Privilege

It has been forever since I've written anything on this blog. We've had a really fun summer. I'll write more on that later, but I have been thinking a lot about something the last few days, and I wanted to document it somewhere.

Last week, the family traveled to Utah so Chad and I could be with some friends who were sealed in the temple. (I'll include some of the details of that later). While there, we stayed with my sister, Shari, and she was wonderful enough to watch all 4 of the kids for 7 hours while Chad and I drove from Logan to Boutiful, did a session in that beautiful temple, and drove back to Logan. That night after we got back to Logan we went to the Cache County Fair. It was so fun just to wander around and look at the animals (Megan was terrified of them!) and enjoy fair food. I'm lame and wouldn't let the kids ride any rides--$3 for 30 seconds on a car that you don't even steer... LAME!! But at one point Shari and I were haggling over who was paying for her dinner. I was insisting that I pay because she'd watched my kids all day. And she said, "It was a privilege to watch them." I jokingly said, "I do it all day, every day... its not that great of a privilege."

And that's what has made me think.

One definition of privilege is a right ... or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most.

It is a privilege for me to have these 4 special little people in my house, under my care, every single day. They are children of our Heavenly Father and I have the responsibility to teach them, and to train them, and to love them, and to show them the things they need to know so they can be strong citizens and builders of the kingdom of God. I need to remember this more.

Thanks, Shari, for reminding me of this privilege.

The other key word in that definition is enjoy. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the mundane routine that I forget this part. My mom and I were talking last week about being quick to laugh at things. I used to be... probably a little TOO quick to laugh at things... but I don't know that I am anymore. I forget that "Men are that they might have JOY!" That is our Heavenly Father's plan. Sure, its to have joy with our families for eternity, but we should seek to enjoy this life. Even though sometimes life is hard. And even the privilege of raising my children is hard.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin gave this talk in 2008. His mother gave him some advice one day: "Joseph, come what may, and love it!" Of this he said, "I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result."

So even as having this privilege has its times when the birds don't sing, I can be enjoy it.