Quote - Strengths & Weaknesses

From October 2011 General Conference,  Forget Me Not,  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.

 

Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not.

 

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does.

 

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

 

It’s wonderful that you have strengths.

 

And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses.

 

God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect, and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself.

Love and Logic Parenting - Peer Pressure

Listed below are some tips on how to up the odds that your kids will make wise decisions even when their buddies are not:

Let them see you saying "No" to your friends…and to societal pressures.
When kids see us resisting peer pressure…and resisting the urge to keep up with the Joneses next door…they are more likely to do the same.

Spend time building and maintaining a loving relationship.
Relationships take plenty of time. The more we invest, the more likely our kids will emulate our values when we're not around.

Help them focus on how their decisions affect them…not you.
It's tempting to say, "This really makes me mad!" when our kids make poor decisions. A more effective strategy involves empathizing, "This is so sad. I bet it hurts having to deal with these consequences. I love you."

Send positive expectations.
Saying, "Your friends are lucky to have someone like you with a good head on their shoulders," sends a far more positive expectation than lecturing, "That kid is bad news. Don't hang around with him."

Keep a close eye on them.
While we can dramatically up the odds that our kids will make good decisions when pressured by their peers to make bad ones, there's no substitute for doing our best to know where they are and what they’ll be doing there.

Object Lesson - Friends Rub Off on You

Brief Description/Purpose:
By coloring in with pencil large letters that spell FRIENDS, you will show how friends, whether they are good or bad can easily rub off on you.

Objects Used/Preparation:
chalk, chalkboard (or)piece of paper with the word FRIENDS on it in bubble letters for each student, pencil for each student

Lesson:
Before class print out the word FRIENDS in large bubble letters, about two inches high. During class, give each child a sheet of paper with FRIENDS printed on it and a pencil. Tell them to use the pencil to color in all the letters completely and very dark with the pencil. This may take a few minutes. After they are finished, you will have them rub their fingers over the letters to see that the graphite from the word friends has rubbed off on them. The friends you choose in life can have a big impact on the way you act. Friends can influence what type of clothes you wear, the type of music you listen to, what you believe, the words you use when you speak, the way you treat others, and the list goes on and on. In other words, friends can rub off on you.

Alternate: You can also have someone write the word "Friends" on the chalkboard and then have them rub the letters instead of using a pencil and paper.

Discuss: Talk about positive ways that each of us can rub off on our friends. Who is a friend that we want to have rub off on us? (the Savior)Scriptures: Proverbs 22:24-25; Proverbs 18:24; D&C 23:6; John 15:14

Source: Children's Sunday School Object Lessons, some additions by Michelle Walton

"Special" Brownie Recipe

SPECIAL BROWNIE RECIPE

A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could not attend PG-13, R or X rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13. The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it.

The cons were:
-It contained ONLY 3 swear words!
-The ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time they said),
-You actually did not 'see' the couple in the movie having sex, it was just implied sex, off camera.

The pros were:
-It was a popular movie, (a blockbuster).
-Everyone was seeing it.
-If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it.
-The movie contained a good story and plot.
-It had some great adventure and suspense in it.
-There were some fantastic special effects in this movie.
-The movie's stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood
-It probably would be nominated for several awards.
-Many members of their Christian church, including the pastor, had even seen the movie and said it wasn't really 'that bad'.

Therefore, since there were more pros than cons the teens asked their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it. The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decisionThe teens were thrilled, thinking, 'Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!' So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.
The next evening the Father called his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat the brownies, then he would let them go to the movie. But, he explained, just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons.

The pros were:
-They were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients.
-They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them.
-The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top.
-He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe.
-And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.

The cons were: He had included a little bit of a special ingredient: The brownies contained just a small amount of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well and they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so hopefully any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies which included just a 'little bit of crap' and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with 'just a little bit of smut' and not be affected. Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces.Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he KNOWS THEY SHOULDN'T BE DOING the father just asks, 'Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?