Boat/Practice

Grandaddy got a new boat.  While at the lake Michael got to ride with me on the Jet Ski.  It was the first time he had not been afraid to ride on it.  The next day Derek took him on the new boat.  He loved it.  As we were saying his prayer that evening I prompted, "Thank you for the boat."  Michael repeated, "Thank you for the . . . little boat, thank you for the BIG boat!!"

The other Sunday one of the speakers talked about "Turning Our Weaknesses into Strengths."  He did a wonderful job and I asked if he could send me the talk.  He took most of his talk from a talk Brother Wilcox gave at BYU entitled, His Grace is Sufficient.  This is an amazing talk and I loved it. One of the things that really stood out to me was his analogy of taking piano lessons.  He talks about how Christ is like the mother who pays for the piano lessons.  She does not expect repayment but does ask us to practice an the more we practice the better we get.

Brother Wilcox says, "When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?"

This is good for me to remember with myself as well as with my children.  I love the idea of practice.  I can practice.  I can practice and becoming better.  I can practice at living with depression.  I can practice being a mom.  I am continually learning, falling, and trying again.  With each try I am moving forward.  It makes the task of keeping the commandments and dealing with my weaknesses so much easier and more doable.