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Stirring Them Up Continually

Today, while out walking, I was listening to the book of Enos.  I was struck by verse 23:

And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things--stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord.  

I'm sure some of it is that I have a child living at home again, and some of it is the fact that I just finished reading Little Women, but my heart went out to Enos.  Doesn't he sound so tired of it all?  (Read it again if you didn't catch it the first time.).

 "Stirring them up continually..."

I do believe this must be the motto of every good mom out there, because without a doubt, this is what good moms do.  They continually stir up the members of their families to do good, to be better, to strive for more.  But it is so incredibly exhausting.

As I wrote last year, Ethan pointed out a very interesting part of my patriarchal blessing.  It talks about having the programs of the church and any other useful program in my home.  While I have always breezed over this detail, Ethan made the correlation between that admonition and what I have been doing for the past almost 30 years--devising programs for my family and more specifically my children in our home.

I was brainstorming what some of those programs have been, and I believe it all started when I began reading the scriptures (the real scriptures) to Ethan when he was about two years old while he would sit in the bathtub.  Since my babies took daily baths, this worked rather perfectly for daily scripture study.

The programs were labeled chores for years:  daily scripture study, practicing piano, running three miles a day, taking out the trash.  However, during the summers, I would try and develop some new fun program to keep the kids entertained during the day while also helping me.  Eventually, we developed the program we still use today:  slips of paper with jobs on the front and payment on the back.  You don't know the payment until you commit to the job.  All those pesky chores that hang over me but I don't want to do get done in a few hours.

Trying to teach spiritual things has proven a bit harder.  How do I reward a child for exhibiting faith? Do I really want to start a program that teaches about trials and perseverance?  Family Home Evenings were great for spiritual lessons, and seminary was the absolute best.  But I was never successful in getting the first three children to keep a journal, and getting the boys to finish the priesthood Duty to God program was a nightmare.

One of the craziest things people tell me is "Your kids play (their instruments) so well.  I wish my child hadn't quit (insert instrument) lessons."  Was that ever a choice in our home?  It wasn't like my children were mini versions of David and his harp, or archangels.  Practicing was a program to improve them, and it took everything I had to keep them going.

But like Enos, it is rather exhausting for me.  At times, I wish I could just throw caution to the wind and let everyone work life out for themselves.  After all, it worked fairly well for both my mother and my mother-in-law.  I wish I could just not care, and let the pieces fall where they may.  I see a lot of successful people who had no input from their parents at all.  I wonder if there is value in "stirring them up continually".

Once again, I am trying to improve the lives of the Kennedy family by heading up a family book club.  Trust me, when it works, it works, but there are always a couple of people who I need to hound to participate.  Same with writing whatever missionary is on a mission.  Those Sunday night texts saying, "Don't forget to write Hannah!"  I wish, every once in a while, a Kennedy family member would surprise me, forego the laziness that seems to run thick in our blood, and be one step ahead of me.  Yes, it is a delightful surprise how much Mark remembers to be at our house to help us move furniture or unload trucks, all without us asking, and I'm thankful that Glo spends literally hours every Sunday night, writing Hannah extensive emails.  And what a joy it was when we had our Kennedy Harry Potter Ireland trip, and everyone took care of helping me put that together.

But c'mon.  I think about the fact that I won't be here someday, and I would hope that life won't just pass the Kennedys by when that happens.  I hope that someone will step up and put on a funeral for the ages for me.  And I hope that the next generation of Kennedys will be pushed too without any suggestion from me.  The most I think I can hope is that in the heavens, my spirit children will take out the trash and load the dishwasher without me asking.

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