Choose Love.
Again this past week I felt like I could not do anything right. I say again because this feeling is such a regular companion of mine these days. I'm sure I feel more this way when we are all sick and I'm sleeping in fourty five mintue segments and my patience is at a much lower lever than it should be. I would be lying if I said I didn't highly consider {on several occastions} Savanna's tactic of just zipping myself all the way up into a sweatshirt and riding in the stroller!
There was one moment where I felt like maybe I am doing something right. It happened when one of my children had a really rotten reaction to something (now I can't even remember what it was that set her off) - she shouted, pouted, and stormed into the other room. This part makes me feel like I'm doing it all wrong. What happened next made me realize that I do make great efforts daily to show love and be patient and try to see that this behavior must be coming from a deep and unmet need. My two little ones (4 years and 2 years old) both said, "Oh, I love you. I sure love you." It was nice to know that in some small way I am setting a good example for them, a way for them to see that when people lash out what they need most is to know how loved they are. Love, after all, is something that we choose. We can choose it every day or every few days. I need to work on choosing love EVERY MINUTE. This example showed me that yes, I can do it if I pray a lot and don't give up, and that yes, we can choose love. Even a two year old can choose love.
Another highlight of the week was BYU heading into the sweet 16 and getting to see my brother for a little while during his brief visit. This week had a lot of sadness and some tragedy mixed in as well, but I can still see the blessings and the Lord's hand and I can still choose love.
Again this past week I felt like I could not do anything right. I say again because this feeling is such a regular companion of mine these days. I'm sure I feel more this way when we are all sick and I'm sleeping in fourty five mintue segments and my patience is at a much lower lever than it should be. I would be lying if I said I didn't highly consider {on several occastions} Savanna's tactic of just zipping myself all the way up into a sweatshirt and riding in the stroller!
There was one moment where I felt like maybe I am doing something right. It happened when one of my children had a really rotten reaction to something (now I can't even remember what it was that set her off) - she shouted, pouted, and stormed into the other room. This part makes me feel like I'm doing it all wrong. What happened next made me realize that I do make great efforts daily to show love and be patient and try to see that this behavior must be coming from a deep and unmet need. My two little ones (4 years and 2 years old) both said, "Oh, I love you. I sure love you." It was nice to know that in some small way I am setting a good example for them, a way for them to see that when people lash out what they need most is to know how loved they are. Love, after all, is something that we choose. We can choose it every day or every few days. I need to work on choosing love EVERY MINUTE. This example showed me that yes, I can do it if I pray a lot and don't give up, and that yes, we can choose love. Even a two year old can choose love.
Another highlight of the week was BYU heading into the sweet 16 and getting to see my brother for a little while during his brief visit. This week had a lot of sadness and some tragedy mixed in as well, but I can still see the blessings and the Lord's hand and I can still choose love.
so glad you got to see your brother - and we were pretty excited about BYU also. i'm sorry about the sadness/tragedy - i think i know what you are speaking of and we are stunned and saddened too.
ReplyDeletejust keep on choosing love. :)
xoxo