As I was sweeping today, I had a few thoughts that I feel like I should record. Sweeping must be a very methodical time for me because I have often received revelation while doing it. Ha!
My first thought is about a Gospel Doctrine lesson that I taught a few months ago. The lesson was on faith, and it went really well. Sometimes, you leave a lesson knowing that you said what you wanted to say and it went how you wanted it to go. This lesson was kind of like that but different in the fact that when I left that lesson, I had the distinct thought, "Oh, so that's how it feels to teach by letting the Spirit lead." I certainly have felt inspired and felt the Spirit in my other lessons before but this particular time was different. I felt like I completely followed the Spirit, instead of only at instances. There was a time during that lesson that I felt prompted to say something, so I did. I even told the class, I don't know why I need to say this, (and it was kind of off topic), but I feel prompted to say something. There have been more lessons than not where I have prepared and prepared and then once I get up to teach, it all starts connecting and it is only THEN that I see how it all fits together. A lot of those links come from the comments I receive during the discussion. I can't predict what the people are going to say or bring up. However, with the help of the Spirit, we are all taught and edified. It's an incredible thing.
The second thought I had was about something that Anna did last week at school. All of the girls in her class were teaming up and making fun of a girl named Mary Beth. Even Anna's best friend, Keira, was going in on the "fun". Anna, however, chose a different path. Anna chose to be Mary Beth's friend. She went and hung out with Mary Beth and stayed with her while all of the other girls chose to be mean. Josh talked about this experience in his Primary lesson this past Sunday. He asked the kids what they would do if they saw someone making fun of a person in their class. All of the kids said that they would either go tell the teacher or they would tell the mean kids to stop. Not one of them said that they would go stand by the one who was hurting. That's exactly what Anna did though. She went and comforted the person that was hurting and stood with them when no one else would. She didn't give into peer pressure. She chose the right, even when it was hard to. She chose the right even when her best friend didn't. She chose the right when the majority didn't. I was so proud of Anna for making such a great decision. I think that the Spirit really increased in her heart that day. I know it did in mine.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
2017, A New Year
It's a new year and we're in a new house. We moved into our Cumberland Trail house about a month and a half ago. We are loving every minute of it. The house is so beautiful and has more room than we can use right now. We are so happy with how everything turned out. It truly does feel like ours. It's an empty house right now but we're okay with that. We had to put down 20% so it basically drained our bank account. Now, we're just trying to build it back up again. The stress level and anxiety in our family has drastically gone down since moving here. I think we all needed our space and oh, what a difference it has made. The kids spend a lot of time outside on the trampoline. It's been so nice to watch them jump outside while I'm cleaning the kitchen. They have been getting along so much better. It's been wonderful.
We also started taking Anna to a therapist to help her understand and deal with her anxiety. The therapist's name is Kasey Brown, and she's wonderful. I didn't really think that Kasey could do much to help Anna but we have certainly seen a dramatic improvement in her behavior. We certainly still have bad moments of tantrums and yelling but they are fewer and farther in between. We've started using a script with Anna when we either need her to start doing something or to stop. It's worked wonders. It's crazy how just changing the words we say to her will help her to understand and get calm. I am so incredibly grateful for the help we're getting. I think this will benefit Anna throughout her life. What a wonderful resource this is for her. Each therapy session is $135 and we go once a week. I don't know if we've ever spent money so wisely. Anna is a happier person now, and so are we. We've even started using her therapy tools on the other kids and it's been working wonderfully.
Anna was baptized about two weeks ago. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. She was so, so nervous though. I thought she might throw up! She did great though and was so happy all weekend. Dave and Linda flew in from CA. Anna really loved having them here. Eight is a big birthday in our house. Anna was able to get her ears pierced. I thought she might actually pass out. It was pretty rough there for a little while. She cried a lot but is super happy with the result now. Her earrings are so cute. They are little diamond flowers. She now claims that it was no big deal, but it certainly was a big deal when it was happening. She gets that from her mama. We also threw Anna a big Harry Potter birthday party the following week. It was such a blast. The kids had the best time. Sometimes you can do a lot of work for a party and it flops, but not this time. It was a huge success. We had a sorting hat to put the kids in their different schools. I used a twister board and they spun to see which one they were assigned to go. They had to wear the sorting hat, of course. We had Olivander's Wand Shoppe. They were blindfolded and had to let the wand choose them, not them choose the wand. We had made tons of paper wands out of hot glue and paint. They then had to go running through platform nine and three quarters to enter Hogwarts. We then had a potions class. We had kool aid and dry ice that they made their potions out of. They used droppers to mix their brew into little bottles with a corked lid. We also had an Owl Post where they made birthday cards for Anna and put them in the Owl Post. Then there was a scavenger hunt because someone stole all of the gold out of Gringott's Bank. The kids had to find the gold and return it back to Gringott's, then they kept some of it for themselves. The coins were those gold chocolate coins. We finished in the Great Hall where they ate Dementor Kisses, which were just kisses. We had Hufflepuffs, which were cheetos. We had sour slugs, candied sour worms, and Polyjuice Potion. It was a blast. Anna was so happy, so we knew it was all worth it.
Now, life can just be calm. I'm so excited to not have any big things coming up. My stress level has gone down and I'm really looking forward to just relaxing. However, I just got called to be in YW, so maybe my stress level is just starting. I was really sad when I learned that I wouldn't be the gospel doctrine teacher anymore. I really, really loved that calling. It was such a great experience for me.
We're about to head to the dentist. Daniel has his first appointment today. Saying lots of prayers that he doesn't totally lose it.
We also started taking Anna to a therapist to help her understand and deal with her anxiety. The therapist's name is Kasey Brown, and she's wonderful. I didn't really think that Kasey could do much to help Anna but we have certainly seen a dramatic improvement in her behavior. We certainly still have bad moments of tantrums and yelling but they are fewer and farther in between. We've started using a script with Anna when we either need her to start doing something or to stop. It's worked wonders. It's crazy how just changing the words we say to her will help her to understand and get calm. I am so incredibly grateful for the help we're getting. I think this will benefit Anna throughout her life. What a wonderful resource this is for her. Each therapy session is $135 and we go once a week. I don't know if we've ever spent money so wisely. Anna is a happier person now, and so are we. We've even started using her therapy tools on the other kids and it's been working wonderfully.
Anna was baptized about two weeks ago. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. She was so, so nervous though. I thought she might throw up! She did great though and was so happy all weekend. Dave and Linda flew in from CA. Anna really loved having them here. Eight is a big birthday in our house. Anna was able to get her ears pierced. I thought she might actually pass out. It was pretty rough there for a little while. She cried a lot but is super happy with the result now. Her earrings are so cute. They are little diamond flowers. She now claims that it was no big deal, but it certainly was a big deal when it was happening. She gets that from her mama. We also threw Anna a big Harry Potter birthday party the following week. It was such a blast. The kids had the best time. Sometimes you can do a lot of work for a party and it flops, but not this time. It was a huge success. We had a sorting hat to put the kids in their different schools. I used a twister board and they spun to see which one they were assigned to go. They had to wear the sorting hat, of course. We had Olivander's Wand Shoppe. They were blindfolded and had to let the wand choose them, not them choose the wand. We had made tons of paper wands out of hot glue and paint. They then had to go running through platform nine and three quarters to enter Hogwarts. We then had a potions class. We had kool aid and dry ice that they made their potions out of. They used droppers to mix their brew into little bottles with a corked lid. We also had an Owl Post where they made birthday cards for Anna and put them in the Owl Post. Then there was a scavenger hunt because someone stole all of the gold out of Gringott's Bank. The kids had to find the gold and return it back to Gringott's, then they kept some of it for themselves. The coins were those gold chocolate coins. We finished in the Great Hall where they ate Dementor Kisses, which were just kisses. We had Hufflepuffs, which were cheetos. We had sour slugs, candied sour worms, and Polyjuice Potion. It was a blast. Anna was so happy, so we knew it was all worth it.
Now, life can just be calm. I'm so excited to not have any big things coming up. My stress level has gone down and I'm really looking forward to just relaxing. However, I just got called to be in YW, so maybe my stress level is just starting. I was really sad when I learned that I wouldn't be the gospel doctrine teacher anymore. I really, really loved that calling. It was such a great experience for me.
We're about to head to the dentist. Daniel has his first appointment today. Saying lots of prayers that he doesn't totally lose it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)