Brandt was up for almost 2 hours during the night last night-no nightmares, no problems or pains, just wide awake. Finally Bryce realized that I was struggling with getting him back to sleep and told him to just climb in our bed-not my first choice or even my second or third, but it worked. Well, buddy went to sleep easier after that, but I didn't sleep hardly a wink from then on. Brandt was the first one to wake up this morning and sat straight up in bed and said with a smile, "well, that was a good night!" How is it that a little boy who got about 6 hours of sleep can wake up so happy and full of energy??? Tonight buddy asked if he can come get in my bed if he wakes up during the night again. I said, "absolutely not-I didn't sleep at all last night because you and your dad were both snoring and grinding your teeth." His first response was to laugh and tell me maybe I should have worn some ear plugs. His next suggestion was that maybe I should have found another place to go sleep. Then he went on to tell me that girls really should ask boys if they snore or grind their teeth before they ever get married to them. Gee, I guess I really hadn't considered that while we were dating...
It amazes me how often my 7 year old Brandt talks about marriage and the kind of girl he wants to marry-actually he still has a very specific beautiful little red-headed girl in mind and he talks about how he's in love with her often. The reasons he is "attracted" to her are the best kind of reasons-she's nice to him, she makes him happy, they like similar things, and they are always friends even if they don't play with each other every day. Oh, and I can't leave out that he thinks she is "soooo beautiful." A couple weeks ago Bryce and I took the kids to Cooper's at Bear Lake West to let Brandt use his gift certificate for a free meal that he got from the school for May's reading award. On the way there buddy pulled a large toy diamond ring out of his pocket, gave me the suave lifted eyebrows look and said, "mom, look what I brought in case we see McKenna at Cooper's. I'm in love with her! After we get married we are going to have 5 children so we'll need 2 vans and a truck." Bryce, who has an aversion to vans, asked him why the heck he would want a van instead of just a regular car. Brandt's answer was quick and quite practical, "well, Dad, 5 kids won't fit in a car-they wouldn't all have seat belts." He never skipped a beat as he went on to tell us about how he was going to make a lot of money and buy a house in Bear Lake. When I said something like, "after a mission and college of course, right buddy?" he answered with, "I ain't goin' on no mission now! A mission would be so BORING! All ya get to do is talk, talk, talk, and teach, teach, teach ALL day long! And, the day when I'm supposed to leave for my mission is the day McKenna and I are gettin' married." Through my stifled giggles I asked him what he would do if McKenna is the kind of girl who only wants to marry a returned missionary. With eyes rolling, he answered, "well, I guess I'm goin' on a mission then!"
I wonder how much stronger our friendships and marriages would be if we as adults could be that unselfish when it comes to what our partner desires or needs from us. It seems that in reality it's easy to sacrifice "big" things for those we love but not always the little day to day things. If we really love our family members shouldn't we strive a little harder to show them that love in small and big ways every day?
I think it's the same way with our relationship with God. I find that in my life it's been fairly easy to do the "big things" my Heavenly Father has asked of me, like obey the word of wisdom for example, but a lot harder to do the simple, but oh so important, daily things like love and serve my neighbor. Shouldn't our love for Him who gave us this life be worth the sacrifice of our time and love to do what He asks of us? Or at least try a little harder every day? His love surrounds us and He is just waiting to shower us with even more love as we do our best to strengthen our side of the relationship. So, maybe when God asks us to do something each day that we think will be boring or a waste of our time, we can be a little quicker to say, "well, I guess I'm goin' on a mission then!"
