I must apologize for my post last night, not the I'm Jack note but the Be Gentle With Yourselves. The overall message I make no apology for but I feel that perhaps I was a skosh on the negative side during some of that and I am sorry. There are simply moments in life when I don't feel very good about me.
Anyway, the day was fine today. The kids were back in school and they did good there. We didn't have too much trouble getting them up and going this morning. We will see how tomorrow morning goes because we stayed up a little late tonight with fire building and FHE and heating hot water up on the wood burning stove for hot chocolate. We had a good time and then we had to clean up and that took a little time because the family room had trains and Lincoln logs and other stuff everywhere. So I finally got Jack and Natty down around 10:30. Andy was a bit more of a challenge and did not want to sleep but has finally passed out here next to me on the floor.
Tonight we studied the Plan of Salvation for FHE. I took a paper and some crayons and we drew it out together. Natty could remember some of it from previous lessons but it seemed new for Jack and Andy. We had discussed this briefly in Elders yesterday and I decided it would be good. Anyhow everyone seemed to like it. I was mapping out how things went and Jack was a little unhappy that the track leading from death to the Spirit World lead only to Prison. He asked me to draw another track leading to Paradise. That's where he wants to go. No problem. Natty did a good job remembering the Celestial Kingdom, she had Sun, Moon and Star a little mixed up but that is okay. She also knew Terrestrial and Telestial but didn't know which order. I can understand that as I used to struggle to know those as well.
I was praying last night and this morning about some of my struggles as outlined in my last night post primarily the challenge dealing with all of the different messages that are out there and how to control which thoughts I will entertain. Sometimes we simply need reminders of things that we have already been taught. President Boyd K. Packer taught us about our minds being a stage and that we control what we allow to be played on that stage. Right. So what can I do. Well, I think he suggests a few things and I believe one of them is sing a hymn. That is a great thing. I thought I could go back to doing what I did as a missionary in learning a new hymn each month as well as a new scripture. I can study these, learn them and recite them during the day especially during times of struggle. Good idea, I finished praying and then failed to pick a hymn. Actually, Andy was all over me during the prayer and when I finished praying I turned my attention to him. Funny though, I dropped him off at school and when I was headed back to my car my friend Collette was walking out to her car and we chatted about a couple of things. She has to be one of the most cheerful people I know. I don't think I have ever seen her down about anything. Her countenance just shines. Well, there you go. A good hymn to sing, There is Sunshine in my Soul Today. So I will roll with that hymn for the time being. Not sure if I will go a month or if I will take on a new hymn every couple of weeks. We'll see how it goes.
In life there are things that I can control and there are things that I cannot. Sometimes I spend too much time worried about things that are out of my control. I don't have the energy for that and need to learn to let go and focus on what I can do. If I go forth being the very best person that I can be and focusing on all that is good and holy then I will have sunshine in my soul today. Really, that is a much nicer place to be anyway.
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