Joy in the Journey Now

I attended Women's Conference today and it was just amazing! The theme was Finding Joy in the Journey Now. I had a few eye opening moments today that I thought I would share. I went to a class that was entitled Finding Joy in Parenting. During the class it reminded me of a precious moment I had with Max a few weeks ago. We have the late church schedule so before church Max and I made a tent in the living room out of our kitchen chairs and sheets. We got our pillows and blankets and cuddled up in the tent and watched his favorite, Finding Nemo. I thought of all the other things that I should or could be doing, the dishes, vacuuming, cleaning up the toys, etc. Then it came to me that Heavenly Father has given me a most precious spirit to teach and take care of. I only have one chance to teach him and create memories that he will have for the rest of his live. Then and there I decided that I wanted to give him the best experiences he can have on this earth. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home and give my boys the experiences that will shape their lives forever.

One of the speakers at Women's Conference made a comment that stuck with me. She said that happiness is always inside us. It is an attribute that we all have. There are so many good things in our lives that bring out that joy we have within us. I think Max and Isaac bring the most out in my live. Another speaker talked about how our lives are filled with the noise of the world and it causes us to not feel as happy as we could. She named 10 different "noises" in our life. The on that stood out to me was "stuff" in general. The world wants us to have stuff. Stuff is what will make us happy. It made me think about that happy times in my life and it was always with the people I love most and times when the spirit was so strong.

I had another big leap as a mom today. We went down and visited Tricia in Provo and Max had a sleep over with his uncles and Tricia. It is the first time that he has sleep away from home, except for when I was in the hospital with Isaac. It was a very strange feeling leaving Tricia's house and not taking Max with me. It was a little sad, but I knew that he was in good hands with people who loved him. As I drove home and I was contemplating that happenings of the day I thought how Heavenly Father must feel when he has to send us to this earth. He knows that it is for our good. Some he sends down knowing they are going to people who will love them and then there are some he sends down knowing what a hard life they are going to live. I am sure that he has a hard time sending some of his choice spirits down to this earth knowing the trials that they will face. I felt very grateful knowing that Max was in good hands. I am sure that he will have a great time, again creating those experiences to enrich his little life.

I am so grateful for the little pieces of Heaven I get to enjoy every now and then. I just felt like I should share the little insights that I had today.