Honoring Your Parents...and a few Ramblings

I taught the lesson today in YW. It was titled "Honoring  Parents". When I looked at the lesson material yesterday morning my first thought was  that it looked pretty straight forward. Honor your parents we all know what that means...right? 

Coincidentally, a few days ago my mom and I were talking about this very subject. We weren't talking about our relationship. We were talking about some others that through the years we had observed.  Bottom line our conclusions were, no matter how old you are child, teen or adult Honoring your parents is a commandment. We also discussed that living up to the name you were given is also a form of honoring your parents.  

Unfortunately and sadly there are many out there, even me who are guilty in some way or another of not honoring their parents the way we should . I have seen children turn their backs on there parents for making wrong decisions or decisions that they don't agree with. It can happen so quickly and have such lasting consequences.

So, obviously when I got to thinking about all this in depth I realized why Heavenly Father put so much in to this even to make it a commandment. I realized how important this lesson was for the girls to hear...but more for me. I felt tremendous sadness thinking about the ways I treated my parents when I was a teenager.  I was a stinky teen in my opinion. I wish I would have had a lesson like this, maybe I did, who knows.

The most important part of the lesson was a questionnaire that the girls filled out about their parents. The point was, How much do you really know about your parents. Rather, how much do you not know. Because really if you don;t know your parents how can you understand the decisions they make? I was surprised that I didn't know some of the questions, not surprised that I knew most of the ones about my mom and less about my Dad. I challenged the girls to go home and find out all the answers, even if they thought they got them all right. I encourage people to take it a little further. Try to fill it out about any of your loved ones, maybe the ones where your relationship is struggling. Adult Children, Grandparents, Step Parents, In-Laws. 

I think that knowing where why and how will make your relationships stronger.  Here are the questions, I challenge you to see how much you can do.

What Do You Know about Your Mother?

• 1. Maiden name:

• 2. Birthplace:

• 3. Was she raised by her parents?

• 4. Number of her brothers and sisters:

• 5. Her place in the family (oldest, youngest, etc.):

• 6. Occupation of her father:

• 7. Did they have financial security?

• 8. Religious affiliation of her family:

• 9. What are her most memorable spiritual experiences?

• 10. Does she have any special background or traditions?

• 11. What kind of relationship did she have with her parents?

• 12. What is her education?

• 13. What are her most memorable school experiences?

• 14. What kind of work did she do before her marriage?

• 15. What is her main goal in life?

• 16. What makes her happy?

• 17. What makes her sad?

• 18. What hardships has she overcome?

• 19. What does she most enjoy doing with her family?

• 20. What does she enjoy doing in her spare time?

What Do You Know about Your Father?

• 1. Name:

• 2. Birthplace:

• 3. Was he raised by his parents?

• 4. Number of his brothers and sisters:

• 5. His place in the family (oldest, youngest, etc.):

• 6. Occupation of his father:

• 7. Did they have financial security?

• 8. Religious affiliation of his family:

• 9. What are his most memorable spiritual experiences?

• 10. Does he have any special background or traditions?

• 11. What kind of relationship did he have with his parents?

• 12. What is his education?

• 13. What are his most memorable school experiences?

• 14. What is his occupation?

• 15. What is his main goal in life?

• 16. What makes him happy?

• 17. What makes him sad?

• 18. What hardships has he overcome?

• 19. What does he most enjoy doing with his family?

• 20. What does he enjoy doing in his spare time?

Now I know that this subject can go both ways. I am completely against parents taking advantage of their children or abusing them in an way. I feel this subject is completely different. I will not address the subject because it is very sensitive.  But in those situations I know Hevenly Father will judge on a personal level.

Coming off my little soap box...We have alot going on in the next couple of weeks! Where does the time go? This last week I celebrated my 31st Birthday, we finally got our basement shower marbled ( that has been a long time comeing. Wes and I tiled the floor 2 yrs ago exactly!) Gracie had parent teacher confrences and is getting 4 in everything (A's) She is reading at a 4.7 grader level. So we are very proud of her. We took her to lunch at her fave Olive Garden to celebrate. Hayden has been learning about taxes and responibilty in school latley. His teacher started taxing them all to sharpen their pencils, read, go to recess, have a desk and chair....you see where I am going with this. Anyway none of the kids could afford anything! Hayden would come home everyday telling us something new he was going without at school. Finally it came to the point that he was doing his work on the floor. So funny, Friday finally after the class constructed a petition and it failed, the classs came up with a bill of rights and the taxing stopped and they got everything back. Friday was a great day for Hayden he felt so happy to finally have freedom. Wes and I love his teacher and I really think the kids learned a great lesson from it all. I am still working on my dental work, and I don't even want to go there.

This week we have something going on every night! Yesterday I went to my in-laws and dry-packed canned  50 lbs of flour, 50 lbs of popcorn, and 20 lbs of pasta! That was nice to get over with! I have a very strong opinion of food storage, I will save that for a different soapbox on a different day :) Also we are going to disney world sometime in the next couple months so we are all really excited about that!

Well do ya think I could have made this any longer.... Thanks for reading, Stay safe, be happy and have a great week! ~E