"We might all ask ourselves: do our children receive our best spiritual, intellectual, and creative efforts, or do they receive our leftover time and talents, after we have given our all to our Church calling or professional pursuits?" -Tad R. Callister
This is a quote I read recently that really has me thinking about how we choose to spend our time each and every day. I have come to the realization that I have been living far below my potential and that this is a great disadvantage to me as well as those I love.
Each of us has talents, be them many or few, they are there. Are we using them daily? Are we giving our best to those we love most? Or maybe just giving our best where it will be seen by employers, friends or neighbors... My husband and my children deserve my absolute best each day, and I'll tell you a secret..... living with this mindset makes me a whole lot happier too!
I hear you loud and clear if you are thinking to yourself that you are really just doing your best to survive each day. Its easy to feel that way in a world that tells you you never have and never are enough. But I'll remind you that you have lots to offer so start offering!
This last two weeks the girls and I have had yucky colds which for sure makes me want to snuggle up and do nothing ALL day long! This morning I decided instead that we needed some extra vitamin C to kick these colds away and what more delicious way to have it than a homemade Orange Julius.
A big effort for change has been spent on my sweet girls. Ellie love love loves to watch movies and would watch them all day long if I would let her. If I thought she had watched too much I would normally just tell her to play with her toys or color or something. These days I am trying much more to be engaged with her. I might sit and read books to her. I might color with her. I might make a necklace of Cherios with her to eat. I might get out some noodles and let her glue them all over some paper. We call it art. :) I might let her play with water in the sink while I get dinner ready. Or if we are feeling kind of lazy, we enjoy snuggling and movie watching together.
Yesterday, while Brooklyn napped, I took Ellie out front for a spin on her new bike! She got it for Christmas and it hasn't been great riding weather, so she just sits on it or pushes it around the kitchen. I decided that the weather was nice enough that if we bundled up, we could enjoy an actual ride around our condo parking lot. And by her face in this picture, you can see that she loved it!
Jordan runs himself ragged with work and school and still tries hard to make happy memories with the girls and me each evening. Even if he has to do homework, Ellie loves to cuddle up and just be with him.
I can't think of anyone that deserves my best self more than my husband. Any of you think your spouse is wondering where the person they married disappeared to? Maybe she got swallowed up by a pile of laundry... Get dressed for the day. Do your hair. Put on a little makeup. You don't have to be one hot mama every time he comes home but how about clean and well kept? (And my kind of clean may have baby snot on the sleeve of my shirt, or a jelly drip on my pants, but I was once that day wearing clean clothes and showered.) I am the queen of getting all dolled up if I know we are going out, but who do I really want to impress? Yes, I want him to be proud to have me on his arm, but if I'm saying that I really want to look nice for him, then I've got to show him that on a regular basis. And I'm going to encourage even more from you! Give your spouse some hot and steamy alone time! You both deserve it. A break. A re-connection. An expression of devotion. Flirt. Be vulnerable. Use your many talents. ;)
When it comes to cooking dinner, its so easy to stick to your basic meals you are comfortable making and you know they are edible. :) I plan our menu monthly and have been trying to throw in a new recipe every once in a while. It gives me great satisfaction when Jordan takes his first bite, sighs and says, "This is soooo good!" Now maybe I don't get that reaction every time, but its nice for me and for my family to break up the monotony. Dinner is the short time that we all get to be together, distraction free, so I am trying my best to make that time amazing!
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| Chicken Alfredo Pizza |
To you these may or may not seem like little things. And to me, they are little. It is these little things. These little efforts, that truly can change any day from just getting threw it, to actually enjoying it. And ask yourself this: "Who are you saving your best self for?" I can't think of anyone more worth giving it to than your family.
What little things can you think of doing to try to better use your talents to bless those you love?
