change my attitude.

I usually have to be the one to change her attitude. 

Ugh, I hate admitting that.

BUT it's true.

Santa offered words of encouragement.

My babies sang in the hotel lobby for FHE one night to the folks at the concierge desk. 

Some dinner guests even joined in. "It was just like on Elf Mommy!"

We made our own Christmas tree, thanks to some sweet friends in the ward giving us the supplies. 

We made gingerbread houses in our tiny hotel kitchen.

We maintained communication the whole month with Super Why.

But, like a real Christmas miracle, we made it back into our home on December 24 - 1 day before Christmas. I think they finally had enough of dealing with the crazy, impatient, highly volatile Mom, harassing them everyday about the progress, so they did whatever they could to make it happen. Just like my Mother-in-law always says, "You catch more bees with honey," and I think they really wanted to help us out by ending our Hotel Hell experience. 

Such sweet people they were.

The house was complete, except that we didn't have any furniture in the downstairs room. It was still in our garage! But that made lots of room for our Christmas tree and all the presents that Santa brought.

In retrospect, the hotel was not that bad. True, I consumed a great deal of Dr. Pepper and chocolate during those specific almost 2 months of our lives that we were trapped there. But it was not nearly the Hell like experience I thought I was living, as I look back. 

3 of these boxes may or may not have been eaten by mostly me.

But maybe it's because I'm not living there anymore that I can say that. That's probably it. Nah, that is exactly it!