Matt and I are pretty good about doing Family Home Evening together, but it's quite different with just the two of us. We start with a hymn (a capella), the one not giving the lesson says the opening prayer, one gives a lesson, we read scriptures, sing a closing hymn, and the lesson giver says a closing/night time family prayer. We have no games and no official treat. I'm sure it will change when Dean's old enough to stay up later than 6 pm and join in! But for now that's our routine.
I had the lesson last night and took it from one of this month's Ensign articles, Making Time to be Holy. (I've not been good about reading the Ensign cover to cover the last few years, but I am making more of an effort now. All of the articles I read on Sunday were applicable and helpful in my life.) Anyway, here are the things I found most applicable in my lesson last night:
- If I have time for [blogging, TV, etc.], I have time for scriptures. No ifs, ands, or buts about it!
- "I can't say I want to be more patient but then do nothing. If I believe Him and have faith in Him, I can become more like Him." This reminded me of something I heard somewhere (way to cite my source, right?) that if you ask God for help with being patient, He's not going to just grant you an abundance of patience. He'll grant you ample opportunities to practice patience.
- Just as Christ told the man in the New Testament that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven that he had to give up his riches and follow Him, we have to make sacrifices also. That can include: free/leisure time, talents, and everything we have/are. Sacrifice isn't easy. That's why it's called sacrifice. (One of the definitions of sacrifice is: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.)
- And finally: "We would receive more blessings if we were more willing to obey."
Last night Dean woke up just about 1 1/2 hours after I put him down. That's very unusual, but his sleeping has been so unpredictable lately. Normally we let him cry about 15 min.-1/2 hour, go check and make sure his diaper's not dirty, and then let him cry himself back to sleep. This may sound cruel, but we've tried many methods and this is the only one that has worked for him.
This is very hard on me. VERY hard on me. I was getting so frustrated when he would scream bloody murder, quiet down, and (just when I thought he was asleep again) start screaming and crying again. This lasted probably an hour last night. I was getting so angry and frustrated. I kept saying (not to him since he was in his room and I wasn't) "Just shut up already and go back to sleep!!!" And then of course I'd feel bad since "shut up" is not something I should be in the habit of saying, even if Dean's not present. I definitely was not practicing patience last night.
His mood has been quite irritable today and his sleep has been off. I guess this is that opportunity the Lord is giving me to practice patience. So far my mood has been more stable today even though his has been all across the board. Now to just keep it up...
4 comments:
Just when you think they have a schedule, it changes and can be hard when you like a set schedule! Do you think he is teething? I think teething lasts forever, like five months on and it causes everything from fussiness to colds.
I totally understand and appreciate you reminding us to be patience. Yesterday was one of those days for me. Caleb and I are both sick and when I don't feel like doing much, he always seems to go crazy, boys have SO MUCH energy!!! Just when we were going to go out for a walk to the park it started to thunder and lightening...that won't do!! It didn't stop until after bedtime.
This may seem silly, but while at the dentist office this morning I was reading a article in a magazine about the importance of staying calm and even tempered becuase that is what the child needs and will react totally differently if you are out of control. I thought how out of control I was yesterday and remembered I needed to be the cool one since I am the parent and not let my frustration get ahead of me and the child will respond better.
Now that our kids are bigger and more or less ready to participate we have FHE every week. They're good at reminding us about it. The thing is, we keep it very short and keep our expectations low. Like really short--sometimes just ten minutes (minus treat time). I also like doing it because it gives us a set day to have treats, since we only do them once a week for the kids. When he gets bigger, the Friend online is a great resource for lessons and activities you can print off. Also I used to sometimes just use the lessons from the nursery manual (also online) when S-Boogie was littler. We're not doing so great on some things, but my kids love having FHE every week.
Jodi, he's teething for sure. There's a little tooth breaking the skin on the top right front. I've been giving him teething tablets and orajel, so there's not much more I can do for him there when it comes to bed time.
Foxy, those are all good ideas.
HEy, Celia.Dean is so cute. Glad to see what you're up to. You are amazing.
I think that quote about God not giving you patience but giving you opportunities to learn it is from Evan Almighty. At least, that's where I heard it first. Kind of funny.
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