My Beautiful Song

 I've been realizing lately that I feel a lot like Jacob in the Book of Mormon.  In Jacob 7:26, he says:

"And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old....[and] the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream...."

 

I, too, begin to be old.  As I look back on my life, it has almost passed away as a dream.  Only fleeting moments come to my memory.  They are fading off in the distance.  I am reaching out after them, but they are vanishing from my view. 

The most important mission in my life is those five children you see smiling in the picture above.  If I have only accomplished one thing in my life, it is them.  They are the beautiful song to my life's dream.  When the song was being written, some notes were wrong and had to be erased, but eventually the melody came out soft and sweet.  They are the song to my life.  They are my tune that I whistle and hum and keep inside my heart.  The are each individual, blessed with different talents, but each is so important for the melody to come out right. 

 

 As I have studied their faces, joy wells up in my soul.  These are the loves of my life.  These five people are the reason that I exist.  They are my life's greatest work.  I see in their eyes their true potential.  I know that they are strong.  I have had many testimonies given to me of their valiance in the pre-existence.  They are each unique and have different qualities about them that make them special.  They have blessed my life in ways that they will never know. 

 

Brock, the oldest, carries the heaviest burden sometimes.  He feels responsible.  He's my little hero.  He is stubborn and never does what anyone tells him to do and you know what?  He thinks for himself.  He's strong and he does what he believes is right, not what the world tells him to do.  He is definitely not a follower.  He is a leader and I believe he has been for eons of time. 

 

Kelli is kind and thoughtful.  She has that soft spot in her heart.  She has always wanted to serve and serves with the biggest smile on her face.  Because of the gift of charity she was blessed with, she is an awesome mother.  Her little sons adore her and think she is a "Princess."  I see her as a beautiful woman that takes on the motherly role in such a tender, loving way.

 

Rhett, my sweet thoughtful son.  So tender and loving.  He is a man who tries to love God as best he can.  He has always been so tender, very much like my dad.  It wasn't that long ago that I was looking at Rhett's hands.  He has my dad's hands.  I told him that it was a big responsibility to have grandpa's hands and wondered what he would do with them in his life. 

Kodi has an old soul.  You can tell that somewhere before here, in another time and place, she had wisdom.  People looked to her.  You can see it in her eyes.  You can feel it in her embrace.  You can hear it in her counsel.  She definitely was saved for these last days to accomplish a great mission with her life.

Gray, my baby.  She is very much like her older brother.  Definitely a leader....never a follower.  She is much like her dad.  In the moment, thinking deeply.  The philosopher, we lovingly call her.  I could sit and listen to her deep thoughts for hours. 

I never thought that these children would grow up and no longer need me.  They are adults of their own.  They think their own thoughts, make their own decisions.  I look to them for advice and strength.  They truly are the beautiful song to my life's dream.