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Compassion

Today, my husband had a minor surgical procedure. All is well and he is recovering at home. Our grandchildren who live close to us wanted to come by and “check” on their grandfather. They were very quiet as they entered the house and even were tiptoeing into the bedroom. He was awake and showed them the bandage covering his stitches.

I am amazed at how perceptive our grandchildren are. They are so responsive to our requests when someone is sick or recovering. We have dealt with a lot of medical issues in the past few years, and perhaps the experience of dealing with health challenges has helped them to learn how to be kind, considerate and helpful.

Hyrum, our 20 month old grandson, came to the side of the bed to talk to his grandfather. He leaned down to the floor and picked up the bottle of water sitting next to the bed to give it to his grandfather. No one asked him, he just wanted to be helpful.

There are people who don’t understand the compassion that little ones feel. I will never be one of those people ever again. I watch with appreciation the skills of showing love and helpfulness their parents have taught them. No matter how old (or young) we are, we can be kind to those around us.

How will you empower your grandchildren by teaching compassion today?

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Hot Potatoes

Yesterday was Christmas. For lunch we had baked potatoes. Our four year old granddaughter and her 20 month old brother were seated at the table while we were putting all the food on so that we could eat dinner. I warned the children not to touch the potatoes. They reached across and touched them anyway. “Hot!” said the 20 month old. Then I reminded him not to touch the potatoes. My four year old reached across again and the 20 month old followed again saying, “hot.” I moved the bowl of potatoes farther away so that even with reaching, they could not touch the bowl and get burned.

I thought about this exchange we were having as I was setting the table and they touched the potatoes even after being cautioned and having the experience of touching the hot potatoes. Even though their touch was just for a second, they still repeated the unpleasant experience. Perhaps, they wanted to know if the potatoes were still hot or perhaps they were just trying to show me that they had their choice to make and I couldn’t decide for them. I will never know. Four year olds and 20 month olds don’t always understand why they do things, nor can they explain to us. Even sometimes, we, as adults, don’t understand why we do things we do.

Do we ever make the same mistakes over and over again or do we learn from our mistakes and leave the “hot” things alone? During the next week, we will be setting our goals, putting our plans in place for 2010 and evaluating our progress of 2009. What will your progress be? What goals will you set for the coming year? What plans will you put in place so that you achieve those goals? And will you learn from the mistakes of the past and have a more peaceful life in the future?

Setting goals empowers us to move forward in our lives. How will you empower yourself today and in the coming year?

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Christmas is Coming

“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat.

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do.
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God Bless you!
God Bless you!”

I love that Christmas is this week. Last Saturday, we spent the day with our neice and nephew and their family. What a wonderful day! We sang Christmas carols, we shared past Christmas experiences, and we just enjoyed being together.

Being together is what Christmas is about. My husband and I drove down with our grandchildren in our car. It was delightful. Jakob read to us and I worked on a presentation. We talked and enjoyed the journey together. It was a long drive and at the end, everyone was happy to have arrived.

We shared a meal, swam (the brave ones, but not me. It was too cold for me). When it was time to go, it was hard for the children to say goodbye. But, we know that we will have many more glorious days to spend with them while they live so close.

Christmas is about love. Love from our Heavenly Father to send our Savior. Love from our Savior to make it possible for us to repent and return to live with Heavenly Father. Love from family and friends as we share time, talents and gifts with one another.

Christmas is coming…Are you ready?

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Lifelong Learning

I watched a broadcast of a Christmas program by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the
Bells of Temple Square and I thought, once again, how I always wanted to play the hand bells. As a child, there was not a place to take lessons. As an adult, taking lessons has not been an easy thing to find either. So, I still don’t know how to play hand bells. I love to watch, however, those who do know how to play.

I love that it takes so many people to work together to play a song, unlike the piano, which can be played alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I can sit down at the piano and play when I am happy or sad or excited or mad and do something constructive with my anger or express my joy or sorrow.

But, there is more to this blog than just talking about the beautiful team of music of hand bells. There is a message here somewhere, it may not be easy to find, so here goes: Don’t wait to do the things you want to do, do them now. Otherwise, you may end up a grandmother and not know how to play hand bells. There is no better time.

We feel so busy. Life has many things that keep our time occupied. Learning is something we need to continue to do for a lifetime. Learning keeps our brain active and can slow the progression of degenerative diseases. Learning keeps life exciting. We can share our love of learning with our family and friends. We can take classes together (our family took a sign language class together recently). Our goals may have to change, but learning is always is important.

Because of illness, my hands don’t work as they once did. I do not have the strength or the coordination to play the hand bells (there may be some who would question that I ever had the coordination). Learning, however, is an important aspect of my life. I am learning to write blogs and write courses and I am learning to be consistently learning. I even toy with the idea of going back to school. My Aunt Gwen went back to school and earned her degree after all her children were raised. Perhaps, when my youngest goes away to college, I will go back to college too. Who knows?

What have you learned today? And what will you learn tomorrow?

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Grandparents to All

There is a wonderful gift given to grandparents. We love all grandchildren, whether they belong to us or not. Let me share an experience.

Last night, we attended the Kindergarten and Preschool Holiday Program for the school where our daughter teaches. I didn’t know any of the children, but loved watching them perform for their parents and grandparents. They were precious. (At one point, my husband leaned over to me and asked if I could tell which children were kinesthetic learners. It was obvious by the movement.) They were happy. They were dressed in their best holiday clothes. There was a 4 year old who played the violin. I loved it when he called out to his mom, “How does it start?” Then, his mom called out: “bom, bom, bom, bom.” He started immediately. He knew the code she had given him. She was important to him, not only as nurturer, clothier, feeder, but also as teacher. He recognized that she could help him get where he needed to go.

One child cried. His mom encouraged, even putting him on the stage, but in the end, she sat in his chair and held him. He wasn’t ready to be on that scary stage yet.

And, there was the mother who ran to the stage as she recognized the sign that her daughter needed a quick trip to the ladies’ room.

Some children sang, some danced, some did the hand motions, some did not do any of these things. But, they were there. They were loved by their families and their teachers, which included students learning to be teachers. The children were tall and short, big and small, of many cultures and all were precious souls sent to earth for us to love.

We were proud of the children. We were proud of our daughter, who was very much in the background, letting the children shine. At the end of the program, she was presented with red roses. It was a great experience for all of us!

There is a wonderful gift given to grandparents. We are able to love the whole world. Isn’t that a
great thing? Love is an empowering gift from God. How will you use this gift of love today?

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Blissful Days

This morning, I spent some time with my daughter and grandson. My daughter let me take my twenty month old grandson for a walk. We walked past some fountains and he was so excited! I took him out of the stroller and we climbed down the steps to be closer to the fountain.

The water was going spraying up in an arch. He wanted to touch it, but I told him that was not a good idea. We climbed up the steps and sat on a park bench. He stood and held the back of the bench for support. He walked down the bench and then walked back to me. He was smiling and happy.

A lady walked past and he waved to her. She didn’t notice him and kept walking. His face dropped. I called to her, but she was captured by her thoughts. I called again and he waved again. She kept walking. I called even louder and she turned. He waved and I explained that he wanted to wave at her. She just continued on her journey.

I have thought about how important it is to acknowledge one another. Sure, he’s just a baby, but it was so important to him to share his happiness with her. How often do we get caught up in our thoughts and forget to pay attention to others and the little things in life?

Today, I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father abundantly. I want to pay attention to all those who need my smile and my “hi”. I want to share the love that Heavenly Father gives to us with others. This is one way I can show my love for Him.

We are empowered when we share our love, good wishes and support for our families and friends.