Answers to Prayers, Mother and Daughter

This morning after family scripture study, Abigail said, "I wish I could know if Jesus is real." I told her she could know, and asked Warren to tell her how she could know. He is learning the song, "Search, Ponder and Pray" on the piano, so I knew the answer would be ready. It was. He sang--improvising applicable words a bit:

Search, ponder and pray are the things that I must do.

The Spirit will guide, and deep inside I'll know that {Jesus is} true.

(It usually says, "scriptures are" in place of "Jesus is")

We compared the process to finding out if a note I'd left after school was really from me or not, or whether it was a made up note. Each time, there was a mock phone call (to represent a prayer) at the end to confirm what she thought about the validity of the note I'd left her. Then, we talked about Elder Bednar's counsel on receiving answers to prayers: sometimes it is like a light switch going on, and sometimes it is like a sunrise over the soul. We read a portion of "The Living Christ" and I asked her if she would pray about what she thought about Jesus sometime today, and said I'd check in with her at bedtime.

So after family prayer as she lay in bed, I asked her how her prayer went. She had forgotten and said, "I'll do it now." I was a little nervous; I wanted an answer for her right away that she could understand, but I know that it is up to God how He answers prayers, so as she prayed, I knelt next to her bed, and prayed alongside her that she could receive an answer as she prayed. When she finished, she was smiling; I asked her, "What happened?" She said, "I felt it." Big smile. "What did you ask?" I queried. "If Jesus was real and if the Book of Mormon was true."

I was so grateful for the answer to both of our prayers. I know it is a question she will ask again and again in her life, that one prayer at 6-years-old is not enough to last a lifetime. But I am so grateful that she has begun a foundation of her own now. She can build on that over and over again as she matures and grows. Each answer will come in a different way, but the answer will be the same. I am grateful for the faith, and the willingness to act on faith, of a 6-year-old girl.

Avery's Artistic Evolution--Going Backward in Time

August 2011: All of these were drawn in a 24 hour period; and there were more.
Late Spring 2011: "Mom, this is you and we are standing on your nose."
Early Spring 2011: We had just seen Star Wars, so I thought maybe she had drawn Princess Leia, but I think that is just my interpretation.

Slips of the 2-Year-Old-Tongue

One day I said, "No way, Jose!" (pronounced "hoe-say"). Madeleine grinned widely, giggled and repeated back, "No way, hay-so, hay-so!" It's my favorite expression as of late. Until...

Yesterday. On vacation I taught my kids to sing the hymn, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," an LDS classic. The pioneers sang it crossing the plains, we sang it crossing CA to OR. the first lines of lyrics say, "Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear." So fast forward to yesterday. Madeleine is sitting at the piano and she sings: "Come, come ye saints, no toilet of a neighbor."

What language should I sing in?

When we were in San Diego, we drove up to Anaheim on Sunday so we could go to church at the Garden Grove Vietnamese Branch where I served my mission. It's always fun to re-connect with old friends there.

Since it was Fathers' Day, I told my kids they could go up and sing with the six Vietnamese kids in the branch. None of them ended up going for it, which was maybe for the better because, although they sang in English, they sang "Mother, I Love You" but with "Father" instead of "Mother". I don't think my kids have ever sung it that way, and I'm not sure they would've known what to do, but it would've been fun to see them try.

Anyways, when I first told my kids to go up Avery said, "What language should I sing in?"

"English," I told her.

"I don't know English," she said.

"What language are you speaking right now?"

"Hola!"

It cracked me up.

- Andy

Montessori Education

Our children attend a Montessori school and we love the Montessori philosophy of taking advantage of kids' intrinsic motivation to learn and encouraging them to learn on their own. We found this cool video the other day that explained one parent's perspective that we agree with:

The other day I told the kids that I wanted to work 45 hours in four days and asked Warren how many hours per day that would be. He answered, "It would be twelve hours on one day and eleven on the rest of the days," and I was pretty happy that he seemed to understand the concept of division without worrying about fractions or remainders.

- Andy