A Joyful Heart

I have been meaning to post about the stake women's conference I went to last Saturday, but life happened. I loved the words that were spoken, and have thought of them often. Our FHE lesson last night was even based off of some of the lessons I learned. I loved Sister Dalton's talk about finding joy in our lives. She talked about the things that have brought joy into her life and the three types of hearts we should all strive to carry within us. I will just share what caught my ear...

A serving heart- There are limitless ways we can serve those around us. Let us be aware of those whose lives we can touch. Be someone who lightens burdens, makes someone smile, and serves those in her own home. Seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost and then respond to promptings. Seek to better ourselves by recognizing our own weaknesses.

A forgiving heart- Look for the positive in others and forgive their negative qualities. Be careful to not balance hurt with hate. I loved that! If we will forgive others and sometimes even ourselves we will find joy in our lives.

A grateful heart- Be full of gratitude for those things that we have been blessed with. Look at ourselves and others as children of our Heavenly Father.

I also loved the class I went to on parenting by Brother and Sister Winkle. He said that the best thing we can do as parents is to teach the gospel to our children by living it our homes each and everyday. He also said that he thinks all families should have this scripture on their refridgerators, D&C 88:124-"Cease to find fault, one with another". He explained that critisism destroys families and that there is a balance between damanding things out of our children and leading our children. I admit I struggle with this sometimes, especially after I have had to repeat myself a million times for something to get done. When I am about to blow, or sometimes after I have erupted I remember the words to the song "I Am A Child Of God" and it helps me to get back on track. Brother Winkle ended by stating that sometimes he thinks that to many parents are creating a "Garden of Eden" for their children and not letting them have enough opportunity to learn for themselves. He told a story about how his grandson was up one morning with all the fixin's for french toast all over the kitchen and all the time his Mom(Bro. Winkle's daughter) was sound asleep- a sleeper-inner just like me on the weekends! To this brother Winkle said, "And I say good"! His point was, that it is important for kids to learn to be self reliant. I had to laugh, because that same morning I had decided to sleep in, even though I was fully aware that three of my nieces had stayed the night, meaning I had 7 kids ages 11 and younger running around my house. At 8:30 I woke up and thought I smelled something cooking, but when I decided that it didn't smell like a bad fire smell I rolled over and ignored what might be going on. About 20 minutes later Matt and I were presented with a breakfast in bed of pancakes, little cups of peanut butter and syrup, hard boiled eggs and cherry apple juice served in my best gravy boat. Oh, and I almost forgot about the peanut butter chips on the side. See, all along I was just making sure that I was raising self reliant kids!

I was so glad that I decided to finally get my bum out of bed so I could learn these great lessons!