Life Lessons

Here are a few things I've been learning:

It was brought to my attention by one of my YW that there are some moral problems amongst some of our youth. So I decided it was time for a sexual purity lesson. I asked my most favorite person to teach with me (Kurt!) We took our lesson from the book, "On Guard ~ 7 ways to safe guard your sexual purity" by Joy Lundberg. It is a fabulous book. We bought a copy for all our YW. It is a great resource for the youth, parents and leaders. Okay, that pretty much covers everyone, so go get a copy! (was that a great plug for the book or what?) Sunday we taught the lesson. A lot of prayer and fasting went into this lesson. I was nervous. I think that is the first time I've been nervous to teach the youth since I've had this calling. I felt the importance of the topic and was anxious for them to feel the spirit and make a commitment to be sexually pure. I felt like it went well & pleased with how the girls keep talking about it.

I learned how much fun it was to prepare and teach a lesson with Kurt. Since serving our missions are still in the distance future I'll have to have him guest speak more often.

Emma is loving her art lessons. She lives for Tuesday afternoons. It makes my heart happy. While I realize it might not be a forever passion I'm so glad we've found something constructive, creative and worthwhile that she loves right now. It is wonderful for her self esteem and trying to break through the shyness.

I'm learning how fulfilling it is to provide opportunities for your children to grow, excel and be passionate about.



I bit the bullet this week. I am officially taking violin lessons. I was getting frustrated going at it on my own. Mainly trying to get the dang thing tuned and sound semi decent. So I realized that if I was going to accomplish my goals I needed some help. I had my first lesson on Tuesday. It was so exhilarating! Just having my violin tuned was golden. She was positive and optimistic about the goals I've set and renewed my passion a hundred fold. I have been practicing diligently and enjoying even minute of it.

I'm learning that it is good to ask for help when you need it. It might even help you succeed. I'm learning that I love playing the violin! (which fuels me to become better!)

Austin continues making great strides in school. He officially finished everything this week. He is constantly reading or learning something. They tested him this week on his reading levels. He is at a 3rd grade level. I'm so grateful that he is unassuming about his gift of knowledge. He just wants to learn. The rest (scores, levels, finishing first, etc...) just doesn't matter.

I'm learning what a great boy he is. Of course I already knew it, I'm his mother! But most of the time I think I expect a lot of him. Mainly because I know he is capable. What a treat when they exceed your expectations.

And clogging started up again this week. I'm remembering how much I love it. And Ruth is feeling better. I'm remembering how much I love her happy and healthy. She seems so much older to me now that she is actually feeling better. And Spencer's birthday is on Sunday. I'm learning that my kids grow up way too fast. I'm learning that life is all about learning.