Christmas Concert/Sacrament

Decorating the tree

John Derek's Creation

Grandmommy and Michael

John Derek had a Christmas concert at school.  He had practiced hard for it.  Even staying aftershool once a week to rehurse.  He was so excited for this performance and talked about it all the time.  He wanted everything to be just perfect.  He got the "part" of Donner (he got to put on raindeer antlers and stand in front of the group with the other raindeer.)  I had to leave to take kids somewhere and Derek was going to pick him up and go to the concert.  On his own JD took a shower, got dressed and did his hair.  It was fun to see him excited and he did a good job.  What a good boy.

Grandmommy and John Derek at his Christmas Concert

The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul

Cheryl A. Esplin, October 2014 General Conference

"One Sunday after her self-evaluation, she began to feel gloomy and pessimistic. She could see that she was making the same errors over and over again, week to week. But then she had a distinct impression that she was neglecting a big part of the Atonement—Christ’s enabling power. She was forgetting all the times the Savior helped her be who she needed to be and serve beyond her own capacity.

With this in mind, she reflected again on the previous week. She said: “A feeling of joy broke through my melancholy as I noted that He had given me many opportunities and abilities. I noted with gratitude the ability I had to recognize my child’s need when it wasn’t obvious. I noted that on a day when I felt I could not pack in one more thing to do, I was able to offer strengthening words to a friend. I had shown patience in a circumstance that usually elicited the opposite from me.”

She concluded: “As I thanked God for the Savior’s enabling power in my life, I felt so much more optimistic toward the repentance process I was working through and I looked to the next week with renewed hope.”"

This is one thing I would like to do during the sacrament. Spend some of it on repentance and some of it on the enabling power of the atonement. I feel that the atonement and the sacrament I don't fully utilize. That there is "untapped" power that the Lord wants me to have in my life.

I do know that the sacrament is hard with kids but I do feel it is getting better. I am grateful for the friend in our ward that takes Michael. That really helps the reverence of the sacrament for me.