“‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it’ (Exodus 20:8–11).
I love the Sabbath day. Not so many years ago, it was the hardest day of the week for me. It was difficult to get all my little men and women ready. Then it was difficult to get them to sit still. It felt like a waste of time some days to be perfectly honest. But, we did it anyways, because we love our Heavenly Father and we want to teach our children to love him and follow his commandments.
Today I sat in sacrament and marveled at the beautiful experience. My children are very reverent. They sit so quietly it often amazes me. How did that happen? I love it. I love to feel the spirit. I hope that my little men and women feel it too. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to go to church and to fill my cup so that I'm ready for another week. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church, the church led by Jesus Christ; God's church on the earth in this latter day. I'm so thankful to have that testimony. I'm thankful to have been taught at a young age, to have always had the gospel in my life. I'm thankful for the blessings of my Heavenly Father that make my life so incredibly beautiful.
I believe that our Heavenly Father loves all of his children. I believe that he wants all of us to return to him. I'm so thankful that I have that knowledge and the knowledge of the plan of salvation so that I can have an eternal family.
Now a quick note on Las Vegas. I've had lots of people ask me about our trip and taking the kids to such a yucky place. So, here is a little bit of my parenting theory.
Las Vegas is like the world in a microscope. It has all of the yucky things the world contains in such a small space. It also has some really fun things and very family friendly things. I briefly told my kiddos ahead of time that they might see things that were inappropriate. I did not elaborate at all. I simply told them if they saw something that they thought they shouldn't look at to look away. I also instructed them not to take ANYTHING from ANYONE. The kids and I did walk the strip by ourselves during the day but only with Dwight at night. I kept a really close eye on them. Never did I point out something and tell them not to look. Never did I draw attention to anything that was unsavory. I ignored it myself. I pointed out beautiful things and drew their attention to good. Maybe once Bear mentioned to me that he saw something inappropriate. I didn't make a big deal of it. The kids know that we don't gamble. When we walked through the casinos they didn't think much of it. Bear at one point said to me how he was glad that I didn't gamble because I'm his mommy and he loves me. :) At another point he said, "Us Mormons, we don't gamble." :) If anything Las Vegas made me realize that my kiddos are such great kids. They know and recognize the spirit because we make sure to give them opportunities to feel it. They seek those opportunities. They naturally shy away from inappropriate things. I am fully aware that my children are some what sheltered. That is on purpose. We are using this time of their lives to teach and nurture their sweet spirits. Sheltered does not equal stupid. They don't need to know exactly what something is to know that it is bad. I hope and pray that I am preparing them for the yucky things in the world by teaching them the beautiful and good things of the gospel. I hope and pray that I am preparing them to go into the yucky world by strengthening their testimonies and increasing their desire to choose the right. More than anything I want my little family forever. I believe that it will happen.
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