I love Sundays!

I absolutely adore Sundays! It's so refreshing to take a break from all the hustle and bustle of the week to pause and reflect on life and what really matters most. Attending church each week is definitely among the highlights as well. Right now I'm working in the primary teaching the 8 yr olds and they are such an exceptional group of children. Each week something is said that has me laughing for days or feeling truly humbled. Today was the latter of the two. I was talking with one of the remarkable girls in my class and I asked her, "how do you feel when you pray to our Heavenly Father?" I was not ready for her simple but profound response, "I feel humble," she said. In that moment I felt truly humbled. Here she is, only 8 years old, and she really understands her relationship with her Heavenly Father. I was truly touched by her spirit. Her answer really inspires me to reevaluate how I approach my God in prayer. 

Later in the afternoon, I went over to Em's house to have our first unofficial "comp study" that's going to take place each week. We're working on an alternative title for it and right now we've got S&E Party Time but like I said, it's a work in progress and we have a ways yet to go. haha! Anyway we read an article from this month's Ensign called "No Corrupt Communication". It was an excellent article about eliminating sarcasm and we really enjoyed pulling out our favorite parts and talking about them. The following is one of my favorite sections:

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) identified the damage that sarcasm inflicts on our relationships:

“Everywhere is heard the snide remark, the sarcastic gibe, the cutting down of associates. Sadly, these are too often the essence of our conversation. In our homes, wives weep and children finally give up under the barrage of criticism leveled by husbands and fathers. Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, sometimes a catalyst that leads to failure.

“I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort.”

The Apostle Paul taught similar principles to the Ephesians: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). According to this scripture, all our communication should uplift others and strengthen them in the Lord.

The full article can be found here. I am grateful for things like this that motivate me to become a better person.

I also really enjoy Sundays because it's almost like a staycation with James. I love the extra time to just talk or spend time together. Today we made eggplant parmesan together for dinner, it was lovely. 

I hope your Sunday was just as enjoyable!

~sm