It started last week when I heard a news story about a family in Pennsylvania. You may have heard about it, while the father was out delivering milk and the mother was in the barn milking cows, their 3 year came to tell the mother there was smoke in the house. When she ran to the house it was completely engulfed with their 7 other children inside. All 7 were lost to the fire. This story made me absolutely ache and a very humbling epiphany struck me and I vowed to not take for granted the time I've been given with my children. Lately I've been stepping into their rooms multiple times at night to touch their head and kiss their faces. I've been working very hard to not lose my patience or get frustrated over the little things that inevitably happen throughout the course of any given day. The change? A MUCH greater appreciation for the gift that my children are.
A few of my sister-in-laws have started blogging on a daily basis and it has been both fun and inspiring to read their blogs regularly. I've decided that I'd like to do a better job at documenting the life of my family. More for us than for anyone but you're more than welcome to join us for the ride. :o) I'm definitely not as crafty or creative as my sisters so all you can really expect are various ramblings and likely a plethora of pictures.
I'm not exactly sure what happened a few nights back but when I took time to visit with Father before going to bed I poured over some very overdue changes that I was wanting to implement. Changes that involved more time with my children than doing heaven knows what on the computer. More time with the children than perhaps doing chores, those things can wait until their napping as can my business hours. Making sure I'm taking time every day to exercise, not only to re-claim my body from my most recent pregnancy but to ensure that I'm in a better mood throughout the day. I would hate for my kids' childhood memories to consist of a cranky mommy who was constantly saying, "in a minute," or "maybe we can do that later." I want them to feel and know that they're my priority during the day. I love them. They are my everything... as is my incredibly amazing husband.
About a month ago the topic in Sacrament Meeting at church was about Family Home Evening, something that our church encourages all families to hold at least once a week. It's something that we've talked many times about doing but never seemed to get into the swing of it. After that Sunday however, my husband and I made a decision and since then we have been taking time very Monday night to make sure we have a brief family lesson with our 2 and 4 year old. They're very brief, but the Spirit is definitely present and it's something that I look very much forward to. This last Monday I invited Ethan to be in charge of the lesson and throughout the day I'd go over it with him. That night Kiari picked the opening song, "The Daddy Song" (I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be....), Daddy said the opening prayer, Ethan gave the lesson, and Mommy said the closing prayer.
When we were finished Kiari wanted more songs so she and I sat at the piano for a bit.
I hope that I'm able to continue to recognize areas in my life that need refining and quickly act on them. The days seem to be going by so much faster and I don't want to miss the many special moments that I'm given with my kids at this stage in their lives. I've been very blessed. And I want the Lord to know, every single day, just how grateful I truly am.
3 comments:
the little people are precious and the change they demand is challenging.
I'm so happy to hear you'll be blogging more-I've been wishing for that for some time now.
Oh, I am SO on the same page. I feel an overwhelming urge to spend the time I have with them doing things that will bring my family closer together and spend less time doing frivolous things.
And it is good to hear you'll be blogging more. It's good to record the good stuff (and sometimes the not so good stuff) that happens in life.
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