I had lunch yesterday with a BYU professor
Dale Cressman and his wife
Rebecca, and
Raymond and
Jeannette Hales Beckham, and Dean Stephen Jones and Department chair Brad Rawlins. I love the tidbits of wisdom I gain from visits like this with wonderful people who have much more experience than I do. It's really rare that I want to actually be just like a person I'm with, but I often gain great insights.
At one point, Sister Beckham mentioned, with some emotion, that she feels most disappointed she she sees young people "not living up to their potential." The memorable part of her comment was not the words, but the sense and emotion that I could clearly sense from her was that she felt many people had tremendous potential. I hope I can give my children that same feeling that I know they can do great things--as well as reach for my own personal potential. I imagine we all fall short of our true potential.
My favorite tidbit was from Rebecca Cressman, who asked about my young family and said she now very much enjoys her teenage years with her three boys. She mentioned some advice she had given to one young father relative of hers with several young children. She said she told this young father, "You should know that this is a temporary time you're going through with young children. You will get your wife back after awhile. But for now, she has a real challenge and will be very occupied--she'll be struggling all day just to hold it together and watching the clock tick down to the exact minute you said you'd be home. If you say you're going to be home at 5, than be there at that time. If you make it home by 5:15, those few minutes may seem like no big deal to you, but to her it is 15 very long minutes beyond what she has been telling herself she could barely handle. But the good news is, you'll get your wife back. When the children grow a bit older, she'll be back. This is just a particularly challenging time right now."
Those are some words of wisdom I wish I could have had a few years ago and not had to learn the hard way. It has taken me a few difficult experiences and a couple of days personally trying to actually do home-school for a full day to recognize the wisdom in this thought. I really do enjoy being with my children and helping them learn--actually wish I could stay home with them all day more often--but regardless, it is exhausting. I have an amazing wife who does much good and I can remember to make a diligent effort to be home when expected.
It's also one more reason my mother is my hero. She had some very energetic children, extremely high standards for herself and her family, and many times when Dad was working very long hours. I can definitely appreciate her efforts better now that I recognize more of the countless sacrifices she made on our behalf. It's remarkable how well she "held it together" under the challenging circumstances. Thank you, MOM!
