We need better armor

This past weekend was General Conference for our church.  During General Conference we hear current messages from our leaders instructing us how to be happy, which of course, coincides with making good life choices.

I love General Conference weekends.  They are relaxing and it seems that one of us always falls asleep.  Of course the kids are in and out of the room and we are up and down tending to business but it's still a motivating experience.  This time the kids had a bingo card to cross off when they heard certain words which they were pretty jazzed up about that.  Matthew chose one talk (Pres. Eyring) to listen to the whole way through and much to my surprise, he stuck with it marking off this card as he went.  He was even able to regurgitate some the the addresses the next day.

As much as I love General Conference, it's a little uncomfortable too because it alerts me that I need to get off my keester and do more.  I need to be more spiritually in tune and work harder to have peace and harmony in our home.  During one of the conference talks, I looked over at the kitchen table where all three kids were coloring and/or climbing.  It struck me that I am their mother, they will grow fast, and I am responsible for the welfare, the total welfare, of these three little souls and someday I will miss this.  I snapped a photo which will win no awards but I wanted to memorialize exactly how my children looked at that moment in time.  

Since Matthew started school in August, I've been thinking more about how high the stakes really are.  He needs to be armed because he and all the others will fight a mighty battle the likes of which have never been fought in the history of the world.  Sometimes I think about the young Greek warriors who were trained to fight so young and how they considered it an honor but as a mother I think it is horrid.  But if I were a Greek mother, there is no way I would send a young son to battle without the best possible training in all the land.  Similarly, our children must have the best, most durable, armor in the form of spiritual strength that we can afford.  And for me I must afford more in the means of teaching time and energy.  I don't want to look back someday and wish I would have done more when they struggle, which will surely happen at some point in their lives.

I've discovered that bedtime is our prime teaching time.  The kids are more receptive to chatting and start to relax and unwind right after they wear themselves out from jumping on the bed and having a pillow fight.  They love to read stories from The Friend and it gives us a prime chance to discuss spiritual topics.  The other night we found ourselves knee deep in a story that I was frankly, a little uncomfortable with.  It was about a little boy at the playground who had friends who were trying to get him to look at pornography.  My sweet boys, thankfully, are clueless, which is exactly how I want it but it left me holding the bag as to how to explain what was happening in the story and why it's wrong.  Matthew then informed me that he would buy a gun, turn into a real live super hero and destroy the bad guys and the blow up the buildings where the bad people were.  A lofty and admirable goal to rid the world of evil, no doubt.  When I asked him what he would do if someone tried to show him a picture that wasn't nice he promptly informed me that he tell them he was a kung fu/karate master from one movie (thank you very much Kung Fu Panda).

So the next night we talked about baptisms for the dead, the resurrection, and accountability for children less than eight.  It kind of seems heavy duty but he's eating it up and he needs to learn while he's receptive.  Spence just takes it all in, as much as his little miniature body who still fits in some 18 month clothes can understand.

Some days this mom business is serious stuff.