What Made Me Cry Today

I used to cry a lot. My dad tells me that when I was a kid, he would wait for the day that I wouldn't cry. Even as an adult, I used to cry a good bit. It doesn't happen a whole lot anymore. I don't know why. Maybe I just have less to cry about. Maybe I have learned to let things go a bit more. I don't know. I am sure my husband is glad that I don't cry that much anymore. Then today the smallest little thing caught me totally off guard and made me downright sob. They were 4 small words spoken from my 3 year old, who I am sure has no comprehension of how it affected me. But first, I'm going to give a little back story. - Because I go to church where all but a few adults speak Spanish, I don't get much spiritual uplifting when I go to church. I struggle through sacrament meeting with my children, trying with all my effort to keep things under control, but inevitably find myself out in the foyer trying even harder to keep my kids reverent. I don't understand anything. Then I teach my primary class, which I love. The third hour is spent trying to keep 30something rowdy kids under control during singing and sharing time. Sundays are hard. Then at home, I try to have FHE and read scriptures with the kids. I am lucky if I get around to my own personal study as I am constantly swamped with the life of being a mom of 3 little guys. Now, this might sound like I am complaining. I don't mean to complain, because honestly it has all been fine. The point that I want to make is that in all of this, I don't get any lessons from anyone else. I don't understand talks, go to gospel doctrine, or relief society. My life is spent teaching children that Jesus loves them. I love that I get to do this. So, today I was sitting with Kate and she saw a picture of Jesus on the computer. She then told me something about Jesus, and I asked her what else she knew about Him. She replied that she didn't know and asked me to tell her. So, I told her some things about Jesus and ended with telling her that Jesus loves her. To which she replied to me, "Jesus likes you mommy!" ....I wasn't expecting to hear that. I couldn't get those few words out of my head and I realized how long it had been since I had heard anything like that from anyone else. It was a small little reminder to me that Jesus knows who I am. He knows my trials. And He likes me....my daughter told me. It will probably still be a long time before I really get to enjoy the feeling of being uplifted up by a lesson or a talk. But I know that teaching my children and the children of our little branch is important to Him. In all of this teaching and wanting these children to understand, I hadn't focused on letting them apply to me too. I always let them know that Jesus loves them. I forgot how good it is to hear those words told to you. So, whoever happens to read this, (hopefully you've heard this recently, but in case you haven't)...Jesus loves you!...and He likes you!