The Admonition of Paul

There haven't been any big "crash and burn" incidents, but there have been a few blips on the radar that signal that one teen-ager is having more teen-age "angst" than the other teen-ager. As a parent, I know that this is just a phase in development, but it still hurts when rumors are overheard that indicate this teen-ager is less than satisfied with things. I was studying some scriptures that were shared last week during a regional Relief Society training. I was reading these with my heart and mind pondering how the verses might be applied to my service in Relief Society, although in the back of my mind I was thinking about the struggles of the aforementioned teen-ager. I really wanted to know not how I could "fix" the teen-age angst --because I don't think there really is any fixing it, just enduring it until it passes. No, what I wanted to know was how I could be a better mother and maybe improve everyone's outlook (because I would be lying to you if I told you that the attitude coming from the child wasn't getting to me a little bit). So with all of that in mind, I came to the scripture in Phillipians 4:8. The end of that scripture hit me hard. I need to search out things to praise and think of these things, especially when dealing with teen-agers. It may not stop rotten attitudes from them, but it can stop me returning the unpleasantries. I want my children's memories of home and family to be positive. I want them to remember how much I love them. Because I really do love them--angst, warts, attitude and all. So finding the positive. Hmmm, that sounds vaguely familar. Oh yeah, it goes along with developing temperance. Jeez, I just can't get away from the need to develop temperance. I guess it was more than just happenstance that I decided to work on developing this particular quality this year.