Parents are the Best

Last week I was scheduled to teach the lesson to my Laurels, but then I ended up not teaching due to some scheduling conflicts with the Young Men. So, my lesson was postponed to this coming Sunday. I always like to prepare my lessons in advance so I can think them through with my own thoughts and testimony and good delivery. I love it. The only time it gets hard is when I start the lesson. But once I get going, it's great. The lesson I prepared is entitled Honoring Parents. When I was little I thought this concept was so silly. Who wouldn't honor their parents? Afterall, if it weren't for your parents, where would you go when your 5 and 6 and 7 years old. As I've grown older I've come to understand more fully the importance of honoring your parents. You grow up and you think you know everything, and then real life experience reminds you that you don't, and some how your parents still always know the answers. It's amazing.

I've always been intrigued by the scripture in Exodus that says, "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Wow. If you honor your parents, you will live longer than if you didn't honor your parents. How could that be? I think one answer might be that they teach us not to do stupid stuff. That alone will save you in a lot of situations. I think another is that they teach us the lessons they learned from their mistakes so we don't have to make the same mistakes. Parents are awesome. I'm partial, but I think my parents are especially awesome. In the lesson I prepared, there are a list of questions to ask your mom and questions to ask your dad. I thought I'd give it a try, and you know what? I felt like I knew all of the answers. But I decided to ask my parents the questions anyway to see if their answers were the same as mine. I was suprised by their answers. I thought after 22 years of knowing my parents that I'd know them pretty darn well, and yet, there were things they said that I'd never heard before. It was a neat experience, to put it in simple words. It gave me insight into their lives and their perspective and it showed me a side of my parents I hadn't really seen before. I love my parents more than I know how to say. They are two incredible people. If I can ever be even a tenth of the kind of people they are, I know I will have been successful in this life. I love you Mom and Dad!