Gala and ya'll

Glad to hear that things are better for your dad. I lost my dad several years ago and my husband has lost both of his parents. Its hard when we get older and the roles of concern change from parent to child. Look for something bright and positive and focus on that rather then all the bad/sad things happening. If you don't it will bring you down and make you ill. My daughter and her husband are moving out today...with my youngest son leaving on his mission a week ago, that leaves us with an empty nest. At first I shed a few tears but they were mixed joy and saddness. Its a very weird time of life for those of you that haven't gotten there yet. You are so happy to have the house to yourself, but then you miss all the hustle bustle and general chaos. The funniest thing is I couldn't wait for all that to end and now that it has....it leaves me pondering my life. I must have done okay because my four married children all married in the Temple. My 3 sons have all gone on missions and my 2 daughters have married return missionaries. Wow! I know I sure didn't do all the standards to achieve that either. We weren't real faithful about family scripture reading, family prayer and family homevenings. In fact when our youngest kids got to be early teens, I can't remember having home evenings at all. They all were so involved in sports, scouts, cheerleading etc. But we always took them to church no matter what. We stuck to our guns on the big stuff (drugs and sex) and let the little things go like what they wear or friends (as long as they don't cross over into the big stuff if you know what I mean). No tatoos etc. We taught our kids that respecting the church authoritities was vital and that they should have solid good goals. So, aside from those things....I feel so blessed that though we didn't do all the things we should have done, my kids turned out great so far. I'm sure life will throw us some new trials...they aren't over yet, but it will be different. okay....enough venting. Brothers and sisters, be positive and find three things a day to laugh about. Even if its at your own expense. If we make everything something to stress over, we will never see the joy in learning. Blessings Christy

Christy, Interesting you just posted some thoughts I've been wondering myself. I'm from a VERY wild background and I was out of control as a young woman. Now, i'm a fairly strict mother, with a 17.5 year old son. I work full time, I try so hard to be a great mom, but I too don't do all the suggested things the church offers.....FHE, scripture study...but we are strict on the big things too...no drugs, smoking or alcohol......and I continually tell his friends our rules. I'm a nurse and I bring home tons of stories of cancer, drinking and driving, drug abuse and I think my kids are pretty aware of the ugly side of life. We have family prayer several times a day, and more often if someone is sick or in need. Grandma is in the process of dying with cancer and we pray for her alot, and my kids fast for her pain control. My husband and I try to be good examples for the kids....we point out parts in movies we don't agree with, and why they are not uplifting. Now the kids are starting to point out the parts of movies they don't appreciate........My husband and I rarely fight and if we are having a problem we keep it private, not a house full of yelling and cursing and screaming like I grew up in. Maybe a "humph!" here and there, but we aren't rude to each other. I can only hope my kids turn out well, and I often feel like if they don't it'll be my fault. But I had good parents and I exercised my free agency to the edge of the cliff and back. I of all people understand that good parents often raise strong, independent, self assured people who may not always make good choices. Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts. Tracey

Thanks for the pep talk Christy. So many times I feel like I'm failing because I'm not doing EVERYTHING the prophet teaches. I know that I can improve on so many things but with a non-member husband it's hard to do everything. I know, I'm justifying things. My oldest boy is 21 years old and very inactive in the church. My husband would never allow him to receive the priesthood so he lost interest in the church when he was about 14 years old because he couldn't participate the way the other boys did. He's a good boy and I have mothers tell me that they are so glad when my son hangs out with their boys because they know that the boys won't get into any trouble or do anything they shouldn't be doing. My daughters are 19, 17, 6 and 4. They are all VERY active in the church and my 17 is planning on going on a mission. I needed to hear your pep talk today. Thank you for making my day. Okay, laugh 3 times a day - well, I can laugh at least one time today. We went to my brothers house, had dinner and let the young children hunt easter eggs. My 5 year old nephew came in with an egg he had found and told us it was "leaking". We looked at this egg WE had dyed and found a RAW egg. How it got in the batch is beyond me but that's one laugh for me today. Melody