Teaching Moments

A lot of bad, annoying things happened today. I think just about everyone pooped in their pants at some point (I'm talking about the kids here), Ryan's naughty list is too long to even remember, and I was not a happy mom by 5pm. But as I loaded the kids up to drive to the soccer field for a swap with dad so I could go to a Relief Society activity, I had such a sweet experience with Nick. He couldn't find his shin guards and immediately said a prayer that he could find them. He told me "Mom, I said a prayer and then the Holy Ghost started telling me where I should look. He kept telling me places that I already looked so I looked again and the only place I can't get to is under the stroller" (which is where I knew they were, smashed under the folded down seat). We had quite an interesting discussion as he told me how the Holy Ghost spoke to him, and it was such a tender moment to see him exercise prayer in his life on his own accord. After we found the shin guards, I taught him that we always need to say a prayer of gratitude when Heavenly Father answers our prayers, so he offered a sweet little prayer and then ran to the soccer field. It was a good reminder to focus on the important teaching moments of the day versus the hassels that don't really matter. And then I got to enjoy a fun night of meeting new women in my new ward and came home to a house of sleeping boys. A perfect ending to a not-so-perfect day...