Divine Nature Value Experience #3

Make your home life better. For two weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a family member by showing love through your actions. Refrain from judging, criticizing, or speaking unkindly, and watch for positive qualities in that family member. Write notes of encouragement, pray for this family member, find ways to be helpful, and verbally express your love. Share your experiences and the divine qualities you've discovered with that family member or with a parent or leader.

I realized that when I take some time to practice looking for positive qualities in others, it is so much easier to see their incredible potential. With that comes many more beautiful reminders that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father.

As we approach the end of each quarter during this graduate school experience, life seems to get more stressful. The weeks leading up to finals are filled with more stress for Dad, and he has much less time here with the family, so that makes me a little more stressed. When I take myself out of that equation and remember to take each day in stride, I can sit back and marvel at the feats Dave takes upon his shoulders. It has taken me several years of marriage to catch a little bit of a glimpse of the weight that rests on a father's shoulders to provide for his family. I know what we have to work with, and sometimes it isn't enough, but I also know we are doing what the Lord would have us do and I know things will work out. Not to say David needs to have more faith that things will work out. Feeling the necessity of providing for his family, as stated in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", is by divine design. Just as mother's, as they worry about one of their children, have a need to always do more and frequently feel like they haven't done enough; that in some way, they could have nutured more, taught in a better way-father's have, at their core, the need to provide for and protect their families. Not only is the school work challenging, but I know this responsibility weighs heavily on David, particularly because there is not much he can do at this point. As I take time to think about and try to understand what he goes through, I have more patience and strength to do what I need to do for our family, to support him.

I think we can find this truth whenever we pay more attention to someone else and focus on their story. We forget ourselves and our needs and easily see divine attributes in others.