My dad always said that he thought that each generation that came after him seemed to be more spiritual, better individuals and more intelligent. He always thought his own kids were better than the generation he came from and that his grand kids were even more wonderful of a generation than the one before.
I have to second his assumption today as I have had some proof of this. I am in charge of collecting, correlating and assembling my family's quarterly newsletter. This means I gather all the newsletter articles or family updates that each of my siblings put together and I put them all together into one document and distribute it to everyone to read. It is a neat way we have all been able to stay close and involved in each other's lives especially as we move far away from home and as there are no more weddings or other big events making it easy to see each other. It is on its 14th year running and various different people have taken charge of the newsletter throughout the years.
I recently completed the first edition for this year and distributed it. We had a lot of the grand kids old enough to write their own newsletter update this year in addition to the newsletter articles their parents often write for the family as a whole. It has amazed me with the level of maturity, spirituality and intelligence that this next generation has. I was never at this level when I was their age. At 14, 15, and 16 I was perfecting the art of rolling my eyes, fluent in talking back to teachers and parents and in general much more involved in only myself than my nieces and nephews are. They are generous, kind and have strong testimonies. They are smart and articulate. They are genuine and good individuals and have plans for their future.
I think this is a real testament to the good parenting they received from their parents or my siblings. It makes me look at my own kids and I can see they are more clever and more advanced than I was at their age. They are already fluent in back talk and it took me years to get good at that. But in all reality, seeing my good nieces and nephews makes me inspired to be a better parent. And it humbles me and makes me grateful that my kids have such excellent examples to follow in their cousins.
Well done family - I love you!
2 Comments:
Seriously? I was going to post something about that. I just talked to Gage for 25 minutes about how cool he is and how much of what he is doing now, I wasn't at the same age... or even now. You beat me to it. And that Britney writes in her jurnal... not me at that age (or now- oops) and Micah knowing what he wants to do in college as a Junior and being proactive now. Again, not me. It took me 5 years to find out what I wanted to do, AFTER I started college. I'm so impressed with my nieces and nephews.
Your post has had me thinking and when I came across this chapter in the book I'm reading I had to share it with you. It's from Sheri Dew's book entitled No One Can Take Your Place. It's a little long... sorry :)
"Now, the glorious but sobering truth is that, in spite of our aeons of premortal preparation, the days ahead will at times wrench our very heart strings as the Prophet Joseph told the Twelve...But the last days are not for the faint of heart or the spiritually out of shape. There will be days when we feel defeated, exhausted, and plain old beat up by life's whiplash. People we love will disappoint us - and we will disappoint them. We'll probably struggle with some kind of mortal appetite. Some days it will feel as though the veil between heaven and earth is made of reinforced concrete. And we may even face a crisis of faith. In fact, we can count on trials that test our testimony and our faith... Everything about our lives is an indicator of our Father's remarkable respect, that He recommended us for now, when the stakes are so high, when His kingdom is being established once and for all, never again to be taken from the earth. He chose us for the last leg of the relay when He needs His strongest runners."
It's humbling to know that we get to be part of this generation and that we get to raise even more amazing people.
Post a Comment