Sunday, February 15, 2009

A question from Aspen

First. I do have pictures....On my camera :) I do plan on downloading them...one day :) For now I will share with you a question and a statement (each done at different times) Aspen said to me. Tonight while they were eating dinner (my feeding schedule is a bit off from theirs right now) she asked me how to find joy in work? That'll freeze a mom right up. I mean I talk to my kids about finding joy in work, that not everything in life is about fun. I am not sure that I would have ever thought one of them of was internalizing it. She told me she could find joy in farm work, but not helping around the house. We talked about that finding joy in work didn't necessarily mean that you liked what you did, but that you found joy in doing the right thing. The conversation went on a bit, but I was impressed with her ability to talk with me and understand what I was saying. On another occasion which I don't recall exactly when she came to me with a puzzled look. I do know we had been to the temple open house in Draper. She said "Mommy, sometimes I feel like there is more to the temple than just going, that there is more than I can understand here on earth." What do you say that? This kid I tell ya. We talked of course, to the best of my abilities. Talking about this just reminds of times when she has floored me when she was so young. When she was three she brought in a picture of the Savior sat it on the desk and looked very seriously into my eyes and said "He is coming back, you know that..right?" she paused for a moment and then left. When she was about 19 months old we were living in PA and we drove down to Dulas airport (Washington DC) to pick up my brother-in-law. I had one of the young women in our ward with us and she had never seen the DC temple. We had pictures up of the temple in our home, but I hadn't said anything to Aspen yet about them, in my naivety I hadn't thought she wasn't old enough to understand. When we pulled in she pointed to it and said with such excitement "Jesus house, Jesus house". It was a very humbling moment for me. Moments with her often are. I learn so much from her. From all of my kids. I fear they teach me more about the gospel, and what it really means than I teach them. I have often thought that becoming a parent isn't so much about what you have to offer a child, but that it is an opportunity for us to learn from what these children have to offer us.

2 comments:

Janalee said...

Beautiful! My mom always quoted her uncle who said, "My children came with spiritual seniority!" meaning that we may be "older" physically but these spirits we are to raise are far more prepared spiritually than we were...so we should listen and learn from them!

Beckie said...

Amen to you both. Took the words from my mouth.

thank for the post. I needed reminding.