Come, See the Miracle

We have really been going the rounds as a family.  Fighting, bickering, blaming, yelling, screaming, shouting (and that's just Mom!).  We've tried talking about the inappropriateness of the behavior, emphasizing positive qualities of our kids to their irritated siblings, and praying for guidance as to what to do.  We have made efforts to increase our family prayer and scripture study, relying on the promise that increasing our time in the scriptures would increase the Spirit in our home.  To be fair, those efforts have all but disappeared during the summer, but it was a serious concern for us even as we made diligent efforts.  The contention seemed to be ever-present, even when (even while!) we were regularly studying. But in talking to one of my daughters about this problem, I may have hit on an aspect of it that we haven't addressed before. She was particularly upset with one of her sisters.  I asked her how she thought Heavenly Father felt about that s...

“I am determined to be happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery is dependent upon our dispositions, not our circumstances.” This has been my favorite quote for many years.  I have most often seen it attributed to either Martha Washington or the ever-wise “Anonymous,” but I haven’t been able to authenticate either.  Regardless, it is a truism that I have experienced in my life.  When I was first introduced to this quote at 15 years old, my Young Women’s leader challenged me to look at myself in the mirror while I repeated this quote with conviction.  I did.  After several weeks, I recognized that I was seeing things in a more optimistic way. Today as I was thinking (as I am apt to do), this quote led to a broader truism: the greater part of my happiness or misery is dependent upon my own thinking.  When I think and act in accordance with natural law, I experience happin...

(I happened upon this unfinished draft this morning.  I wish I had published it back in December when it happened.  But it was still a good memory, and a good reminder, especially as Easter is not far away.  We can remember the Savior and make a difference any time of the year.) This year (2016) we have been participating in the #LightTheWorld campaign with a little success, though certainly not perfection.  Day 6 was, "Jesus read the scriptures, and so can I."  I know this, because we had just decided to forgo our family morning scripture study due to oversleeping, and just pray instead.  We checked out what the activity for Light the World was, and when we saw "read the scriptures," the reminder couldn't have been clearer.  Even on hurried mornings, the scriptures MUST be a part of our lives.  They are a vital protection to our family every day.  But I digress.  A post on the scriptures is for another day. This post is about feedi...

Last December we planned a family outing to go Christmas shopping.  For years we have taken the kids to the dollar store to buy presents for each other and the parents.  It has become a favorite family tradition--dinner at McDonald's, and shopping at the Dollar Tree across the parking lot.  But I'd grown weary of receiving dollar store gifts to try and treasure.  I decided that perhaps we had "graduated" to a "nicer" discount store where we could have a bigger selection of gifts.  Yes, our budget would need to increase, but the gifts would be better!  So we tried Big Lots.  Meh.  Yes, bigger gifts.  Better--maybe.  This year, instead of Dollar Tree or Big Lots, we would go to our favorite local big box store--Shopko.  It would definitely be better here. Ugh.  Worst family activity night!  The store was so big that it was hard to keep track of everyone. The selection was so big (and the prices) that it was difficult for o...

I have always loved to write, and fancied myself as a professional writer from a young age. (I imagined myself on a successful book tour at the ripe old age of 12.  I could just see myself on talk shows answering the hosts’ burning questions about my incredible book, and my amazing talent.  Oh, I planned to be so famous!) I must not have been as talented as I imagined, because my dream of success at 12 didn’t happen then, and still hasn’t happened (not for the writing dream, at least).  But the dream persisted, and led me to take a correspondence writing course where I was mentored by a published author.  I had to submit a writing sample as part of the application process, and I was very flattered to be accepted. It was fun, at first.  But it got hard pretty quick.  I wasn’t used to having someone find fault with my work.  I had a difficult time coming up with plots for stories.  I felt so unable to relate to kids or teens—the audience I ...

(I started writing this for on Easter Sunday.  It is no longer Easter, but the blessings of the Resurrection are not only for one day.  So I'm posting it late, because the blessings of the Atonement and Resurrection are for every moment, every second.  And it's my blog.) Beautiful Easter today.  My toddler woke at 4 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep.  My husband and I took turns for four hours, trying to keep him occupied and quiet, so that our sick daughter would be able to stay asleep.  It was a valiant effort.  I tried to pour out my tired soul in prayer, but I got as far as, "I'm just so tired.  Please help me understand what my children need, and give me strength to get through the day."  At least toddler napped for an hour or so before church. We made it to Sacrament Meeting, and we were almost completely settled into our pew before toddler started wailing for his milk.  We did manage to make it almost through the Sacrament wi...

My kiddos are huge Studio C fans.  Our Monday night Family Home Evening schedule is pretty strict, to make sure that we are all ready to watch Studio C at 8:00.  It's fun, clean humor, which I really appreciate.  Recently, though, it had more than just a humorous application for my family. One of my daughters has a particularly difficult time controlling her temper.  She is extremely sensitive, and very spiritually mature, but get her in a bad mood and none of that matters.  I try to calm her to the point that she can make better decisions, but when she is mad, she seems determined to stay that way.  She expresses a desire to not feel so out of control (when she is in a contrite state of mind), but how to help her with that has been somewhat of a mystery to me and my husband as we try to love and teach her.  Finally, my husband expressed that perhaps she is more than just sensitive to THE Spirit, maybe she is sensitive to all manner of spirits. I...