Early Morning

My two older girls are 12 and 13 years old. Still pretty young when you consider all the experiences and years that hopefully still stretch out in front of them. Yes, they are young, but they are wise and driven and responsible and lovely.

Last night they both let me know they would be getting up at 4:30am today to go with their Young Women's class to the temple. Brita is the Beehive class president and I've been so impressed with the maturity and leadership she has developed and shown in that calling. On Sunday she came home from church and whipped up these darling reminders to deliver to all of the girls in her class:

I cringed a little bit at the thought of a 4:30am, but Brita and Leah are both responsible girls, getting themselves up and ready for school every day, but mornings come early for young girls who like to stay up late and mornings aren't always easy. But I knew today would be no problem and I was right.

They were ready to leave in time to meet their class at the church at 5am and my heart swelled when I counted eleven girls literally bounding out of the doors of the church, piling into cars with smiles on their faces and sparkles in their eyes. Two of their leaders were there as well, with the same energy, smiles and sparkles. Oh my gosh how I love those ladies and those girls.

The girls were home in time for Leah to catch the bus at 7:30 and for Brita to catch her carpool at 7:40. They glowed. They were proud of themselves and whether they know it or not, their spirits were strengthened and blessed with Christ's love this morning.

For Family Home Evening on Monday I took everyone outside to sit in the cold on our back porch for the lesson. We sipped hot cocoa and talked about how it felt to warm up our insides when we are cold. I taught them that one of the names for the Savior is the Prince of Peace and how when our spirits and hearts are cold, we just need some peace in our lives. We can get that peace by doing things that help us feel Christ's love and by doing things that help us share Christ's love. I challenged everyone to do something each day this week to either feel or share Christ's love. By going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead this morning, my girls did both. I can't wait to talk about it with them at dinner.

I want Christ to feel real to my girls. He is so real and his influence is in our lives in so many places but we aren't always looking for it so we don't notice it. I want to be better about looking for Christ's influence in my life and I want my girls to learn to look too.

I made some 8x10 posters I'm picking up from Costco today to put in each of their rooms to help remind us of the FHE challenge.

This one is for Brita:

This one is for Leah:

And this one is for Meg:

I can't wait to give them to the girls and to talk about our experiences each night for the next week at dinner. My girls are wise and smart and I'm not so surprised anymore when they share insightful, touching thoughts and experiences. These girls of mine might be young, but they don't disappoint when it comes to accepting challenges and rising to the occasion. I love the Christmas season and how it helps us focus our family on things that are significant priorities in our lives.

I love that my girls are out there warming cold hearts (their own and others) this Christmas season and the prayer in my heart is that they will pay attention to the Savior's influence in their lives and that it will change them.