Monday, July 5, 2010

Independence!

A Day for Independence
The 4th of July in the United States is Independence Day, Commemorating the U.S.'s birthday. I can't help but think of how independence has so many meanings. It has always been our goal as parents to have our children able to be independent. Able to rely on their own abilities and decisions to successfully conquer the challenges of life. I am proud of our son's independence as he radiates success in his actions and decisions. There may be issues of dependence on others physically, but he is truly one of the most independent minded people I know.

Bathroom Make-over
Our daughter Elizabeth is also independent minded. She spent the past week here at our place doing a bathroom make-over. She did a new tile floor and discovering the sub-flooring was a disaster replaced it with two layers of new wood and then a concrete board underlayment for the tile. She borrowed a tile saw and cut the tiles, mixed the grout and did the whole job on her own. (Gloria and I mostly watched in wonder). She takes pride in her work and learns as she goes. Whadda-girl!

Independent Grand-kids
It is a delight to have Grand-kids who like their terrific parents are learning to make right decisions and love to help. It was so fun to watch Joseph work and play with them all week and watch how much they love to help out. It is wonderful to see how much they love to read scriptures each night as a family and love family prayer.

Freedom Comes From Obedience
One of the crowning principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that true freedom comes from obedience. It is ironic that to be truly independent of the World you have to learn to be truly dependent on God. True obedience brings the complete capacity to choose joy, happiness, and spiritual liberty. One of the greatest joys of life is seeing those you love independently choose to do good, to give service without thought of reward and to bless the lives of others because they can. THAT is true happiness and true independence!

1 comment:

  1. Wow your family is really amazing! You all are such great examples to me. I'm going to miss you very much. You were very inspired to put this video on your blog this week. With Sat. being the day my family starts our 2600 mile journey across the country with my 2 small children, it really touched me and has helped me to know that I'll be ok if I rely on the Lord. Thank You!

    ReplyDelete