Homeschool Conference!!!


Look at all those beautiful little feet two people can create!

Look at all those beautiful little feet two people can create!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Obedience

I had the most amazing day at church today...
it was Fast Sunday, my hubby bore his testimony...love listening to him! 
Our kids were just sweet and cuddly ~ the biggest problem we have at church is that all of our kids like to play musical chairs, guess I really shouldn't complain because they are playing this crazy little game just so they can come sit beside either their Dad or me...  :0)  It's a good thing!

To end my day...I was lucky enough to teach all of the Young Women...I think I may have the best calling ever!  I love spending time with all of these sweet girls!  I feel like I grow every time I am with them...I only wish I had the confidence and the strengths I see in them. 
Today, the lesson I taught was on Obedience.  When I first looked at this subject, I was a tad bit horrified, how on earth could doing the subject of obedience be something to catch and hold the attention of 30 girls?  Well, after much deliberation, prayer, pondering, research, worry....it came together.  I loved teaching this lesson.  I had many of the girls come up and thank me and give me wonderful hugs after class was over...you can see in their eyes if you are touching them, if you are reaching who they are...I absolutely LOVE it when I see that little sparkle, it is the best!!!

I shared a couple of stories that I found on a wonderful site ~ if you haven't spent time here, you really must!  Head on over to Sugardoodle and take a look, they have some pretty fabulous stuff! 
One story that is much too long to post here was a fun one to share, it was titled Tragedy at Rayad.  The girls got a kick out of it and it taught a valuable lesson. 
All of the "Rayadites" lived a very happy life and there were really only a couple of things that they needed to steer clear of...one was Chocolate Cake
and the other was Red Clothing
...seems silly, but slowly they were tricked by an evil influence...
it came on gradually as chocolate was introduced in chocolate chip cookies and then cake was introduced, but not chocolate cake ~ every kind of cake other than chocolate but with the addition of creamy chocolate frosting....then the red garments...he knew that if he just put out a red garment, it would never fly, soooooo start out with an amazing pink and slowly they would begin to accept the red....We all had a good laugh as the story progressed and they were about to watch a movie, but then stated that they couldn't because it was C-Rated for Chocolate or R-Rated for Red....  again, a silly story, but a great lesson learned.

The other that I really enjoyed was the story of The Kite
I searched (and had my hubby and sons search high and low) and could not find a kite anywhere around this house, so my little Wyatt, came to the rescue and built me a little kite for a visual...what a wonderful little guy he is!!!!  Here is how it goes ~

How can we be free with so many rules and commandments to obey?
A simple story will illustrate the value of such guidelines.
A little boy and his dad purchased a beautiful kite. Never having flown a kite before, the little boy was excited. The day was perfect. They found and open field. They wound the ball of twine around a stick so the boy could hold on to it, and then they ran, pulling the kite behind them. Finally the wind caught the kite, and it started to fly. Then they stood still, holding the kite against the wind, and letting out more string. The kite responded by ascending higher and higher. It was exciting, and the little boy was delighted. After a long while they came to the end of the string, and as they watched the kite, now only a tiny speck in the sky, the little boy suddenly said, "Let's let it go. I want it to be free. I want it to go higher and higher, clear up to Heavenly Father." The dad replied, "It doesn't work that way, son. If we let it go, it won't go higher. It will fall instead." The little boy didn't believe him because the tension on the string made it seem like the string was holding the kite down. To demonstrate what would happen, the dad opened his pocket knife and handed it to his son. The little boy cut the string. In moments, just moments, the kite lost control. It darted here and there, down and down, and soon they had to walk a long way even to find it, a broken heap on the ground. The little boy couldn't understand. The string had seemed to be holding the kite down. But it wasn't. The string provided an anchor for the kite, without which it lost its ability to fly. Like the little boy, some of us mistakenly assume that commandments, rules, and values restrict us -- that if we were only free of them, we would be liberated. The truth is, the guidelines provide the discipline that will ultimately lift and guide us to our Heavenly Father. Without the commandments, we would be left to drift aimlessly and eventually crash in a broken heap. As we develop personal, private, religious behavior in the form of prayer, scripture study, service, church attendance, and obedience, we strengthen ourselves against sin and accumulate the power we need to be victorious in our war against Satan.


These were some great stories, I also had a wonderful list of quotes on obedience that I had the girls read...my hope was that at the end of this lesson that these girls would look at the word OBEDIENCE in a new light...a freeing light, not a restrictive light....

My two favorite examples of Obedience were of course, the Savior and Joseph Smith...could there be any others (okay Emma Smith should be included) but other than this little list, could there be any other more perfect examples?  I think not... I shared my feelings and my testimony of them and shared some of my favorite quotes. 

“Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire”  Joseph Smith

Elder Boyd K. Packer said: “Obedience to God can be the very highest expression of independence. Just think of giving to him the one thing, the one gift, that he would never take. … Obedience—that which God will never take by force—he will accept when freely given. And he will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of—the freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousandfold more than we offer him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience."


It was one of those lessons that you walk away from feeling that you've grown from the very experience...I'm sure it was the time I spent in study and preparation...but I also think it was the sweet spirit that these girls possess that helps to touch and mold who I am becoming.

In retrospect, maybe the reason I feared teaching Obedience is that I, myself, did not fully understand the simplicity and yet the complexity of this one word...
...The key to freedom is obedience!

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