March 2
For Cy's Birthday Date night he wanted to go with Mom and Dad. We went to Blaze Pizza and saw a movie. Which I'm pretty sure he wanted to go see the same movie that Ryker saw for his birthday the month before. Jesse hadn't seen it, so we went. I remember falling asleep during the movie. Dang it. That was an expensive nap. lol.
WOW! 8 YEARS OLD! Oh this sweet boy! It's weird having your second child getting older because they always seem young in comparison to the oldest. So it kinda snuck up on me because over night he sees so big to me.
How could I describe Cy? Sweet and Sour maybe? lol
He genuinely has the most tender loving soul with the flip side of mischief and trouble in there. I've seen him write "I love you" on the family whiteboard to each of us. And also pester Ryker until he's in tears all the while Cyrus has a little smirky grin on his face.
Sweet and Sour!
We love him in our family.
Cyrus we love your sweet smile and YOU!!!
Another example of Fynnie's Cuteness
To celebrate Cy turning 8, we gathered a few of his friends and took them to GET AIR!
(Back row: Sterling Smith, Lexi Stepen, Ryker, Treven Wesche, James B, Sadie Noall
Front row: Sam Reynolds, Fynnie, CYRUS, Trey Heath, Kamden Wersland)
Then we sang to Cy!
My family had a birthday party for Cy and he got a Hoverbaord as well. I remember Cy being so ecited, but man on man Ryker was so upset that Cy got one too. He wanted to be unique. Or something like that. It reminded me of being a kid and the werid feelings you get from your siblings. Cy wants to be like Ryker, and Ryker likes it but also wants his own stuff. They were fighting over Ryker's hoverboard all the time. Cy would beg to ride it and even would do all the silly little chores that Ryker would make him do to earn "ride time".
I was happy to see that they could both have one and play together. Ryker eventually got over it and they now play together just fine.
My parents gave us all day passes to Boondocks. And we cashed them in on that day. I remember that week being absolutely draining. I was so stressed out and emotionally drained from family drama on my side of the family. (Which looking back on now was the start of a long division in the family that is still going on. I can't explain it on here, but things with me and my family just aren't the same anymore).
It's amazing how time with these boys makes all the crazy around me disappear for that moment.
And I might have gotten a little bit a pleasure kicking their butts in bowling..
During Jesse's 15 week Academy our date nights kinda disappeared. The amount of stress it put on him had also added to my plate as well. At this point we were 7 weeks done and were in complete survival mode. We would help each other out when and where ever we could. I tried to listen to Jesse when he would come home from training. He would tell me about certain captain's that just didn't seem to like him. How hard they would push them during a workout and then have to go run drills in their full turnout gear. Hear him complain about his injured shoulder from how hard he got pushed. Try to help him study at night, make his lunch every morning. Occasionally dropping off his lunch him because he forgot it that morning.
What I found so hard during all of that was trying to put my needs as a wife on the back burner. It was totally fine at the beginning. And my head knew why it was the way it was. It was only temporary. But I found my heart having the hardest time understanding what my brain knew. I couldn't burden my sorrows and worries on him while he was going through so much. So thank goodness for my friend Jenny. She got to hear all my stressful moments. She got me through Academy with Jesse.
One night I noticed Jesse scheduling a Paint Night date night for us and I was so tickled that he was trying to plan a date night in the middle of our crazy.
We have never done paint night before and it was totally AWESOME! I loved getting to spend time with him. JUST HIM. Laughing and enjoying just being together. Paint night is something that we have always wanted to do and it was so much fun.
I recorded on my Instagram the following...
"A few weeks ago Ryker was asking me about the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I told him he could find the answers to alot of his questions in the Topical Guide. So he's been doing his own personal scripture study from 'Jesus Christ, Second Coming of' in the Topical Guide. Seeing him studying this morning in the car ride to school was just a little mind blowing to me. He's doing this all his own, wherever and whenever he can. I love seeing his excitement to learn about the Gospel."
I gave a talk in Sacrament on March 24 and I want to put it in here because I shared some great family stories and testimony about the new Come Follow Me Program.
Experiences from the “Come Follow Me”
Program
To quote
David A. Bednar “As disciples of the Savior, we are not
merely striving to know more; rather, we need to consistently do more of what we know is right and become better.”
About two-and-a-half
years ago I received a very strong prompting that our family should begin a
daily habit of reading the scriptures together. At that time, my oldest son,
Ryker was in 3rd grade. My middle son, Cyrus was starting Kindergarten and didn’t
know how to read yet. And my baby, Fynn was just one year old.
I told my
husband, Jesse about my nudging I had received from the Spirit to do this, but
he didn’t feel that we were in the right season of our lives to begin. At this time,
he felt burdened at work with his long hours and crazy schedule as a
firefighter, he thought the boys were too young to understand, and he didn’t feel
like he could commit to doing one more thing at this point.
Despite these
obstacles, I felt compelled to follow through on the personal revelation I had
received to begin gospel study with my family.
So, I and my boys began reading each day. I decided that if I wanted to establish a
habit of this it would have to become a routine thing. Same time every day.
Mornings seemed daunting, but the evenings were always so busy and I’m usually
depleted by that time, so I settled on in the morning before school. Well in the beginning it was a struggle to
establish the habit. Waking the boys up 30 minutes earlier for school wasn’t
easy. Not every morning was pretty
either. But we learned that generally the mornings that we read from the Book
of Mormon made for a better day. We eventually figured out that after everyone
was dressed and fed, it worked the best.
I confess
that there were some mornings that felt like it was such a fight to get it
done, others we maybe got 5 minutes in. Scripture Study with 3 active,
rambunctious boys didn’t always produce high levels of edification……. but what
I can say is that we stayed consistent in
our effort.
It took us 2
school years to read the Book of Mormon. And I will never forget the morning
that we finished. We had 2 chapters left
and as we read them the spirit that was present was so tender, so powerful and
SO REAL! The tears came and they didn’t stop. The boys could feel it too and
the tears flowed down their faces as well. The power in that book is REAL! We
know it’s true! We even took on Moroni’s challenge in Moroni 10:4 to ‘…ask God,
the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, if these things are not true;
and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in
Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy
Ghost.”
Ryker
offered this prayer that morning and as he prayed my heart felt as if it were
going to burst. I was so amazed at the words that he uttered to his Father in
Heaven asking Him to testify to us that the Book of Mormon was true. My heart was
so filled with love. Love for my 3 boys. Love for my Eternal Father. Love for
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Love for the testimony and knowledge we gained from
the Book of Mormon. And love from the Holy Ghost testifying to our hearts of
the truth of that book!
In that
moment, all the rough mornings were WORTH IT!!!
After we
finished the Book of Mormon, we were eager to start on something new and began
on President Nelson’s challenge to read every reference about Christ in the
Topical Guide. Each taking a turn reading a reference. This has been very
exciting for us.
Along the
way, my boys have become very good readers. They have learned where to find the
references to Christ in the different books of scripture. They are beginning to
understand the language of the scriptures. My oldest son, Ryker, now a 5th
grader, isn’t afraid to be a light on a hill that cannot be hid and shares his
testimony regularly. My second son, Cyrus now a 2nd grader
participates fully in family scripture study and genuinely loves looking up the
references about Christ, while the 3 year old, Fynn wanders around and does his
own thing, weaving in and out of discussion.
Now that the
Come Follow Me program has been introduced, Jesse has taken the lead. We study
the curriculum before church meetings on Sunday and on Monday night for Family
Home Evening. The very first Sunday of the year, Jesse took the lead with the
discussion. We were all gathered around our kitchen table all dressed for
church and I sat back watching and a feeling of awe came over me. The boys were
all very comfortable with this scenario. Sitting around the kitchen table for
scripture study was normal for them. As
my husband bore his tender testimony to our boys the spirit confirmed to me that
this scenario would not have happened if I had not followed the prompting I had
received two-and-a-half years prior. I feel so grateful that I followed through
with that one prompting.
What
experience set us up to embrace the Come Follow Me Program.
Let me use
another story to illustrate and I’d like you to listen with your spiritual
ears.
Last week,
Jesse and I went to a Paint Night for our date. When we arrived we found empty
seats with a canvas, paint brushes and paint ready for each of us. There were
about 25 people there and one instructor. Before we started, the
Instructor/Artist made us all say out-loud that we weren’t allowed to say
anything like… “Oh I messed up” or “My neighbor’s looks better than mine” or “I
like theirs better.” She told us that even though we were all there to paint
the same image each person’s painting would come out looking different. We all
vowed that we would have fun and be the best version of ourselves.
Step by step
we were given pretty simple instruction.
Some of the steps felt easy and flawless. Some of the steps felt maybe a little awkward,
hard and maybe a little frustrating. I wondered how these little brush strokes
could turn out looking like foliage or water. Each brush stroke in isolation
didn’t look very interesting or impressive. In fact, if I stood close to the
canvas, all I could see was a mass of unrelated variations of blue strokes.
As we
continued to work on our paintings I had moments of “I’m not sure I know what
I’m doing” or “I hope this turns out OK” and a few “Oh I like that, I’m proud
of how that looks”.
When we
finished and I could step back and see all the individual brushstrokes combine
together and produced a scene of a peaceful moonlit lake. Many ordinary, individual brushstrokes
working together to create a captivating and if I do say so myself,…(show
painting)….. a beautiful painting.
When I step
back and look on the past 2.5 years establishing a scripture study habit with
my boys in my mind it is an overall beautiful scene. It didn’t matter that not
every day went as planned or that we had some mishaps and mistakes throughout.
Or as Bob Ross would say…” There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.”
But what
mattered was that we were CONSISTENT!!!!
Each time we
prayed, and each episode of scripture study was a brush stroke on the canvas of
our souls.
Elder Bednar
stated… “No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just
as the different shades of [blue] and [white] strokes of paint complement each
other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing
seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results.” (“More
Diligent and Concerned at Home”, Oct 2009 Gen. Conf.)
When we
started implementing the Come Follow Me Curriculum in our family, I felt
confident going into it because I could draw from our scripture study
experience and it helped me know that if we stayed consistent with it, we would
slowly create something wonderful.
I also find comfort from the blessings
promised from our beloved Prophet to those families who embrace the Come Follow
Me program;
“Homes transformed into sanctuaries of faith.”
“The power
of families unleashed’”
“Sabbath
Days will truly be a delight.”
“The
influence of the adversary in our lives and homes will DECREASE.”
“The
children will be excited to learn and live the Savior’s teachings.”
This week
for Family Night we were discussing why the Savior taught in parables. We then
discussed the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. I had the boys read the
Parable first and then we broke down the Spiritual Side of it. And I’ll be
honest going into this I was a little worried they were going to be bored. But
to my surprise they were completely engaged and loving unfolding the meaning
behind the parable. They were even putting the pieces together before I even
told them what each thing represented. I saw them connecting the dots and the
excitement in their eyes as they were learning with their spiritual ears was
powerful. I can see the prophets promise unfolding.
This week I
also asked my family what their impressions have been from implementing Come
Follow Me into our home. Or maybe what their favorite part about it was? Or
their favorite story?
Jesse said
that he is enjoying the time we are making to talk about the Gospel with each
other. He said it is an inspired program because it has felt natural and just
makes sense.
Ryker said
he loved learning about the original 12 apostles and how we have 12 modern-day
apostles. He loved seeing the picture of the modern-day apostles all together
in Rome standing in front of the Christus and 12 Apostles Statues. It’s made
him feel happy and he likes going to church prepared to discuss the week’s
topic.
Cyrus said
he loves when we dress up and act out some of the stories. He loves the
“Spiritual Smoothies” that we have during our lessons. He admitted that is
makes him happy and sometimes mad. And his favorite story was when Christ cast
out the legion of devils into the 20,000 pigs and they ran off the cliff.
When I asked
Fynn what he liked about the Come Follow Me program that we had been doing in
our family I was shocked to get a related answer from him. He said, “I like we
sing”.
I was a
little surprised that no one mentioned anything about the Family Night Lesson where
we learned about John-the Baptist eating locus and honey. And I gave each of them dried crickets as
their family night treat.
Now, going
back to my paint night story, did you listen with your spiritual ears? I gave
you a modern-day Come Follow Me Parable. We can call it the Parable of the
Paint Night.
The instructor
is like the Savior. He is giving us step by step instructions. Even weekly
instructions with the Come Follow Me Curriculum. Some weeks we will think “I’m
not sure I know what I’m doing” or “I hope this turns out OK” and a few “Oh I
like that, I’m proud of how that lesson or discussion went”. We are all going
to have “painting moments” that feel amazing and others not so sure if it’s
even worth trying. We have to remember that… “No one event may appear to be
very impressive or memorable. But just as the different shades of [blue] and
[white] strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive
masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to
significant spiritual results.”
Like the
instructor, our Savior doesn’t want us to compare our “paintings” to each
other’s. The beauty of the Come Follow Me program is that we are all studying
the same curriculum and yet each family, each person, each “Painting” is
uniquely beautiful.
It’s
supposed to look different for each of us. As I thought about that. Each of us
having a unique painting of our lives. I envisioned an overall painting as a
ward and as a church. Envision each family in our unique efforts as a single
brush stroke on the ward and church painting. Individual brushstrokes combining
together to produce a Heavenly scene working together to create something
captivating, holy and GLORIOUS!
I testify
that if we stay CONSISTENT, DILIGENT and CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO FEEL THE
SPIRIT, God will fulfill his promises and begin to “work miracles in us and in
our lives.”
“As disciples of the Savior, we are not merely
striving to know more; rather, we need to consistently
do more of what we know is right and become better.”
Truly, “the
Lord likes effort, and He blesses our best efforts.”
I testify
that the Come Follow Me Program is truly inspired and comes from God. Its
already changed my family and I thank Heavenly Father every night for blessing
me to be a mother in this time of the Church. And for the blessing of raising 3
active, rambunctious boys with this Program.
I say these
things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
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