I love being Clinton's mom!

The other day we were driving in the van and Clint started pointing out what age he would be when Natty was a certain age. So funny because I remember doing the exact same thing with my siblings. Well he got to the point of when Natalie is 16 he will be on his mission. He informed her, "Nat, if mom and dad have a Sweet 16 party for you I am not going to be able to be there, I'll be on my mission."  She of course was quite offended that he would not be at her Sweet 16 birthday party! (Not that she even knows what a Sweet 16 party is...) He then said to her how she needs to happy that he will be serving his mission and that is what you do when you are 19. So I took the opportunity to ask some questions.

"So, Clint, where do you think you would like to go on your mission?"
" I think I will be going to Africa on my mission."
"Oh, really. Well what makes you think you could go there?"
"Well, I have thought about it and the people in Africa need to be told about Jesus Christ."
"Why would the people in Africa need to be taught about Jesus? Why wouldn't they all ready know about Him?"
"Because mom, they are so busy just trying to think about how they are going to get food and water. They haven't  had time to even think about learning about Jesus Christ. There are alot of people in Africa mom and there is going to be a lot of missionary work that will need to be done."

He really has thought about it. I remember thinking about where I would want to serve my mission. I mostly wanted to go somewhere I could learn a cool language or it would sound exotic to say, "that's where I served". I really don't think I thought about if it was a place where the people were just "surviving" and so they needed to learn about the Savior so they could have more hope in their lives. But my 10 year old son has. I love that he spends time really thinking about others and pondering on those things that his Heavenly Father would have him do. He has always been like this. He doesn't just notice things, he observes and then ponders about those things he observes. It comes to him naturally. It's what my Clinton does. I am so grateful I get to be his mom. I love my Clinton!

I'm Trying to be Like Jesus

So I was up late last night...or maybe early this morning...I couldn't sleep between the hours of 2:43 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. I woke up and my mind was racing and I could not get back to sleep. So I tried reading an article in the Ensign, thinking this should make my mind "relax" and I will go back to sleep. It was a really good article and it helped to put so many things back into perspective for me. The title of the talk was, "That Our Children Might See the Face of the Savior."  I serve in the Stake Primary presidency and I am a Webelos Den leader so I thought that this would be a good article to read and it could help in my callings. And oh yeah, I am a mom too and so it could help me in that calling as well. But it actually has ended up that the article has really helped me, to help me. One little statement that stuck out to me was about learning to love your children and it said, "As we are filled with the love of the Lord, we can love. He might weep over what we do, but He loves us and is always there to help us. That is how we must learn to love our children." And I will add, and ourselves. As I have began to recommit myself to get to know my Savior more and allow myself to feel His love, I love myself, and others more. Sometimes I do feel like crying because of ways I or others have handled things or situations. Sometimes I want to cry just because I want to throw a fit much like my children do. And poor Ryan, sometimes I do just that..."throw a fit" and cry, and he listens and I feel better. The article has helped me as a mom to not get down on myself when things aren't going perfectly with my children. If the Savior can weep over us, I can weep over my children. Sometimes the Savior wept because of the righteousness of His children. Sometimes He wept because they were blatantly being disobedient. Regardless of the reason He still always loved them. So, now

I'm trying to be like Jesus,

I'm following in His ways.

I'm trying to love as He did,

in all that I do and say.

At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,

but I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.

Try to show kindness in all that you do.

Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, 

for these are the things Jesus taught."

-Janice Kapp 

Natalie and Clint were having some sibling disagreements this morning. Clint's best line to Nat was, "It's not your life that I'm living in my body."