Change

Each Sunday we watch a talk from the most recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The talk we watched tonight was by Elder Steven E. Snow of the Presidency of the Seventy. His talk, "Get On with Our Lives", focused on the changes that come into our lives and how we can handle those changes. Afterward I asked the kids what some of the recent changes in their lives were.

Jon said that he is now interested in cooking and has moved on from being able to cook eggs and pancakes to baking cakes and brownies. He made his first batch of brownies tonight. They were perfect, unlike the cupcakes he made a few weeks ago. We discovered, scientifically, that if you add too much baking powder, or baking soda to cake batter, such as 1/2 cup instead of 1/2 teaspoon, or whatever the amount, when it bakes it will explode. Rather exciting, and somewhat edible, but not a primary ingredient in cake baking. The cake will rise too much and will not be able to support itself, then it will fall, resulting in batter baking itself in all the wrong places. This is also what happens when parents spend too much time blogging and checking e-mail instead of supervising their children as they ought. :)

We also talked about how we change because we get older. No matter how much we like our "todays," there will always be tomorrow with new things in store for us. Our kids will grow up, go to college, on missions and get married in the temple. They will have kids and their kids will grow up, go to college, on missions and get married in the temple. They too will have kids. This will go on and on and on. Our world is a changing place. Our lives are constantly changing.

I guided Ethan into talking about the change he has now with attending kindergarten. He used to be at home with Mommy all the time and now he gets to go to school each day.

Rebecca has the change of attending a new school. She has also started ballet lessons. She is now interested in fixing her own hair, and likes to try new styles. I fixed Kirsten's hair this morning in a cute little side french braid before I went to church early. When she arrived the braid was gone with a side ponytail instead. I asked Mike what happened to the braid and he said that Rebecca took it out. He tried to put it back in, but failed and had to do a ponytail instead. It was a good ponytail, but I was disappointed because I had actually made the effort to do something extra with her hair.

Kirsten and Alyssa are constantly changing as they grow and develop each day. Of course many of these changes are gradual. So much so that many times we don't even notice that they are happening.

Sometimes we are presented with opportunities to serve and grow in different areas. These are times of change. How we face these challenges is important. We need to do so with faith and trust in God, being prayerful and mindful of him. If we do so, we can be sure to stay on the "straight and narrow path" even admist all the changes that are taking place each day.

The Lord loves us. He cares for us and wants us to be happy. I'm amazed that many times the decisions we are faced with don't have a right or a wrong answer. They are just a matter of choice. It would be easier to just have the Lord say, "Do this," or "Do that," but that isn't His way. He wants us to learn to choose for ourselves. Agency is so important. I know I don't fully understand how important it is, but I hope someday I will.

Embrace life, with all its changes. That's what makes life interesting afterall.