Special Little Spirit

My Little A. I love this boy so very much! As I sit here, house quiet, kids sleeping, hubby workin', I wonder, "Did I get to do ANYTHING with Little A today?" And I realize that it didn't happen. When he asked me to read him a book, I said WAIT! I said wait because I was cleaning the living room. WOW! How lame is that! What would it have taken, 5 minutes of my time to pick him up, hold him and read. What could have been 5 precious, memory making minutes. I let them go to waste. It makes me sad.

I get to spend time with M, watching him grow and learn as we homeschool. I congratulate him and high-five him. Little A looks at us and joins the celebration! He is such a sweet boy. I need to make the time. I need to forget the things that will be there tomorrow and hold tight to the little boy who is growing up each day and will soon be leaving my protective arms. I want both of my boys to take with them wonderful memories of a mother who actually took the time to be with them and planned her day for them.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21) I read this scripture and my heart dropped. Was my treasure truly the cleaning of my livingroom? At that moment, it was. That's crazy for me to think about. It actually hurts.

I turned 29 about two weeks ago and I set some goals that I would like to achieve or at least work on over the next year. They are things like read my scriptures for more than 5 minutes, lose weight, more righteously fullfill my calling at church, etc. NO WHERE on that list does it say, spend quality time with my kids daily. Well, that it changing tonight. It has to. As the only member of the church in my family, I constantly look for someone to help me raise my kids the way we are taught through the scriptures to raise them. I often feel like I am beating a dead horse. I am the chosen mother of the two special spirits I have. The Lord bestowed this awesome responsibility to ME.

Thanks for reading this and stopping by. I know it's personal, but I feel that if I share it, I will have support. I am grateful to the few who stop by and read. You are very encouraging and I am grateful for all of you.

Hope you had a wonderful day! (Excuse the picture! We were dying Easter eggs and it was a great memory so I posted it; even with me in it!!)

Atonement 101

I am the first couselor in our branches Primary which allows me the privlege of teaching music every Sunday and sharing time every other Sunday. So this past Sunday I taught a lesson on the Atonement. I was trying to be creative and decided to do a little Atonement 101 lesson. First, I made a "clean slate" which represents being baptized. On the back of the "clean slate" it reads,"When we are baptized, we are given a 'clean slate'. We are sinless and need to obey Heavenly Father's commandments in order to stay clean."

Second, I made the same "slate" and put added rip marks and dark spots representing the sins in our life. On the back of the "dirty slate" it reads," When we sin, we allow our 'clean slate' to become spotted. We let our sins 'dirty' our clean slate and need to repent to 'erase' our sins." I then asked how we are able to clean our slate once it is dirty. Most of the kids said by repenting, and I asked who died for us so we can repent. They said Jesus and I asked what this service was called and they said the Atonement.

Then I showed this pencil and had the 4 steps of repentence on the front. It's hard to see in the pic but the steps are:

1. Feel sorry

2. Ask forgiveness

3. right the wrong

4. don't do it again!

Then on the back of the pencil it reads," Heavenly Father sent His Son to sacrifice Himself for our sins. By doing that, we can repent and our Heavenly Father can "erase" our sins."

It was an awesome lesson and the kids may have even learned something along the way! =)

I made each of the kids their very own Atonement 101 kits and they got to take them home and use them to teach FHE for their families. They were very excited!

When I teach, I always try to make something we can reuse for FHE. The kids like the idea of being in charge of a lesson and to be able to teach about what they are learning in church!

I am truly grateful for my calling in Primary. I didn't join the church until I was 18 so I missed all of the good fun that comes from Primary. I am blessed to be a part of these kids lives and I hope they learn as much from me as I learn from them!