The piano concert was fun last night. We all enjoyed it very much. Jon Schmidt is very entertaining and so creative and talented. Kale couldn't stop talking about it on the way home. The rest of the kids fell asleep or at least pretended to but not Kale. He went on and on and kept asking if our new CD had "the broccoli song". It doesn't. If you haven't seen his work, you can catch him on YouTube. Here is one of Kale's other favorites call "Dumb Song". Jon said he was inspired by a tuna fish commercial.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Mercy
I've been meaning to post this excerpt from "True to the Faith" for a while now and I'm just getting around to it.
pg. 103:
"Speaking to His disciples, the Savior commanded: "Be ye . . . merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36). You can follow your Heavenly Father's example of mercy in your relationships with others. Strive to rid your life of arrogance, pride, and conceit. Seek ways to be compassionate, respectful, forgiving, gentle, and patient, even when you are aware of others' shortcomings. As you do so, your example will lead others to be more merciful, and you will have greater claim on the mercy of God."
This is something that I have kept on my bathroom mirror for at least a year, maybe more. It has helped me remember who I am and who I should be when I have come upon a situation where I am tempted to judge someone else. (I don't think it's any secret that I can be very judgemental and opinionated and no, it wasn't you that I had a problem with.) Sometimes it might be Justin or my kids. It might be a friend, loved-one, a sibling, a parent whose kid is on my kid's team. I have learned that I am the one at fault, not the other person, no matter who they are. It is the Savior's job to judge, not mine. I am expected to love others and that's all. I have discovered that there is greater peace in finding something to love than in finding fault.
Maybe I sound a bit like a hypocrite. Well, I am only sharing what I have discovered to be true, not what I have perfected. I'm working on it.
pg. 103:
"Speaking to His disciples, the Savior commanded: "Be ye . . . merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36). You can follow your Heavenly Father's example of mercy in your relationships with others. Strive to rid your life of arrogance, pride, and conceit. Seek ways to be compassionate, respectful, forgiving, gentle, and patient, even when you are aware of others' shortcomings. As you do so, your example will lead others to be more merciful, and you will have greater claim on the mercy of God."
This is something that I have kept on my bathroom mirror for at least a year, maybe more. It has helped me remember who I am and who I should be when I have come upon a situation where I am tempted to judge someone else. (I don't think it's any secret that I can be very judgemental and opinionated and no, it wasn't you that I had a problem with.) Sometimes it might be Justin or my kids. It might be a friend, loved-one, a sibling, a parent whose kid is on my kid's team. I have learned that I am the one at fault, not the other person, no matter who they are. It is the Savior's job to judge, not mine. I am expected to love others and that's all. I have discovered that there is greater peace in finding something to love than in finding fault.
Maybe I sound a bit like a hypocrite. Well, I am only sharing what I have discovered to be true, not what I have perfected. I'm working on it.
We started off this week with some startling news from the doctor. The pathology report came back on the "wart" that was cut out of Justin's scalp. It was a carcinoma, not a wart. So, we spent a day on the internet, studying, and a day waiting for an appt with a Dermatologist. It seems to be a pretty simple and common thing to take care of. We just need to have the Dermatologist cut more out and then we're done. Well, we'll have to watch every spot that shows up from now on. Really though, we're only a little bit worried, not a lot.
Thursday was my birthday and I really didn't expect anyone to even remember. I was surprised by all the phone calls and birthday wishes from friends. Justin surprised me with lunch at our favorite local restaurant. We had a Relief Society meeting that night. It was a great meeting with plenty of uplifting ideas and thoughts for me to take in. I felt the Spirity touch my heart several times and I will try to remember the things that he taught me. I think the most important thing that I walked away with was that I need to rely on Heavenly Father more fully. My life has felt quite chaotic with the kids at home with their schooling. It has been very stressful for me. I tend to expect high school work from my middle schoolers and middle school work from my 4-th grader. So, I get frustrated very easily. The Spirit told me that night at our Relief Society meeting that I need to share it all with Heavenly Father instead of trying to do it on my own. I really need to just do all that I can and then let him take care of the rest. I know that. Why I need to be reminded of that? I wonder how many times He'll have to tell me again after this. It was a great meeting and a great ending to a really nice day.
Last night we started dance lessons. Our friend found a dance instructor who was willing to come to Royal for us. We have two other friends who have kids the same age as Seila and Kai and so we all decided to have the kids take lessons as well. Seila and Kai did pretty good at the first lesson last night. We learned the waltz. All the kids did a good job. It was fun to watch them dancing with each other and learning that the boys are always left and the girls are always right! It's a great thing to learn at such an early age.
Tonight is a Jon Schmidt concert in Moses Lake. Our family is going as a birthday present to me. We are very excited to see him in concert. We watched s little bit on YouTube and the kids were very impressed. They saw him use his elbow to play part of the song. None of us have ever seen him in concert and I have only heard a little bit about him. I have one of his piano books but have never seen him. It should be really fun.
Thursday was my birthday and I really didn't expect anyone to even remember. I was surprised by all the phone calls and birthday wishes from friends. Justin surprised me with lunch at our favorite local restaurant. We had a Relief Society meeting that night. It was a great meeting with plenty of uplifting ideas and thoughts for me to take in. I felt the Spirity touch my heart several times and I will try to remember the things that he taught me. I think the most important thing that I walked away with was that I need to rely on Heavenly Father more fully. My life has felt quite chaotic with the kids at home with their schooling. It has been very stressful for me. I tend to expect high school work from my middle schoolers and middle school work from my 4-th grader. So, I get frustrated very easily. The Spirit told me that night at our Relief Society meeting that I need to share it all with Heavenly Father instead of trying to do it on my own. I really need to just do all that I can and then let him take care of the rest. I know that. Why I need to be reminded of that? I wonder how many times He'll have to tell me again after this. It was a great meeting and a great ending to a really nice day.
Last night we started dance lessons. Our friend found a dance instructor who was willing to come to Royal for us. We have two other friends who have kids the same age as Seila and Kai and so we all decided to have the kids take lessons as well. Seila and Kai did pretty good at the first lesson last night. We learned the waltz. All the kids did a good job. It was fun to watch them dancing with each other and learning that the boys are always left and the girls are always right! It's a great thing to learn at such an early age.
Tonight is a Jon Schmidt concert in Moses Lake. Our family is going as a birthday present to me. We are very excited to see him in concert. We watched s little bit on YouTube and the kids were very impressed. They saw him use his elbow to play part of the song. None of us have ever seen him in concert and I have only heard a little bit about him. I have one of his piano books but have never seen him. It should be really fun.
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