Teaching Moments

I am amazed at the simple daily activities in our home that lead to a greater understanding of our Heavenly Father's love for us. I have been realizing what people have been talking about when they say that children can teach us so much. Here are a few examples from the last few days.

~~~~~

After bath time the other night, Andrew, Toby, Tate and I were all playing around in our bedroom. Toby was pushing one of Tate's hard plastic toys on the floor, tripped and hurt his lip. He ran to me with a bloody mouth and I asked him through his tears if he needed mommy to kiss it. He said, "Otay, Mommy" and I offered to get him a popsicle from the kitchen. He said, "No thanks." (which impressed me that he still had manners even though he was hurt.) I then told him that he could pick any color he wanted and he thought about it and decided a popsicle wasn't such a bad idea. So, I walked out of the room first, then Andrew holding Tate and lastly...Toby. He pushed Andrew and said, "Get out of my way, dude" (there goes the manners) and when we arrived in the kitchen I accidentally bumped Toby and he hit his head on the counter. Through his tears and frustration, he said "OH NO, NOT AGAIN" as he now was holding his lip AND his head. Hiding our laughter, I thought how many times in our lives do we think "OH NO, NOT AGAIN!" Life can come at us with such force and continue to pound us until we think we cannot handle anymore. There's always something else, another crisis, another problem that we have to deal with. But if we endure, there is inevitably a popsicle waiting to comfort us after the hurt. The Lord wants us to come to Him and tell Him about our bumps and bruises. He understands through his infinite Atonement. Let's live for that popsicle, that comfort at the end or during our trials. It has ALWAYS comforted me.

~~~~~

Another lesson that I internalized recently had to do with a simple answer. Yesterday, Toby wanted to play "church" in his room. So we set up a few chairs in row and placed stuffed animals on them. We sang a song, had a prayer and then continued with a lesson about Jesus Christ. We talked awhile about different attributes of our Savior and a few fun facts that made Toby smile. But later on in the day, I was talking to my mom on the phone and I recounted the fun Toby and I had. He walked in the room and I asked him who is Jesus Christ. Without hesitation, he said a simple answer...."My friend." I wondered to myself if I would have answered so perfectly if that question was posed to me?

~~~~~

These moments fill my soul with happiness and gratitude for the opportunity to be taught by my boys. Such giants and they don't even realize it yet. Thanks, Toby, for helping your mommy be a better person. She sure could use it!