I read a lot of "Mom" books from LDS authors. There are always these stories where the Mom has this great spiritual teaching moment. While I love the scriptures and know the stories, I'll never be able to pull out a verse to go along with whatever the kids are going through. My memory doesn't work that way! I can relate stories or Gospel principles, but even then I feel like they don't have the "WOW" factor like I see in those stories. Well FINALLY I feel like I had that WOW factor, where even I learned something. This is how it all happened.
Today, when I picked up Sophia from preschool, she looked a little sad and showed me that she had a red stamp on her hand. It was her first of the year, and you could tell she was feeling a little sad and ashamed. She handed me the note from the teacher, and once she got settled in her car seat, she kept looking down at her hand. After dropping off her schoolmate, that carpools with us, I spoke with her a little bit about why she got it, and how she needed to correct that behavior so it didn't happen again. (She kept getting out of her seat in class). She sadly said , "OK" and was still mopey
When we got home she pulled a movie out of the car to watch. Typically she watches a little TV after school to unwind before her nap. I told her there wouldn't be TV today before nap time because she got a red stamp. She actually took it pretty well, and found a book to occupy herself. She then brought it over to me to read to her, and she asked again if she could watch TV. I told her no, and she looked at her hand again. Then I was INSPIRED to use it as a teaching moment. Last night our FHE lesson was on repentance, and knew the perfect way to show her what it was all about.
I asked her again how she got the red stamp, and we discussed how she made a mistake. I asked her if she was sad because she made that mistake, and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted to feel happy again. Of course, she said yes. I told her that she could feel happy again. I told her that she could say a prayer saying she was sorry and that she would try hard to be better for her teacher. After she prayed, I washed the mark off her hand. I told her the red mark was gone and asked her if she felt happy now. She got a big smile on her face and said she was and that she wanted to say sorry to her teacher. I told her that Jesus is what makes it possible for us to feel better when we make mistakes, and she said, "Yes he does Mama!" (I love how she calls me Mama btw). She then asked if she could watch a movie now, and I told her that she still had the consequence to her mistake, and that tomorrow she could start new!
Of course, she is only three and I don't know how much of that she will grasp, but I know that it will stick to some degree. Even if it doesn't, I definitely got a new perspective on the atonement. When we sin its like the red mark she had on her hand. Its always in our face, reminding us what we did wrong. She could cover her hand with her jacket (like her friend did, ha ha), or put her hand in her pocket to hide it, but it's still there. Not until we repent can that mark of sin go away, and not till then can we receive the peace of it not being there anymore. As I was rubbing the stamp off her hand I had to rub pretty hard to get it off. I was thinking how uncomfortable that had to be for her, and how it might sting for a bit. As I was doing that, I related that to sin and repentance. If we sin, repentance will heal us, but the process stings and hurts. It will take awhile for that to go away, but eventually we are good as new! What an amazing miracle the atonement. I'm so grateful for our older brother, Jesus Christ, who suffered all he suffered so we could learn and grow here in this world! I hope my children have a great appreciation for this all of their lifetime and that I'll get some great teaching moments with my older kids!
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