First Lesson

On Alvin and the Chimpmunks: Chipwrecked, Simon said something that was pretty profound for me.  "Sometimes if you just show a little trust, your kids will rise to the occasion and surprise you."  That was true for me on Monday night.  For our whole marriage, I've been in charge of the Lesson at Family Home Evening.  The Treat and Activity were traded between Caden and Keilie.  The Song, Scripture,  and Prayer were traded between Shelby, Brennon, and Tyson.  That's just the way it has always been.  I recently decided that Caden was old enough to do a Lesson, so I gave him the challenge Saturday afternoon to do one.  He skimmed through the book and came to one, said that was the one he was going to do, and shut the book after looking at it for 5 minutes.  I kept hounding him that I expected it to be a good lesson and that he should probably take a little more time reading the material.  He assured me that he was ready.  And boy was he ever!  His lesson was, "When illness strikes."  He asked us when we'd been sick and who helped us through.  He asked us if we'd ever been the one to help someone get better.  He then asked what everyone was doing to help me.  The questions were perfectly timed, well thought out questions.  He then brought in a bucket and asked me to lift it up.  (Whispering, he told me to pretend that it was too heavy)  He then asked each child in turn to come and help me lift it.  He then asked the whole family to come and help me.  He asked me if it was easier to handle my burden when we all pitched in.  He bore his Testimony and ended.  I sat there in awe of my sweet little boy.  His lesson was better than ANY that I'd prepared in our 7 years of doing FHE.  My son rose to the challenge and surprised me! He is such a spiritual warrior.  He is often the one to remind us of scripture study and family prayer.  He helps keep the kids quiet to keep the Spirit in our home during all of the above.  Some think I was too young to have babies.  Looking at kids that are 19, I realize that I probably was.  However, Caden was sent for me.  He is a better boy than I could have ever imagined.  He hasn't waited until he is 19 to serve a mission.  He's on one now!
On a side note, it did make me intensely sad to hear him say things like, "When mom sleeps in until noon," or "Mom has to sit on the couch all day," or "When I have to make lunch because mom doesn't feel well."  I'm sad that my kids have to know these trials.  I'm sad that Caden has to grow up so much because I'm sick.  I'm grateful that it isn't anything more serious, but for my little family, it's enough for my son to choose that topic as his first lesson.