Power to CRUSH

I hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable in any way.  Because it really has a happy ending :)

The other night my kids were getting ready for bed and started to exchange scary dream stories.  Ethan had a whopper of one.  Like, it scared me.  I thought about something my mom taught me growing up and figured this was a good time to bring it up.


Whenever you talk about Satan or evil scary things, it gives him power.

Don't do it.  


Just don't.  


The prophets have told us many times to avoid such conversation.

This includes, but is not limited to, scary dreams, haunted houses, scary movies, idle gossip, conversation that send my spirits on a downward spiral, etc.  Avoid avoid avoid.  That's my motto.  If it leaves me feeling icky inside, then I need to be thinking about other things.  Like really, it leaves me this feeling like I've got rancid, heavy goo oozing from the inside out.  

I hate it.  

But you know what I hate even more?

The thought that the adversary might have any kind of power in my life.

That just makes me want to turn around and punch him in the face.  Then I laugh as I remember that, guess what?  He doesn't have one, and he never will, and that's why he's so mad.  So there!  Take that!  Ha!

I was prompted to blog about this tonight because I was trying to catch up on these wild fires.  Seeing how I could maybe help someone who has been displaced, and all over the news there was nothing but evil people and terrible things of the like, and all of the sudden... that rancid, heavy goo started to ooze into my chest and I got this sick feeling.  Then I thought, "Let's head over the LDS.org and see what good things they have to say.  Then it dawned on me.  


When do you ever see anything newsworthy on LDS.org that isn't virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy?  


NEVER.  


It's all good news.  It gives me hope.  It lifts me up.

So when I'm trying to help my children understand this concept, I start to bear my testimony to them that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy.  He'll do anything he can to help us feel uplifted and edified if we just invite him in and let him do his job.  So instead of talking about things that bring out that rancid icky goo, think about things that give relief.  Happy things.  Blessings.


I said this to my children.  And they listened.  I mean really listened.  (JOY!!!)

We do this thing when they have bad dreams where we each hold up a hand and I give them a good dream.  A basic story (person, place, thing, and extras).  I give them 3 options like, Fairy, Santa, Princess.  And they pick one and name their first finger.  Then I give them 3 different options, like, Castle, The park, Lagoon (all places they love), they name their middle finger.  Then I give them 3 more options, yo yo, basketball, or frisbee.  They name their ring finger.  and we keep going, repeating as we go (kind of like "This is the house that jack built") until all five fingers have an assignment.  Then we repeat it 5 times so it's good and stuck in their heads and we are all giggling because of how silly these things sound together.

We did this.  Almost instantly, as we started to talk about the things that they loved, Heavenly Father's love for us, and having good dreams, the spirit was with us and that rancid heavy goo was gone.  Totally gone.  

Squashed it like a bug.

Today Olivia was asking BJ if he would play that scary game with her (he puts a big blanket over his head and growls and meanders around the house grabbing them and tickling them saying he's eating them).  She looked at me and instantly caught her breath like she thought she'd said something wrong.  I put my arm around her and said, "That game with daddy isn't the same kind of scary mommy was talking about.  There is silly scary and evil scary.  When it makes you feel silly, it's okay.  When it makes you feel scared and empty, that's the spirit telling you that it's not okay.  Does that make sense?"  

"YEP!" Then she grinned-because she absolutely loves silly scary things-and she started to chatter away about how much she loves to play that game with daddy.  

So, my point in sharing this is really just to hash it out for myself.  I need to focus more on the positive things that are going on in the world, because the Prophet is right! (duh!) There is so much good in the world!  Focus on that because it will lift you up, not bring you down.  It will give ME power!  HA!  


Take that, adversary!