⛄️ December

Gratitude 

We have so many more blessings than we have trials. -Marshall 

Thanksgiving: go around and say what you’re grateful for (Tablecloth). 

Looking inward blinds us. 

*Boys: Confident with who they are and why they’re here. 

“Watch and pray always,” for myself and my family. Our children are our investigators and we need to continue to teach, pray, and fight for them. 

“Honor thy Father and thy Mother.” Maybe that includes being grateful for them and for their efforts. They are both transitional characters who made better choices than their parents and who gave their children a childhood that was hands down better than their own. Maybe it’s honoring their sacrifices, their efforts and their good hearts. Maybe it’s seeing them as the human beings that they are and still praising all that is good about them. 

... maybe one should honor their parents-in-law as well. 

Focus on and continually give thanks for all the good that is in them. 

Compassion: he needs us to do what he would if he were here. 

We prepare for the future but we live in the present. 

“Daily Bread” (manna and Israelites could not even save for one day ahead): faith in Him. Take it one day at a time. 

Who do you turn to for a source of strength?

Am I teaching my boys to turn to Him? 

Am I turning to Him?

“The children of Israel had to walk with Him today and trust that He would grant a sufficient amount of food for the next day on the next day, and so on. In that way He could never be too far from their minds and hearts.” -Christofferson 

It’s not how much you have, but how much you love. Uchtdorf 

Just do your best. And love them. 

Encourage boys to not only make the connections with the Lord but also to “wrestle” with Him in prayer. 

“We must be patient with ourselves as we overcome weaknesses, and we must remember to rejoice over all that is good in us.” -P. Holland

“Sometimes our challenges help us to connect with others.” (so true, my blatant weaknesses and flaws have are one thing that have bonded and endeared me to Andrew this year)

Pray to know what compliment people need.  

Shine ourselves. Light of Christ. 

Light is a force.

Darkness is the absence of light. It’s not a force. 

Light is all around us. We just need to recognize or tap into it. 

Warmth, energy, connected with savior. 

If you’re kind and polite, everything will be right. Paddington 

How grateful I am for all of Mike’s time and thought into researching sex Ed and the best way to present the birds and the bees to our boys... just another example of how invested he is in our family and our lives. 

Dec. 24 in Sacrament meeting: 

“Its ok. (and you’re enough). James has it better than you did and you made it.” 

What a Christmas present that little whisper of the spirit is for me. James’s, and all my kids’, choices are not dependent on me. I do my best. My heart is in the right place. I love my husband. And I love the Lord. Yes, I lose my temper and don’t always control my words and actions, but I’m enough for them. Me being a better person isn’t what will save my boys. At some point the responsibility lies squarely upon their shoulders for which they will give an accounting. 

“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”

“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited of what could go right.”

Let’s make a memory. 

Consider the other person. “Be the attorney and see their side.” 

Do I love his (child) core? Sure, I love funny and cute things about him, but do I love what he’s made of? Do I adore his inside?

↪️ then, spend time pondering, journaling, and contemplating on how (this child) contributes to our family. 

Work to love their closest friends. 

Lessons learned -Underwood

Heartstrings