I'll Sure Try

"In today's chapter, Moroni was reading a letter sent from his father, in which Mormon detailed the wickedness of all of the people around him - both Lamanite and Nephite.  In parting, he tells his son to "be faithful in Christ" (Moroni 9:25).  This reminded me of an encounter I had with my little girls, just two days ago.

©Darrell Wyatt

Bye, mom!", yelled one of my daughters as she ran out the door for school. "Bye, honey!  Be good!  Choose the right!", I yelled from the other room.  Her response made me giggle. "Well, duh.  What else would I do? "  A few minutes later, her younger sister headed out the door.  "Bye, honey!  Be good!  Choose the right!", I called to her.  She let out a long sigh, followed by, "I'll sure try." 

The difference in responses gave me pause for a moment.  I had said the exact same words, with the exact same emotion to both girls, and got two completely opposite reactions.  Perhaps it's because of their distinct personalities.  The older daughter is fun-loving and loud and a little impulsive, while her little sister is quiet and thoughtful and a little scatter-brained.  Two different personalities, two different responses.  I loved the confidence in the first answer,  "What else would I do?", but I had the feeling that she wasn't really paying much attention.  While I sort of just threw the words "Choose the right" at them, with not a lot of thought, my younger daughter actually stopped to take them to heart.  In her deep sigh, I could feel the inner struggle she was having.  "I'll sure try." 

When the girls returned home from school, we entered into our usual routine of chores and homework and chaos.  Somewhere in the middle of it, my youngest daughter, as she most always does, began to tell me of some drama or other that unfolded at school that day.  This little girl is quite a detailed storyteller.  She includes everything - right down to what the people involved are wearing, and unfortunately I sometimes tune her out. I listened, but I was distracted by all of the other things happening around us.  I just sort of nodded and threw in an "uh huh" here and there so she would feel like I was listening.  Because of this, I don't remember much about the story.  What I do remember, though, is how it ended.  "And then, I remembered that you told me to choose the right, so I just turned around and walked away."

Wow.  I sometimes take for granted the influence that I have on my children.  I must remember to give them righteous advice, much like Mormon's parting words to Moroni to "be faithful in Christ".  Moroni knew the importance of being faithful, and my children know the importance of choosing the right.  As a mom, though, it's my job to make sure that it's always on their little minds.  We all need a little reinforcement from time to time.  Were it not so, we wouldn't need things like the scriptures.  They are our Father in Heaven's way of sending us on our way with a reminder to "be good" and "choose the right".  If we can just say to Him, in the words of my littlest girl, "I'll sure try", I know that He will be pleased. 

Click here to read what I read today: Moroni 9