Lessons on Love

So for the last two family nights we have tried to do things that would focus on showing love for others. Last week we made cookies and delivered them to some people in our ward. One of the people that we took them to is a girl named Mary. She is about 25 years old and she has Down Syndrome. She is such a sweetheart!!! Anyways, on Sunday I asked her if she enjoyed the cookies we made for her and she said, "well I don't want to offend you, but they were a little bit too doughy. I think you needed to cook them longer." I told her there wasn't anyway that she could ever offend me and I thanked her for being so honest with me so that I can make better cookies next time. Why is that Mary can tell me anything that she thinks, as blunt as it may be, and I would NEVER be offended, but if it was somebody else that said the very same thing, I probably would've thought to myself, "well, I guess I won't be making cookies for you anymore"?

Yesterday we took a trip to Goodwill (I hit the jackpot for the girls and Cory...I got 2 adorable dresses, 3 CUTE shirts --with price tags still on, 4 new books (all about princesses), and a really nice Banana Republic polo sweater shirt for Cory.) Anyways, for family night, we talked about how other kids gave their stuff away to Goodwill and that is why we got to buy such good stuff for so little money (the total was only $28). Then we talked about what it means to have charity. After that, we each went to our rooms and picked out things that we want to give to charity. As I was going through some of the girls' books, Katelund pulled out a book and said, "What about this one Mommy?" I said, "Well that is a really good one for us to keep because we can use it to help you in school." She then replied, "Yea, but Mommy another kid may need it to help them in school too. I think we should give it to them."

I'm trying to teach my children about love this month, but in the process I have been the one that has truly been taught by the angels in my life.