Answered Prayer

This afternoon I was feeling kind of sad, and therefore very tired. I like to give my time to God, as he sees fit, so I pray through out the day for special direction on how to better use my time. 

I especially needed direction because my mood was low. So I knelt in the quiet of my room, by my bedside, and I asked if He'd be alright with one of my three choices. 

1. Go play the piano at the church. 

2. Write a letter to my sick niece 

3. Take a nap!  

I immediately heard "family time." I softly chuckled because of my tired brain had not considering the fact that I'd presented God with 3 options, but He presented me a fourth!

I finished my prayer and sat on my bed. (It hurt to much to kneel any longer). I am sure God gave me the idea because my 16 year old daughter came into my room and laid on my bed and asked if Brady Bunch was an alright Sunday activity. I said it might be alright to watch, but that I wanted to play family games. 

We went down and sat in the front room and I asked Briant (my husband) what game we could play. He's a teacher, loves game playing, and is very creative-- so he always has some idea to pass the time. He started out with a word game, "Hangman." Then he said "Pictionary." (I was so tired I was laying on the couch acting out "the queen" and "Sunny (rhymes with bunny)" (That's the name of one of our dog's!) 

Everyone really had fun and got into this. A few examples: My 10 year old acted out our wild dog "Sunny" (so the answer was the same 2 times in a row-since he followed me. My 16 year old acted out "Lettuce Party" Who's ever heard of one of those??!!! My 18 year old refused to join us. He just got home from a pioneer trek yesterday and was down in his room writing about it in his journal. (Okay, a worthy goal, so I didn't push his family presence. But I missed him!)

Following that my husband began the "Guess who this scripture person is." A few of his questions were, "Who slayed Goliath? (David)" "Who had a coat of many colors? (Joseph)" We also did people from the Book of Mormon, as well as the bible. We had a lot of fun with that game, and it was a great time for teaching. 

After this game my husband switched to playing a "Guess which child this is?" We asked such questions as: 

• "Which child was on Oxygen as a baby?" 
• "Which child got left at the church after the family baptism?" 
• "Which preschooler destroyed the rabbit/pigeon hutch?"
• "Which child weighed the most at birth, weighing 9.8 pounds?"
• "Which child was the littlest at birth, weighing only 7 pounds?"
• "Which child always pooped in the bathtub, EVERTIME they were given a bath?"
• "Which child has silver teeth? (acid reflux)"
• "Which child would have gone swimming in baptismal font, if we'd said it was alright?!"
• "Who was the only child to sleep in a crib as a baby?"
• "Which child learned to talk the soonest?"
• "Which child walked the latest?"
• "Which child learn to ride a bike first?"
• "Which child likes to draw for hours on end?"
• "Which child doesn't like bones (in meat..or pretty much anywhere!! She doesn't like Halloween!?"
• "Which child likes to fill in the cracks when they sleep?"
• "Which child makes up crazy animal/frog names?" (Hannah! Such as Korea the frog. Nanny Goat Sniffer--a dog we had!)
• "Which child threw up in Daddy's mouth?"
• "Who went on wild, crazy adventures with Musubi? What was their secret weapon?"
• "Who uses up all the tape in our house?"
• "Who loved the Wiggles?"
• "Who got on the internet twice, by themselve, before the age of 1 year old!" 
• "Who was born on a cold, foggy, winter day?"
• "Who was born on a warm winter day?"
• "On which child did Mom's water break?"

And on we went as a family, playing happy Sabbath style games, and uniting as a family. My heart felt happier, and I knew I'd done the right thing.  I am certain it helped make happy memories for our children.

After we played that we read scriptures and listened to two songs (in honor of our dogs!! "Ebony and Ivory" and "Sunny days, chasing the clouds away..."(Sesame Street theme song), and have knelt to say the end of our day prayers. 

I feel so thankful that Heavenly Father "knows better than I." I'm thankful I could hear the voice of His Spirit giving me a better choice. I still felt tired as we played, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this cherished family time together. 

Book of Mormon Scripture

And while not all the concerns of my heart are settled, I certainly feel happier. I'm thankful that we aren't alone on this journey of life, and that our God is there to hear and answer---we just need to ask!

Always be praying, 

Christine