This morning we read in Alma 27, when Ammon and his brothers ran into Alma. They were so excited to see each other, it says this:
Alma 27: 17. Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.
18. Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.
We talked about being penitent and a humble seeker of happiness-- about taking the time to think about our blessings and being grateful even for the little things. If you can find joy in the little things, you will be happy. I told them a long time ago, Christmas was a lot different. Kids only got one or two presents, and they were probably homemade presents. Kids were used to this, and they were still happy and excited about Christmas and those humble presents. Now kids write long letters to Santa, and expect lots of elaborate commercial toys. Am I taking away my child's happiness by giving them too much so they can't enjoy the little things? It's hard not to want to give my kids everything they want for Christmas! I wanted to spend $250 on Alex and Nathan for Christmas, but Todd said he wanted to do $200 so we don't go overboard.
The only two presents I ever remember growing up, is the Christmas I got my flute and the Christmas Allison made me a soft purple scarf. Those are also the only two presents that I still have.
To help them be penitent and humble seekers of happiness, I can help them find joy in decorating the Christmas tree as a family, listening to Christmas music, doing fun Christmas projects together, etc. -- simple joys of Christmas.
Having Thanksgiving first, we can focus on being thankful for the little things we have and continue that into the Christmas season.
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4 comments:
Great ideas. You are a great mom. You have the right idea.
Sure do love you,
Dad
I feel the same way! I always thought I would just give our kids a few toys so we didn't get overboard. But now that Spencer is older and playing more I want to get him everything!!!!
you're such a great mom. however, your days as an older sister and spreading christmas joy were a lot different when you and allie thought it would be funny to wrap up toilet paper and toothpaste and paper towel rolls and put them under the tree with my name on it!! :) hahahah! i'll never forgive you for that.....
simple joys, kerry! be grateful for toilet paper!
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