I broke the news to my kids yesterday that in addition to paying attention and taking notes during conference to then discuss with the family, they were also going to have to give me their favorite quote. Ethan's reaction was to moan and lament "how am I going to do that?" Poor kid didn't know what giving me a quote meant. I told him that all he had to do was listen and tell me something that someone said and boom, that was a quote. I told him that someone could say "ponies are really awesome" and if that was his favorite thing from conference, that's what he should give me. "oooooh, ok." Crisis averted!
I got the idea somewhere on-line awhile back and decided that I was going to give it a try. That wall was previously cluttered with business cards and artwork and receipts that I didn't want lost all pinned on a cork board and ribbon board. It was a mess and I hated it. This looks much better. I even got to dust off the 'ole cricut and cut out some vinyl. My office was a mess for days. I did a bunch of trial runs, with paper, of different sizes and fonts and had them all spread out on the floor. My husband finally asked me last night what the heck was going on. What else did he say? "The rest of us aren't spiritual enough to live with you." He'll be happy that I just came across an article in an on-line LDS magazine today called "the dangers of hyper-vigilance." He's going to smile and laugh when I show it to him. It was talking about someone being "tirelessly on alert." Yep, that's me alright. ;0) In my defense….look at the difference between Nehemiah and Lehonti. Vigilance was the difference between life and death! Yeah, yeah, she was talking about wisdom and order and not running faster than you have strength -yada yada. I obviously do have some problems because - hello- my neck and back are killing me - and I'm a little walking ball of stress. I would also never like to be the only man in the scriptures to be labeled as being "over zealous" like Zeniff. *sigh* I guess I've got some chill pills to swallow…but not too many that I get poisoned by degrees ;0)
Pay no attention to the anchors and holes that are still in the wall from the previous decorations. One day I'll get around to covering those up, in the meantime it will just have to look like there are invisible I's that were dotted…..how's that for non-vigilance? Pretty good eh? hahaha There's no hope for the wicked!
Here's my master plan behind this idea. My kids haven't developed a habit of writing in their journals yet. When I remember to remind them - especially when we do something like going to the Gilbert temple open house- they will write something. I remind them on Sundays as well for "mandatory journal time" but that doesn't always work. So, how can I help my children? One of the ways was by having them take notes of general conference and then storing them away for them. Now I can add their favorite quotes to that. I'm hoping that by choosing one thing that stood out to each of my children, it will be the thing that hits them in the heart. It will also provide the opportunity for them to check in on that quote and see if they incorporated it into their lives….unless it's something like liking ponies….which is fine…I'll take it….baby steps. I'm hoping this is one more small thing we can do that will help build the testimonies of my children. To get them suited up in spiritual armor.
This is going to be tuff for me to narrow down. It will be like asking me who my favorite child is. So not fair to make me choose! I might just have to use a really small font so I can fit at least 3 in my frame.
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