Little Man Cole: Family Home Evening Lesson on Gratitude

There are moments as a mother where you sit and watch your children do things you didn't know they had in them, and you sit in absolutely awe at the fact that I am the mother of this amazing child. Tonight was one of those nights for me Cole. It was a crazy Monday night where we were trying to get homework done so we could run to our grandparents to gather stuff for Mom to use in young womens the next day, and we were also going to eat at Grandma Chatelains' house. About 20 minutes before we were getting ready to leave you asked if we could do family night. I'll be honest here and say I was thinking in my head I don't think we really have time to fit everything in that we need to do before bed time and accomplish family home evening. You begged for a minute and told me that you wanted to do the lesson and you would take care of everything. I smiled and said ok buddy, its yours. You disappeared into your room for the next twenty minutes preparing your lesson and activity. After the twenty minutes I called out to you and your siblings and said lets go. The next thing I know you happily came out of your room with a pile of stuff and asked for a bag to carry everything in. You then inquired about how many people would be at family night, so you could finish preparing the activity while we drove to Grandmas. I still had no idea what you were doing but was definitely excited to see.

A little bit later we ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Chatelain (Grandma's yummy homemade chicken noodle soup) and then began family night. Crew conducted and did a marvelous job, Abby lead the sang (If The Savior Stood Beside Me), and then Crew turned the time over to you. You confidently walked up to the front of the room and said "Tonight the lesson is going to be on Gratitude and I would like to share a story with you from the friend." You read a great story about being grateful for what we have and once the story was done you told us you wanted to share some examples with us of things that you were thankful for. First you pulled out a Gratitude Journal out of the bag and told us how you were given this at your baptism by your primary teacher and how you write down things everyday that you are grateful for. Then you pulled out your Oswald the rabbit doll from Disneyland and said you were grateful for him. And last but not least you said I have one more thing I am thankful for and you pointed your finger and scanned your arm around the room and said "I am thankful for all of you." At this moment I was sitting in complete awe at what I was watching. You had masterfully prepared and organized a very well thought out lesson with attention getters, a great story, and great thoughts from a very insightful 8 year old. My eyes filled a little with tears because I was so proud to say I was your Mom, man are you awesome Cole.

Then you pulled out sheets of paper that you had prepared yourself where you wanted each of us to write down 5 things we were grateful for and then draw a picture or write a sentence of what we were grateful for. Again I am still amazed that you came up with this all on your own. Once everyone had completed their papers we shared what we were thankful for. It was a special moment Cole and I am thankful for your strong testimony of this gospel and your willingness to do what is right. When all was said and done we were all amazed at what you had done. Grandpa said to you "Cole you are going to make a great missionary one day." I believe that very much Cole, you are destined to help others. You have a way about you that others want to listen to you and you are great at be kind to others. I hope you always remember how special you are and that you are a son of God. Thank you for sharing your testimony with us today and for letting me be your Mom.

I love you more than words can say Cole bug.
Love Mom