Paddle to the Head

Maysen started her vet program today.  We are going to have her drive and all the other kids take the bus.  Jorja is not a fan of this plan.  That is because Jorja's bus picks her up an hour before school starts and drives for 40 plus minutes on a windy road.  Stockton's stomach couldn't handle it when he was in middle school.  I rode along with Maysen today.  She did really good.  I think this will be great for her. I'll be without a car for most of the day, but she will become comfortable driving.

When Preston came home from school he asked what the treat was.  I told him I wasn't planning on doing that this year.  It didn't seem like the kids really liked this tradition.  I would always try to do something different.  Sometimes the treats were healthy, sometimes they weren't. I wanted the kids to talk to me about their day.  I know they hate to do this as they walk in the door, but I told them this was their payment to me for driving them everywhere.  I was busy after school getting everything ready for scouts.  I was downstairs and saw a ping pong paddle on the stairs.  I tossed it on the nearby couch.  As soon as I let go of the paddle I saw Santa Cruz pants.  Oh no!  Almost instantly I heard a loud scream.  Preston had been sitting on the couch in the dark.  The ping pong paddle hit him in the eye.  I felt so bad.  I hugged him and kept telling him I was sorry.  He was crying, I was crying - we were a sad site.  When he had calmed down I asked him why he was sitting in the dark.  He started crying again and said, "I really liked you doing the treats, I don't want you to stop."  Sweet boy.  I guess at least one of my kids liked that tradition.  I'll have to start doing that again tomorrow.

Mike helped me with scouts today.  The boys got their pinewood derby cars at pack meeting.  I missed this because I was at the Long Beach airport.  Mike talked to them about how to make their cars and different tricks.  We let them look at different designs that were on the Internet at the end of the meeting.

Tonight for Family Home Evening we watched Brad Wilcox's talk on Grace.  It was really good.  He does a great job explaining the grace of Christ.  This was given at a BYU devotional in 2011.  If you ever wondering about something good to watch, search Brad Wilcox Grace on BYU TV.  Maysen said she learned what grace really was since she was never taught it in church.  Grace is talked about, but never completely explained.  I liked this explanation from Brad Wilcox.  (By the way, his talk is titled His Grace is Sufficient)

"Christ's arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child.  Mom pays the piano teacher.  Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. Practice!  Does the child's practice pay the piano teacher?  No.  Does the child's practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher?  No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom's incredible gift.  It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is going him to live his life at a higher level.  Mom's joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used---seeing her child improve."

The part that stood out most to Stockton was 'Get me out of here!'  I'm going to put in a long quote, because it is hard for me to explain, but this was one of my favorite parts of the talk.

"I know a young man who just got out of prison---again.  Each time two roads diverge in a yellow wood, he takes the wrong one---every time.  When he was a teenager dealing with every bad habit a teenage boy can have, I said to his father, 'We need to get him to EFY.'  I have worked with that program since 1985.  I know the good it can do.

His dad said, 'I can't afford that.'

I said, 'I can't afford it either, but you put some in, and I'll put some in, and then we'll go to my mom, because she is a real softy.'

We finally got the kid to EFY, but how long do you think he lasted? Not even a day.  By the end of the first day he called his mother and said, 'Get me out of here!'  Heaven will not be heaven for those who have not chosen to be heavenly.

In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this:  Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus.

Jesus checks His clipboard and says, 'Oh, shoot, Brad.  You missed it by two points.'

Brad begs Jesus, 'Please, check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay.'  That's how I always saw it.

But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, 'Let me stay.'  No, he will probably be saying, 'Get me out of here!'  Knowing Christ's character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, 'Please, choose to stay.  Please, use my Atonement---not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.'"

Anyway, that is a lot of quotes, but the talk is amazing.  I'm glad my kids listened, hopefully they will remember.