Lesson on Reverence - Past and Present

Today, January 23, 2011 was Grandpa Day. I’m not writing about this exactly, just to say it has been a long time since this Dad, (whether in Dad or Granddad form) got to put a little baby to sleep. Usually mom or Grandma slip in to take over. Let’s just say today was a pleasure.
Now, on to my story.

Lori and I were asked to watch Parker, Aiden and Laney while their mom and dad, (Cody and Kimberly) spoke in church. Kim lead off, speaking on REVERENCE. What a topic for a mother of two wonderfully curious and competitive boys 4 and 3. I’m sure 5-month old Laney doesn’t count.
Anyway, Kim shared with the congregation her desire to teach her boys the power of reverence, and the sacredness of the chapel. She shared a exerpt from a talk about another mothers’ experience of taking her children, dressed in Sunday attire, into the chapel on a different day than Sunday. Kim saw an opportunity to teach her boys a similar lesson in REVERENCE. She reported that she donned a skirt, and dressed Parker, Aiden, and Laney in their Sunday outfits, and with supportive Cody in tow, went to the church, and entered the empty chapel.
Here they had a short discussion about the proper spirit and attitude of the room, the service and the need for REVERENCE.
It brought back memories when Lori, fit to be tied with two young boys, probably no older than these two grandsons, tried a similar tactic to elicit REVERENCE. Lori got the idea of “Practicing Church” . I can’t remember how often they practiced, but I know it was more than once. The boys would sit and face the window wall and have to be quiet for 15 minutes at a stretch. I think the 15 minutes represented the time between the opening song and the Sacrament service. I can’t remember.
All I know is it made an impact on them. Not that they were suddenly “perfect examples of REVERENCE, but it has been a great “do you remember when mom made us practice church” story when the kids gather together or when they are comparing the atrocities that their parents made them suffer as children.
I admire the efforts that mothers go to in order to teach their boys the power of reverence.
I  don’t remember practicing church when I was a child, but I know my mom had her hands full.
Here’s to all the moms in the world as they work to teach the little children~!!!