Feeling Good

I am always amazed with Nathanael's ability to explain the way he feels when he makes good choices. He is so sweet when he tries to help the younger kids understand this feeling. I love being able to ask him how he feels about something, and seeing him turn negative emotions to positive actions.

This morning, he did NOT want to go to church. I tried talking to him about how his baptism is coming up (being careful to make sure he knows it's his choice, he doesn't have to be baptized). I reminded him that being baptized means we will follow Jesus Christ, and told him that part of following Jesus is to attend church meetings. He still didn't want to go.

At 8:35 he was still in his pajamas. I told him I couldn't leave him home alone, and he could go to church in his jammies or he could get his church clothes on. He still didn't want to.

I finally told him that when we miss church once, it's easier to miss it the next time. Then it's easier and easier to skip meetings, and then it's easy to start making other bad choices. I explained that when I feel like skipping church, I go anyway because I know Satan is working on me. I told him of a time I didn't want to go, and when I went I had a great experience.

I'm not sure which of those things convinced him to go, but he finally got some dress clothes on, and we walked to church. He was really good during sacrament meeting and on the way home from church, he had the biggest smile. I had honestly forgotten about the difficulty of the morning because he was so sweet. He stopped me on our walk home, and said "Mom, I'm so glad you told me about how going to church when you don't want to is important."

Yep, I'm doing something right. Often the pressure of raising these kids is too much, and I wonder how much I'm screwing up their lives. I worry all the time that I'm not teaching them enough, but in that instant, I knew that I was doing a good job. I'm so proud of my son, and I know that he learned a lesson today because I listened to the spirit.