Birthday Boys

Guess what? My little boy are now 11.  I just can't believe it. I am very proud of my boys and all of the things that they can do. They are smart and funny and very talented. But above all of that, and most importantly, I have been blessed with two little boys who have the most tender and loving hearts a mom could hope for.

The first subject we always do in our school work is to study the scriptures. Right now, we are reading the New Testament. Yesterday, I had the most amazing and spiritual experience with my boys. We were reading Matthew 27. This is the chapter where Jesus is condemned and beaten and humiliated and then crucified.  I explained all the aspects of the scriptures we were reading and what it all meant.  Then we came to verse 46. It reads...

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

I explained to my boys that Jesus was all alone, that even his Father had to turn away from him, even the Holy Ghost was not there to comfort him in his hour of greatest need. Jesus had to be all alone. He had to carry the weight of the entire world on himself. 

I looked at my two boys, with their tender hearts, and they were both in tears. And we cried  buckets together, thinking about the most heart-rending, yet necessary moment in the history of the world. They just cried and cried. It was such a genuine and raw moment. It touched me to my very soul. I don't think I will ever forget it, even until the day I die.



And so after a no-school day, lunch with dad at BJ's and an awesome performance by Raef at the Reno Philharmonic with his teacher Dustin, I am just excited.



I am excited to see my boys transition into manhood. They are growing roots of testimony deep. They are starting to see all of the possibilities that are in their grasp. They are blossoming into incredible human beings. They are my sons but I know that they are always going to be my friends.

When I count my blessings, I start with these two.