Journal

Yesterday I took my children to the pool. As we were there, a bunch of our neighborhood moms were talking about their children and their talents. I just sat back and listened. One mother was telling about how great her daughter was at school- and how she always gets 100% on everything- and how she is self motivated to do all her homework, read, and that she never has to worry about her. 

The other mother was saying how her son was a champion in football and they have won all of their games and how athletic he was and how he is so talented at every sport he has ever played. 

These mothers are right. I know these children, in fact, i've known them since they were babies. All of these kids have grown up together. Now, just about an hour before all of this- I was struggling to help my son do his homework. He is bright, yes, some things are very difficult for him and it is hard for me to watch. Of course, I couldn't help but think- what are my children's talents? 

I was actually feeling really depressed about it- because for one- these mothers have their kids in swimming, football camps, soccer camps, and gymnastics. They are super active. They DO things ALL the time. While I think that is great- that is just not going to work for us. First of all it is EEEKSPENSIVE. Our rule is every child gets to do 1 thing a YEAR. Why? Because it costs A LOT. And we have 4 kids! Sure, I would like to have my children do everything- it is good for them, it expands their horizons, it helps them to make friendships, It gives them goals to work towards. So.... there I was just sitting there- thinking {what are my childrens talents} and then the spirit hit me...

"Your children have the talent to recognize the spirit- they are good children, they know how to make good choices and have a relationship with their Heavenly Father."

At that moment I realized- Heavenly Father does care about me, he knows me, and he understands that the most important thing we could ever give our children is a relationship with Him. And why is that important, because when life gets hard- and we know it does- He is the only one who can guide us. 

So, I learned today that I don't have to feel like a terrible mother for not putting her kids in a million different things, and that everyone has different talents. And I am grateful for the spiritual talents that my children do have- that really have no trophies attached to them.