A testimony to my son

A very public meltdown during the Sacrament on Sunday revealed to the world that Sam's struggling a little bit right now with a lot of emotions. We've had a couple of rough weeks where Sam has been angry at a lot of things, and we're both feeling pretty exhausted by it. I'm exhausted at trying to be a good mom in the face of great temptation to smack my kid, and Sam's exhausted at always being in trouble, and feeling like he can never succeed. I think everyone else in the family is tired of having to take care of their own problems while Sam and I work on his. So, it's been rough on all of us.

Sam lost his temper again this morning, and after finally calming down, he cried and hugged me and said, "It doesn't matter how hard I try, I can't do things right. I don't have any choice." As I hugged him, I felt all of his despair. We sat in the rocking chair, and I told him a story. "Long, long ago, we lived in heaven with our Heavenly Father. He told us that we needed to go to earth to progress. And someone named Satan said, 'I will make it so everyone has to be good, and they can all come back to heaven.'" Sam didn't like that idea, because of all the people I know, Sam values his freedom to choose the most. "Then someone else named Jesus Christ stood up and said, 'I will pay the punishment for everyone's mistakes so that everyone can choose for themselves.'" Tears came to my eyes as I told Sam that I know life is hard, but Jesus Christ had given him a fabulous gift: the power to overcome ANY problem he had in life. I felt it as strong as anything I've ever felt before - we (every. single. one. of. us, even Sam) CAN overcome ANY problem we have. The moment I said it, I knew it was completely true.

Think of it: we have the power to choose for ourselves. No thing or person can make us be the way we don't want to be, because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that's just fabulously amazing to me today. I'm really grateful for that beautiful moment of clarity in the midst of a tough morning.

Choose good, all y'all. Even if it's hard.