A Yummy FHE

Sunday night we were invited to join the Thompsons for family home evening (which also counts as Nathan and Heath's home teaching visits). The temperature was beginning to drop just a bit outside, so it was a perfect time to enjoy a little fire. Kelly shared a story with us to help us remember that Christ is the Light of the World and that when we see light, whether from a fire, a candle, or even the sun, we can be reminded of the love of our Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus Christ. Then she invited each of the kids to name something that they can do to show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ how much they love them. As expected, the kids just named random things, from flowers to exercise, that somehow we were able to find a way to tie into the original question asked. After the lesson, we roasted marshmallows and made smores, which just happens to be one of Dallin's very favorite things to do. He loved it. I think he ate about 10 roasted marshmallows and then made himself a very yummy ooey-gooey smore. Mandy stuffed her mouth with marshmallows and then licked all of the chocolate off the graham cracker. It was such a pleasant evening. They have such a wonderful spirit in their home that it is a pleasure just to be there. They are the kind of family that I want mine to be like. Kelly is an amazing, loving, wonderful, energetic, caring, giving, sweet mother. When I think of her I always think of Mary Poppins and how she is "practically perfect in every way". I know you are not supposed to do this, but it is something that I have done for as long as I can remember and I just can't seem to get out of the habit. I constantly compare myself with the people that I am around and I always find myself lacking. I don't know why I torture myself that way because in my head I know that the lives of the people I am comparing myself to are not always what they seem. But I do it anyway and then I feel sad that I don't measure up to the standard that I perceive that others live. And I feel really guilty doing it right now because that very Sunday I based my singing time on the page in this month's Friend by Elder Holland who taught that we should speak as Jesus Christ would speak. I discussed each principle presented by Elder Holland with the children and then we sang a related song. One of the principles that we discussed was "speak positively, including about yourself". I even took it one step further and told the children that you should "think positively, including about yourself". Why is it that I don't take my own advice? It is not that I think that I am a BAD mother, it is just that I know I could do better. So maybe I shouldn't think of my crazy habit of comparing myself to others as a bad thing, but rather as a way that I can take the good that I see in others and try to find a way to put that goodness in me.