As a family, we have been slacking on doing family meetings together. It is just another thing the kids can roll their eyes at. First, I sat down with my partner and crime, my husband, to see if we were on the same wavelength about inspiring our kids to be better and to get a family chore system in place. We are still working on that. In my scripture reading this morning I read The Presidents of the church about Pres. David O Mckay, Chapter 24. It was titled, Let your light so shine. He admonishes us to make our homes examples of harmony and love. He said
"Our homes radiate what we are, and that radiation comes from what we say and how we act in the home. … You have to contribute to an ideal home by your character, controlling your passion, your temper, guarding your speech, because those things will make your home what it is and what it will radiate to the neighborhood. …"
I read this quote at our family meeting. I thought it could be like a beacon for what we wanted to try to accomplish in our home. My husband replied
"Okay we have a real problem here! Pause for dramatic effect..... We have radiation in our home. The kind that turned Bruce into the Hulk"
Sigh....I love my husband. He makes me laugh and he has a way of reaching the kids that I can't. Also, you can tell I am surrounded by boys all day can't you? As we laughed I thought about it, the more I thought about it I realized he was a genius! Don't tell him I said that okay? There is so much in this world, like radiation, can creep through our defenses at home and poison the minds of each one of us. President David O Mckay of course meant radiation by energy and light we give off within ourselves. We radiate who we are.
David O Mckay further states
"No good deed, no kind word can be spoken without its effect being felt for good upon all. Sometimes the good may be infinitesimal, but as a rock that is thrown in a pool starts a wave from the center which continues to enlarge until every part of the shore is touched, so your deeds, silent, many of them, unknown, unspoken, unheralded, continue to radiate and touch many hearts."
The ripple effect can be from not only a positive deed but a negative one as well. If one person is angry or sad then everyone feels it. What we do and say or the moods we are in create these ripples in the water, our home. Of course the positive emotions have the same effect. I really want to point out the negative ones because that can cause more like a wave or tsunami. Before you know it we are all caught up in this tide of emotion.It is harder to stop and control.When someone gets mad it is like throwing a rock into the pond. It will eventually touch each family member. Those family member who are just innocent bystanders may feel like they have to walk on egg shells. One wrong move and her comes the next wave. Have you ever noticed this in your home? How many times as parents are we the one to start the ripple? What would those around us notice that we are radiating? Next time I want to act on my frustration I might think about this before I act.
Each of our actions are rocks that splash, radiate an influence all in its path. Everything we do starts a ripple and it can go far beyond where we can see and penetrate our tender hearts and minds. Whether we choose to toss positive or negative rocks is up to us. It could even be a giant boulder with a larger impact and effect. Lifting a boulder takes more effort We choose. My children choose. People around me choose. We radiate what we choose. I wish we could just decide to be positive every day and just dive into it ourselves. Just give our all. You can feel a rush of happiness!
What do you think? Did you throw positive rocks or negative today? How can you throw more positive ones and less negative?
Here is a drawing I did in my scripture journal of a ripple in water that I thought I would share
