Spiritual Thought Sunday

Church was great today.  My thought for today came from the lesson that I gave today.  I gave a lesson to the Laurel girls on Honoring Parents.  I really enjoyed preparing this lesson.  We were short on time and I really wanted to touch on a couple of points in the lesson with the 15 minutes that I had.  I felt the Spirit of our Heavenly Father so much when I played this short video for the girls:


At the end of this little video, we were all in tears.  I know that some of the girls are having a hard time at home right now.  I mean, they are having a hard time getting along with their parents now that they are 18 years old.  It is a super hard age.  It is an age when you feel like you are finally an "adult" and you should have lots of freedom and choice to do whatever you want, but you are still a child in so many ways.  Terrified to go venture out on your own and actually "BE" an adult.  I know that this struggle exists with a couple of the girls in my class.

I felt impressed to tell the girls to hang in there.  Their parents are trying to do the best that they can.  Their parents are just as scared to see them grow up and get ready to leave their home in a few months when college starts.  I thought of my own mother.  How great she is.  Even at this tender age she always found little ways to encourage me and to show me that she loved me.

I am thankful for my mother.  I am thankful for her example to me, especially concerning the standards and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She is one of my greatest friends.  I am thankful for her kind heart and her unwillingness to stray from what she truly believes in.  What a great mother I have.  And after giving this lesson, I missed her a ton!

After the video was over, I gave the girls a journal.  I instructed them to use it as a Circle Journal.  It is a journal between them and one of their parents.  They are to write about a topic and then give it to their parent who then writes about the same topic and then picks a new one to write about before giving it back.  I have a journal just like this that I do with my own mother.  It is really fun.  I have been able to learn quite a bit about my mom that I don't think I would have otherwise if we didn't have this extra form of communication.

I hope that you are thankful for your parents.  I know that I am.

Have a great week!