Wisdom Comes with Time

If you have been a parent of teenagers than you realize that your advice will only be heeded in hindsight, well after the crisis has passed. If you can't accept this fact, then you will always feel and remain frustrated.

Independence Day

On July 4th, we celebrate and remember the many freedoms we enjoy in our nation, and we try to instill in our children the importance of maintaining such freedoms.

However, the freedom to choose does not mean that there aren't consequences for our bad choices. At times, teenagers may say that they have to freedom to do this or that, and making good choices when everyone around you seems to be following a different path can make the choice even more difficult.

There are many things we can do to guide our children to make good choices, but much of this comes from our making good choices as well. Children tend to watch what we do, and our lives are often under the microscope. If our children see that our actions match our words, we gain greater stature and relevancy in their lives.

At times, we make mistakes, but how we respond to these as well will help our kids steer a course towards the right things.

Memorial Day - What it means to me.

Memorial Day in the US is a day of reflection and remembrance for those who have served in our military to preserve our freedoms. Both my father and my grandfather served in the military, and I am grateful for their sacrifice.

Memorial Day for our family also means to remember the life of family members who have passed on, including our son. It is a time be reminded of his good life, his desire to make others happy, and for the many lessons he taught us during his earthly existence. To me, his life continues on as long as he remains in my mind and as I try to emulate his good example.

Randall

Remembering our son, Joshua

Last year, our dear son and friend, Joshua, passed away, and we have found that although we grieve and feel of loss of his earthly presence, we believe that families are eternal and we will see him again.

In the meantime, we feel it an honor to remember and celebrate his life and love for others. In particular, friends and family organized a service project to help families in need at a local food bank in our city. We felt it would be great to do this project on his birthday as a way to think about the needs of others who are poor and hungry. Josh had great compassion for others, and he felt strongly about showing charity to all those around him.

You can read more about this event here:

http://joshuascottdavis.org/dayofservice.htm

Spring: A Time of New Beginnings

Spring has arrived here in Utah, and my wife and I worked in the garden getting things ready for planting. We have a number of fruit trees, and one important step is to prune them so they will produce better fruit and remain healthy throughout the year.

Perhaps, the concepts of spring and pruning could also be applied to our own lives. From time to time, we sometimes allow bad habits to grow out of control, leading to an unwieldy character that languishes over time. One might say that rules (or carefully pruning) can deny one the ability to grow, but simple growth does not lead to better results. Such pruning of bad habits can allow us to strengthen the parts of our character can lead to better, long-term outcomes. We weed out any weak branches, giving more room and light to other development.

Furthermore, when the fruit starts to appear, you have to thin out the tree or remove a lot of the fruit so that more of the tree's energy is focused on that which remains. This might sound counter-intuitive in the beginning, but with our own trees, we have been able to huge apples because we have taken the time to care for the tree in the early spring.

So, now that spring has arrived, what part of your own life might need a little pruning?