When You're Done Taking Your Thoughts for Drive
This is a sleeping teenager tired from 2-a-day practices of wrestling and football as he prepares to enter high school. At the end of the practices he’s tired and crashed. The dog politely joined him.
The mother took a photo. Football/wrestling morning practice is wearing him out. She said.
Grandpa responded: About time someone got their food money out of him.
Well played, grandpa. Well played.
You know how it goes. Long car ride. Two hours from home and your kids are bored. So they say they’re hungry.
The trip doesn’t need you to spend any more money but stopping to eat probably isn’t a bad idea.
Instead of pulling over and letting the kids pick what they wanted I gave them $20 and a challenge to find a way for all six people in the family to get something to eat.
There was some collaboration, but no fighting. The kids actually pulled it off. Had they picked out what they wanted without the rules I set up, it would have cost me $40.
Adding a few simple rules turned this part of the trip into a game and gave us a great family memory.
Hindsight is always 20/20. Many of us use this feature of our humanity to look back at how we treated others to see if there are opportunities to improve. More than once we find them.
Sometimes you might find that in areas where you thought you were being kind by saying yes you were actually hurting someone–sometimes that someone is yourself. Selfless acts are noble and if done properly they can help us stretch our skills and gain empathy for others, but all too often we say yes to things without thinking of the bigger lessons involved.
Sometimes kindness means no.
When making small talk p
If we define ourselves by our occupation or the things that occupy our time shouldn’t we respond with father, son, husband, or child of god?
Earlier I wrote about how without the work done in the temple the earth would be utterly wasted at the second coming. Today I found Mister Hill.
Up until a few hours ago this child was simply listed on the death records in Ohio by his last name. Knowing the death date doesn’t allow the temple work to be done. A birth date is required because children under the age of 8 do not need to be baptized.
Today I found his birth date, or rather his birth range. FamilySearch correctly had the 1900 census connected to the parents. That document, while extremely imperfect, at least told me who was in the household on the 27th and 28th of June 1900. Mister Hill was not listed. This meant I could use June 1900 to September 1901 as his birth range. Once his birth range was listed it allowed me to print the card for sealing him to his parents.
This morning, there was a missing son. Now he’s been found. It’s my responsibility to get the work done to help complete this family, and without that work occurring the whole purpose for this wonderful, beautiful earth would be wasted at the second coming.
There’s a real joy that comes from doing this work. It’s nice to spend those moments doing the things you love and taking care of those who have passed away.
My grandfather was a man with a kind smile. He died before I made it to ten years old. When I had kids of my own and visited grandma’s house I discovered his old reel-to-reel tape recorder and found a treasure of information on the old tapes. While I don’t know what year this particular recording came from and I can’t verify if Donal Hill was the author, I can attest that the loving thoughts expressed are a benefit to those who will listen.
The Lucius Clark book is up on Amazon.
