Confession: Change of Heart

Ten years ago, I prayed that Heavenly Father would change my husband. I mean, I didn’t want a different one. I married the one I wanted but life got crazy and  things that were important before had been pushed aside in the rush. My name is Bianca and I wanted my husband to change and Heavenly Father changed me instead.

So I recently received a letter from a reader from Wyoming who fell in love with a return missionary. And while they were married in the temple, life became crazy as it often does, and their family became less active than she wished. She is happy, she wrote,  but she misses being immersed in the gospel, having her children active in scouts and young women’s, family home evening and all the things that were a big part of her childhood but somehow got pushed aside over the years. She says her husband just isn’t interested in them anymore.
To this faithful girl I say…I think this is normal. We all start out with good intentions, we have to earn a living and help our children in their education which may mean volunteering. All good things. But you want the best things. And I know your desire is pure and sincere. Ten years ago I didn’t understand the power I had in the home, to completely alter my family’s life experience. I kept praying to change my children and to change my husband, but in the end He changed my heart and theirs soon followed. Let me see if I can remember what I did.
1. I Prayed. As I said, I prayed for a change in my family.
2. I listened. Inspiration would come as it does, line upon line in tiny whispers and I would listen and obey.
3. I acted. I went back to basics, Family Home evening happened every Monday night without fail, whether he showed up or not. Sometimes it wasn’t long and sometimes we had candy bars for dessert but a the end of the night I had made an attempt to bring the spirit back into my home. We read the scriptures stories off the back of the gospel art kit pictures, and we prayed together as often as I could remember.
4. I focused. I focused on the end result. I could see from other’s examples what I wanted for my home and family and I keep that vision close to my heart and after a while everything I did was in an effort to meet that goal.
5. I let the Spirit Do the Talking. I tried not to criticize or belittle. Instead, I tried to keep the Spirit in my home. I tried to make it a place where my children and husband always wanted to be. We played board games and read good books together and when he came home I tried to have the house as peaceful as possible.

For a while it looked like it wasn’t going to work. But I kept on and on. Ten years later, I have the family I wanted all along and I have changed completely. Good luck and best wishes to you, my friend, my sister.  Keep me posted.