Well geez, I think it's about time I wrote something on here again. Sometimes I feel like I want to blog everyday and sometimes I don't want to for a while. Life is great. I love summer, love it. The other day we got to see some of our close college friends that we haven't seen for too long. We got to meet each other's cutie kids. It was very fun. That night we went on a very fun bike ride as a family. We strapped Brynli and Mercedes in our bike trailer, Caleb rode along with us and we headed for the trails around the lake. It was amazing. It was beautiful, the air was clear. It was just so enjoyable. It's the kind of simple thing I've dreamed about doing with my family before I was even married. We watched the lightning dance around the sky and from where we were, we could see it all over the valley. The smell of rain filled the air. Just as we were getting close to our neighborhood it started raining. We got home and we watched the rain and played in it. It was wonderful. And Mercedes slept from 10-8 that night. Wa Hoo! (She hasn't done that since, but that's alright.)
The other day Caleb and Brynli were playing around and I was in the kitchen and I looked over and Caleb chucked a ball at Brynli's face. He wasn't angry, I think he thought it was funny. Sometimes he does things and I wonder why in the world he does. (It's not like this is the first time he's done something like that). I didn't really know what to do. I got mad and sent him to his room. I was upset about it and called Mark to talk to him about what I should do because I didn't just want to go yell at him or something and make him give her a hug and make him say he was sorry. I wanted him to actually feel inside that he wished he hadn't done that and actually want to make it better. I said a prayer in my heart that I would know what to do and know how to teach him. As I was walking to his room I had the prompting "Teach him the 5 steps of repentance". So, I got on the computer and searched on LDS.org for 5 steps of repentance. The first one was a sharing time idea on how to teach it. Great, especially because it had some little pictures for examples.
I took it in there and taught him each step. I was amazed as I watched him start to understand and he was especially interested in the picture example. The picture was of a boy being mean to a kid and pushing him, then in the next picture he was thinking about the boy and feeling bad that the boy was sad, and the last picture he is being nice to him and making restitution. I talked to both Caleb and Brynli about it and both were very interested. I noticed how much more effective teaching is during those "teaching moments" leaders talk about.
Something else that was happening was the Spirit was also teaching me. He (we all) need to know how to repent and make things right. It's empowering. He's going to need this a lot and it's alright. My job is to help him understand where to go and how to make things right. And I also need it as a mother all the time. I do things that I wish I would have done differently and sometimes I just get reactive when they push my buttons, especially if I'm not taking care of myself very well. I also need this power everyday. I felt closer to Caleb. And the neat thing was his reaction. He got out the tape and taped the papers I had printed onto his wall so he would remember and begged me to print off more because "everyone needs to know this."
Once again I'm amazed by his spirit. Motherhood is a journey I walk beside my children. I certainly don't have all the answers and do things I wish I wouldn't, but I'm so thankful for the journey.
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