Direction

Lately I've been thinking about the wondrous blessing it is to be able to pray for specific ways to help my children and receive answers. They are not only my children though, so Heavenly Father has vested interest and is generous with help. A few specific examples I want to record:

One time a child wasn't being productive or using his time wisely and therefore had little confidence and self esteem. I prayed to know how to help. The answer was to "pray every morning with this child before school. You always say the prayer--express gratitude for him and his talents and also pray for him to use his talents and strengths in productive ways and to develop a testimony." Simple. Perfect. And it helps so much. We've been at this one for well over a year and I can see a powerful trend.

Another time another child was struggling and just having a hard time with life. Sibling relationships, school, chores, friends. Life was just bad. The answer was to give more hugs and start a Book of Mormon reading incentive with him. Simple. Perfect. I can't believe the difference. (There is power in that book.)

Another child has been prayed for to know how to help direct energy and to remediate lacking fine motor skills. The answer was to do a formal preschool with her (taught by me). Then the ideas flowed as to how to logistically make it work, what to teach and how to accomplish it. Simple. Perfect. The difference is amazing. (a separate post on this later)

A few weeks ago I was losing sleep over a current event and what I could do to help my family navigate through successfully. So I prayed to know what to do. My answer was to use my mini meetings to teach the doctrine of the family from this talk by Sister Beck. Results are not in yet, but at least I can sleep because I'm being proactive.

Another child has a difficult time keeping his bedroom clean. This has bothered me not because of the mess per say, but because of the fact that the Spirit can't reside in such a sloppy habitat. Also, taking those habits into missionary companionships and a marriage will put strain on those relationships. In the past I've created more charts than I want to count, I've nagged, I've ignored and I've tried to help him catch the vision of why it is important. Unsuccessful. So I prayed about it. I was given an answer. It was: "go into his room every night and help him clean it. It will help him realize how nice it is to keep clean, it will teach him to clean up once a night and it can be a bonding time for you. Even if on some nights you do all the work, the results will come." Simple. Perfect. And it has been working.

There are others, I know, but these have been the ones foremost on my mind lately. All I can say is I'm so thankful for divine guidance and direction. It is custom fit to my children's needs and within my abilities. There is no way with my limited knowledge, experience and emotional limitations that I could navigate through motherhood and be very successful. I need so much help and I'm so thankful help is ever present.