Parenting, Snakes, and Pig Bladder Balloons

Recently, while searching and praying for some parenting guidance, I somehow found myself in an article by Tad R. Callister that was completely unrelated to parenting. (It was actually an article on Joseph Smith.) Still, it seemed I'd landed there not by accident, so I shrugged and began perusing the article.

This was what I read:

"The gospel is somewhat like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. When young Joseph came on the scene, perhaps 100 pieces were already in place. Then the Prophet exercised his divine mantle and put most of the other 900 pieces together. ...

"Certainly there have been many brilliant men and women since the meridian of time. Why were they not able to put this puzzle together? Because God had reserved this work for the Prophet Joseph Smith."

Somehow as I read, I did see parenting. It felt as if the Spirit was telling me that there were many pieces to the puzzle of each of my children's plans. And some of those pieces I had been given a "divine mantle" to be the one to put into place. And that I could trust God to help me with the work He had reserved specifically for me to do in their lives.

It made me think of Elder Uchtdorf saying (in regard to looking to Christ for the help we need in guiding our children):

"Accept this privilege and responsibility courageously and joyfully."

Anyway. It meant something to me.

In other news ... a snake poked its head (and a decent chunk of its long, slithery body) out of the side of our fireplace the other day, looked around at the inside of our house, then pulled his head back. 

It was quite alarming. I thought it was fun for my kids to catch snakes so often outside last summer. But I do not find it fun to see one inside my house. Am I really ready for farm life? AM I? (And do you even have any idea how much mud is now constantly tracked into my house? SO MUCH MUD!) 

But, my kids, who used to weep and need a funeral for any small, deceased critter they ever saw, have become completely unperturbed by all the dead mice and voles we now find left in our yard (complements of our cats), so maybe I can get used to snakes in my house. (No. I cannot.)

(But I have gotten quite used to these views. So ... shrug. Snakes it is I guess.)

Also, the other day Mike said to me, in regard to the Little House on the Prairie books, "I was surprised how much of the first book was just about homesteading. I'm serious. Like I could take that book and just be in the wilderness and survive. It talks about how to smoke meat, and how to make fun balloons out of a pig's bladder. ..."

Fun balloons out of pig bladders? Maybe we will be OK up here after all.

The End.