"Suffer the little children to come unto me" Mark 10:14

Up until now I haven't posted anything all that religious. Our faith in God and His Gospel is very important to our family so I'm not really sure why it's never surfaced here, nor am I all that sure why I've finally chosen now to delve into our religious beliefs. What I do know is over the past few days I've been filled with an overwhelming confirmation that Heavenly Father wants to guide us if we allow him to and that any struggle our family has will so much better if we put Christ in the forefront of our lives.

I hope it's not coming as a shocker that we are religious people here in the Melton Pot. We're actually members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints commonly know as Mormons. We faithfully attend church meetings, pray every day, and try (try being the key word) to live our lives patterned after Christ's example in a manner that would be pleasing to God. We aren't perfect by any definition of the word. Although we are good about avoiding blatant sin, sometimes I find myself omitting the good things that I'm supposed to be doing. One thing I'm particularly bad about is studying the scriptures regularly, especially with the kids. E knows who Jesus is and prays every day but I've sort of written him off as too energetic and crazy to be able to have a spiritual experience with him right now. I think in the back of my mind I thought that he's just too young and I'll be better about it when he's older. These are clearly just my thought and not an impression of the Spirit.

Over the past little while things have been a little chaotic around the Melton Pot. I found myself really downtrodden by the fact that I was waking up to crying children every day. Morning after morning I was a cranky mommy taking care of cranky kids. Not the best start to the day. Then the day would continue with a constant cycle of the big one making the little one cry, time-outs for the big one who would then start crying, me trying to comfort the little one, an apology and then the whole thing starting all over again within minutes of the last resolution. It was wearing and at moments was really really hard to find joy in motherhood. I wanted desperately to figure out how we could all just get along.

I turned to the Lord daily (and often multiple times a day) would ask what we could do to have more peace in our home. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I needed to take a little more action to be in tuned to the guidance I was seeking, specifically reading my scriptures. But at the end of the day as I was falling asleep I would realize I'd forgotten again to read, decide I was too tired but would resolve to be better the next day. Everyday I let the cranky cycle I described earlier take over. Ironically I was still able to keep up with my favorite TV shows, yet found it hard to remember to sit and read during those fleeting moments of calm in the house. Scripture reading was obviously not the priority I should have been making it. I was passing off inspiration from the Spirit as just an idea.

The beginning of last week was particularly bad. Grouchy mommy and crabby kids were in full force. I found myself constantly correcting E and frequently yelling at him. He figured out a way to stop me in my tracks. He'd cut right through my fury by folding his arms and saying "Heavenly Father. Thank you for this day. Bless Mommy to be happy. Name of Jesus Christ Amen." Then look up at me with scared puppy dog eyes and an uneasy smile and nodded a little as he said "Ah mommy not mad anymore. Mommy happy. Not mad." Despite the fact that I didn't feel like I was done yelling at him I couldn't be mad anymore. I have no idea what made him say his sincere little prayer and I'm embarrassed to say it had to happen more than once. E was setting the example for me. If I really wanted divine intervention in bringing peace to my house it was going to come though sincere prayer, Christ-like actions and definitely not through yelling at my kids. “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Luke 17:2) “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Last week I attended a special meeting with other ladies from our congregation where we had little lessons/discussion on how to fit important things into our busy schedules. The topics were exercise, family history, service, and scripture study. I was there mostly to get a little escape from the kids. I was listening with the attitude of "yeah you're right I should fit these things in. I'd like to fit them in but we'll just have to see." No actual commitment to do better. That was until the following quote was read:

"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness. (Marion G. Romney in the April 1980 General Conference of the Church).

As I sat thinking about what I had just heard I was overwhelmed by the clear and obvious answer to my prayers. Everything promised to those who regularly study the Boom of Mormon were those very things I was pleading to the Lord to have in my home. I thanked the woman who had shared this message with us. She told me that she almost didn't read it because it's something we've all heard so many time. And she was right, I had heard that many time in my years of church attendance but for some reason it was never significant to me until right then. As the experience sunk deep into my sole on my way home, I was overcome with emotion.

I was finally resolved to put what I always knew into action. Before E's regular bedtime story I told him we were going to read a story from his story book version of the Book of Mormon. As we talked about the story I was witnessing a little miracle as my little crazy man sat with a peaceful attitude and and an expression on his face rarely seen. He didn't want to stop reading. Every night since then has been a similar experience. How wrong I was that this Child of God wasn't ready for what I had been depriving him of. Even more shocking to me was a few mornings ago when he quietly came into my room when he woke up (During the time of chaos he woke up every morning screaming at me demanding this and that). I was reading my scriptures and he asked to sit with me and read too. He sat and listened as I read and explained the rest of the chapter with that same peaceful expression. There were no pictures to look at but he appreciated the words and I truly appreciated the experience. Once again this little boy, who I often view as being more than I can handle, had proved to me just how wrong I was. He has a pure little heart and an innocent spirit and is a gift from God to bless my life not to be a trial. How easily I had forgotten. It was actually in the first few days of the little guys life while holding him in my arms in the wee hours of the morning that I first understood the full extent of God's love for me.

I guess the point of this long rambling is that I do know that God loves us, He does answer prayers and will bless us with those things we seek if we are doing those things that he asks of us. I won't claim that there has been absolute peace in our home since we've been more faithful in scripture reading, but the chaos is subsiding (seeming now more like excitement) and the moments of joy and appreciation for each other are increasing. I'm so grateful for this experience that allowed me to reevaluate my priorities and figure out what is really important.

Our staycation

So the rainy weather and E being a little under the weather changed our plans for the holiday. Despite not heading anywhere, we made the most of our 4th of July staycation.

We ate a lot.

Had a little adventure at the science museum. Watched some fireworks
Explored the Natural History Museum

Attempted to play mini-golf and successfully played in the arcade. (Daddy got the high score on one of the games)