Thank you, I appreciate you

In lieu of my last post, I think this is appropriate.  I have had a few thoughtful moments in the last hours, and I think I want to share.  We had the adult session of Stake Conference tonight, and it was very good.  There were a few things directed right towards me.  The Stake President, as well as another, talked about the importance of the relationship with your spouse.  And how it is so important to be kind to each other.   If we would consider our spouse first, in every decision we make, would that change the way that we do things?  I know for me, there are times it would.  And that is something I need to work on.  Eternity is a long time, and I intend to be happy throughout it!  : )

This month celebrates the 15 year commemoration of the The Family: A Proclamation to the World, given by the First Presidency.  I was sitting in a meetinghouse, in the middle of Wyoming, on my mission, when this incredible Proclamation was first introduced.   There are a couple blogs that I stalk that are focusing their posts all month long on the Family, and the Proclamation.  I was really touched by THIS post.  It really made me think.  About my own father, and my husband, the father of my littles.

My father was ill my entire life.  He got sick on his mission, and continued to suffer throughout his life.  His illness was debilitating enough that he was never able to hold a job outside our home.  He often spent entire days in bed, and was consistently in pain.  But I never heard him complain about  it.  And only now am I beginning to realize the things he was able to do that mean so much.

My mom was always the one who brought in and put up the Christmas tree.  My dad was usually too sick to do it.  But my dad was the tooth fairy, and always left a note with whatever the tooth fairy brought.  My dad could never afford much, but he'd send a note or a card, or often be the one to write on the package.  How I treasure cards and letters I find that my dad wrote--I miss his handwriting.

Both of my parents sacrificed, as most good parents do.  But as the blog post says, often times we don't recognize or realize the depth of some of our father's sacrifices.  I don't know if I will ever fully know the depth of my own dad's sacrifices, but how grateful I am that he was willing to make them.

And my dear sweet husband is the same way.  I do not acknowledge enough the depth of his sacrifices for our family.  He shoulders a heavy burden, and I am so grateful for what he does.  I need to TELL him more often of my appreciation for that, and show him my support.  Sometimes I think we get too caught up in the "competition" of 'everything I do around here', and forget to be as kind as we should.  I know I do sometimes.  This sentence from the post really hit  me:

The contributions of father and mother compliment and cooperate, they don’t compete.

When I read that, I felt like I had been stuck with a fork!  How true that should be, and how much I have forgotten that!

My goal is to work on being better at cooperating and complimenting, not competing.  I am going to try harder to do that.  I do have you know, the greatest reasons in the world for it, and I am so glad they are mine!   I am so blessed and my actions are going to better reflect that from now on.