Hangin' With My Boys

Day one hundred fifty-seven

My prayer today was filled with lots of gratitude for all the blessings that are in my life.  I was so lucky to spend some time with the graduating seniors last night at the Seminary Graduation ceremony.  The speakers did a great job, the seniors had great attitudes, and the support for the youth was evident.  They are very loved! 

I am particularly grateful for all those that have helped me plan and execute the graduation ceremony, those that were behind the scenes making sure that everything went as smoothly as possible.  I am so blessed to work with these amazing people!

With graduation behind me today was my day to spend some time with my boys.  We talked, we shopped, we ate, and we just hung out.  It was awesome and exactly what I needed after all the preparation for graduation. There were some amazing moments that occurred during our running around.  These were moments that really touched my heart and left me with a renewed hope in mankind.  So I would like to talk about these moments today, instead of my usual scripture study thoughts.

The purpose of much of our shopping today was for my son who is going on a mission.  We needed to get a few more items on his list before he would be ready.  So we were off on a mission to prepare for a mission!

We stopped at the bookstore to pick up a few items.  When they found out that he was going on a mission the employees faces lit up and the questions began:  Where are you going?  When do you leave? Their excitement was genuine and I could see that it meant a lot to my son that they fully supported his decision to go on a mission.  Even the other customers were smiling at him. It was great.

Then off to the clothing store, where the nicest man helped him figure out what was best for his particular mission call.  The man who helped us happened to be the owner of the store and was so generous, he included a lot of free stuff with our purchase.  It was great to see my son grateful for the generosity shown to him.  I hope he gets to experience that a lot on his mission.

The best experience was when a complete stranger, who is not a member of our church, showed support for my sons decision.  My son says that has been happening a lot to him, even people at the college have been supportive. Their supportive words have helped him to realize how important this work is and that blessings really do come when we do the right thing.  It is amazing how and who the Lord works through!

A day spent hangin' with my boys turned into a testimony building experience.  Seeing the Lord work in my sons life and prepare him for the work he has ahead of him has increased my testimony of the fact that the Lord is active in our lives.  It has blessed my son with a stronger testimony of the blessings that are in store for him on his mission.  And it has provided my youngest son with the opportunity to see the blessings that come from preparing to serve a mission.  I wish all my shopping trips were as successful.  I think I need to hang with the boys a little more and work a little less!