Something to live by

I created my own wordle cause I didn't know where to go to have someone else do it for me. So my question is, what do these words make up?

That's right, Our Family Mission Statement. Jared and I have been talking about creating our own mission statement for awhile now. Something to live by and when things get crazy (which they sometimes do) we can always come back to our mission statement and remember what we are here for and what we, as a family, want to accomplish. Don't give me too much credit I actually came across another blog who had done the same thing. I kinda took theirs and shuffled and added and... voila!

The McGrath Family MISSION is to follow the teachings

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

in order to be HAPPY and to have

the spirit of the Lord in our

HOME

We will as a family strive to spend quality time together.

We will show respect for one another.

We will be obedient, kind & have a positive attitude. We will enjoy the laughter and encourage each other to accomplish our goals.

We will do our part to keep a house of order and be successful at work & school.

We will pray together, study our scriptures daily,

and have weekly Family Home Evening meetings.

As we strive to accomplish our MISSION as a Family

we hope to achieve the ultimate goal of becoming an

Eternal Family

I hope that as a family we can apply this to our life. I plan to make it pretty and have it up in our home so that as our children grow older they will also be reminded of our family's mission in life.

I also came across this on (yes another blog) and felt that it spoke to me. I wanted to share it with you.

video found here

I have felt for awhile now about how I always feel the need to apologize for my children. In the grocery store, at church, in a parking lot etc. It's not that they are doing anything particularly wrong, they are just kids being kids. For some reason lately I feel like I have had to apologize to society for just having them. How did I get to this place?

Some days are better than others and yesterday was one of the "other" days! We were all a mess! Nothing was right from the moment we got up to the moment we went to bed. It was a rough day, things were difficult and well the feeling of accomplishment was shot for the day by 10am! But you know what, I am happy. I love each one of my children so much! They are so special, happy, silly and despite how crazy our day was, I enjoyed the time I got to spend with them.

After I got married, I realized how short our time with our parents is. To be honest, I had a really hard time with it. I have expressed many times of my feelings for my parents. How everything for me was what I needed. They are not perfect and there were times growing up when I thought they were being unfair but I always knew that in my case, they we right. I had a happy childhood and grew to have such a strong bond with my family that when I got married and moved away from them, I thought it was cruel or unfair. To have had such a happy life with them and then have to leave on my own. It never crossed my mind that I would have to leave my family. To be apart was hard but it was what I needed. I didn't see then what I see now. 

It dawned on me after I had Jake, how short my time with my children would be and how fast the time I have would go by. I kind of panicked! Everything had to be done right and I would only have this one chance, in just a short time to make sure I taught them how to be responsible adults before I pushed them out the door in 18 years! It freaked me out! I have since learned that I need to savor every moment. There will be time in the future to do all the things that I want to do. My season now is as a mother. I have, with the help of a loving Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, been blessed to "create" these special spirits and have the privilege of nurturing and having them love me in return. and I know that my Savior has paid the ultimate price for my shortcomings. I know that on those "other" days that the reason I can sit back and still love my children is because my Savior is with me. Wow, I'm so lucky!

So to the world, this is my last apology, I'm sorry you are bothered by having to wait for me to load all 4 children into the car so you can have my parking spot. I'm sorry that you think I am irresponsible for having an overflowing grocery cart of babies. And I'm sorry that your experience in the park was disrupted by the laughter of my children. 

I am honored to have these children in my life and am so thankful that my Heavenly Father has entrusted them to me. They are so special and I know they will accomplish great things. And there is no need for me to apologize for their existence because they (if you will) complete me! I am a much better person for having them and I look forward to what my future has with the joy of the constant pitter patter on my tile floor. I know that there will be a time when I will miss that sound so for now, I'm gonna stop apologizing and just enjoy it!

Dear Blog,

Thank you for allowing me to express myself. Thank you for being my source of creativity! And thank you for being a record of my joyous journey through life. You're the best!

Love, Cindi