Prayer and Parenting

I am not sure why some of those links didn't work. It was only the links to children's place.

I was reminded today of an experience we had a few weeks ago while in California. I didn't write about it sooner because it was to tender but now I am afraid if I don;t get it down I won't remember it at all.

Sarah has a really hard time with life when she:

• A. Doesn't get enough sleep
• B. Doesn't eat right and
• C. Doesn't get enough parent time.

Well vacation leads to all of these and by the end she is usually a very hard person to handle. We were getting ready for church and something set her off. I don't even remember what. She started to scream and yell kick and thrash around like a mad women. Ryan took the other kids down stairs while I "handled" the situation. I had been praying for guidance with how to handle her when she gets like this. I stayed very calm. I told her she had to sit in the corner until she could calm herself down and then her timeout would start. Once she made the decision we had a quiet ten minutes or so. Then I talked to her.
I felt like Heavenly Father was feeding the words to her through me. I asked her if she should apologize and she did. The I suggested that there was some one else that she needed to apologize to as well. She agreed and we knelt in prayer. She started to get a little up set a gain and asked if I would say the prayer for her. I explained that seeking forgiveness needs to be done by us and it needs to be between us and our Father. She need started to get more upset. I could hear the holy ghost whisper to me, "She is upset because she feels bad". This amazing love for my dear girl enveloped me as I realized this.
Then I began to think of the times when she acts up and it is when she feels the worst and doesn't know how, in her 6 year old mind, to reconcile those feelings. Things made so much sense to me. I asked her if she wanted to read scriptures with me before she said her prayers and she agreed. I just opened up with no spot in mind to read. I proceeded to read and it talked about forgiveness and our Saviors love for us. I was so touched I started to cry and so did she. She wept openly and I felt like our spirits were communicating spirit to spirit. She then said the most touching prayer I have ever heard and I felt hope and an amazing amount of love for her. I held her for along time and just expressed to her how much her Savior, Heavenly Father, and I love her. I felt like Heavenly Father has an important role for her in this life and my job as her mom is to help her reach that potential. I know that Heavenly Father knows we are capable of so much if only we will put our trust in him and move forward.