I believe in roots. Our foundations are the ultimate in who we are.
We have a divine foundation of living with and knowing our Heavenly Father. It often goes unrecognized, but these are our underlying roots that instill within us the desire to be kind and thoughtful, to help others, and to do good. Those are divine roots that draw us back to our heavenly home.
We also have our mortal roots, our nurtured roots. These, too, are strong and give me hope in the future of my children. I see them in Eddie as he shares that his wish (“I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight …”) is to get to meet Jesus again.
I witness the roots in Jentri as she stops me by my bedroom door and pulls me down to her height and gently tells me, “Mommy, I want to say a prayer for daddy and Sidney and Anja and Coltrin.” They had left earlier that day to go do some hiking in the Grand Canyon and she was concerned for their safety.
I see them in Sidney as she strolls through the kitchen carelessly picking at the breakfast makings while singing “How Great Thou Art” under her breath. The music had long stopped but the tune carried on within her. (This is one of my mommy tactics, btw, shhh, don’t tell her. Ha ha.)
I see the roots in Coltrin as he teaches his younger brother the importance of paying a full tithe. Even though Eddie is diligently working hard to save up for a Kindle, he put money aside for tithing. This wasn’t done at mom’s teaching, though, mom allowed for him to choose. Instead, this was done by his older brother’s teaching. Coltrin explained to him the importance of keeping that commandment and convinced his 5 year old brother to choose what was right.
I see the roots in Anja as she puts her phone down and logs in to her LDS account to do some indexing. Nobody told her to. Nobody asked her to. She just wanted to, and so she did.
My kids don’t always want to go to church. Some of them straight up resist. They don’t always want to study the scriptures, or sit down to watch General Conference. Sometimes they fight and are insensitive towards each other, and sometimes they even intentionally hurt each other’s feelings. All of these things concern me as their mother, but when I witness these moments where theirs roots shine through, I am put at ease.
Roots grow deep and are solid. One of my favorite yoga poses to do with my kids is the tree pose. I love this pose! Not for what it looks like, but for what it represents. I love having them wave their leaves around in the stormy winds while allowing their roots to hold them stable and strong. I don’t know if they have yet related it to their lives like I have, but I know with a little patience, I can have faith in their roots. I can believe in them, and I can hope in them.
Forever grateful!
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – John 14:27
