This experience is probably not funny to anyone who wasn’t there but I just need to record it as it was one of the funniest things that has happened to me in a long time…

A little background: For as long as I can remember when I am putting Sam and William to bed (they share a room) I will say, “Who wants to say the prayer?” and the first person who volunteers gets to say it. They both shout “ME!” but William is ALWAYS first. This is the boy who practices during the day and who also will come up to me and “call” saying the nighttime prayer hours in advance (which we disallow for the sake of fairness). I am thrilled with both boys’ willingness to pray, and both say such beautiful heartfelt prayers. Frequently, even though William is always faster than Sam at volunteering, I have to let Sam say it since he needs to have a turn too. Also sometimes I say, “Who wants to… (William says ‘ME’)…clean the toilets?” (insert, sweep the floors, do the dishes…)

Now tonight: We are on vacation at my dad’s house and last night we got home from Charleston very late. (11:30). Tonight I put William and Anna to bed at 7:30 as they were both exhausted, yet still in pretty good moods. They fell asleep almost instantly. Then the rest of us played games until around 10. Just now I put Sam to bed and said, “Please say your prayer.” To which he responded, “Oh please just ask, “Who wants to say the prayer?” (William was deeply asleep and no longer competition.  A contest Sam would surely win!) So I said, “Who wants to say the prayer?” Silence. “Anyone?” then William rolls over and sleepily exclaims “ME!” (I’m not kidding) and then slips back into dream land. Sam was awestruck, nearly speechless. And then we both laughed so hard we cried.

Lizzie is sick. She is laying in the parent bed because everyone knows that is the best place to be when you are sick! She is achy, feverish, and has a huge headache. I left her in there with the blinds down and the fan blowing on her in a cooling, comforting way. While I was getting her a piece of toast, a drink and a book to read Sam slipped in and started to read aloud to her from a book he enjoyed and just finished. They both looked so content, Lizzie in her comfort, Sam in the joy of service.

Sam went outside to feed the animals and came back with a bleeding tongue. Of course it is easy to figure out why…He wanted to be a Myth Buster! He wasn’t sure if putting your tongue on a pole in freezing weather was a myth or not and so he did what every good scientist would do and tried it out for himself! Myth…not busted. Even with the pain, he still wants to be on the Myth Buster show when he grows up. It combines science with explosions and excitement! Every boy’s dream come true.

Last Christmas Sam and Lizzie’s belief in Santa changed drastically. Sam had been defending Santa’s existence almost daily at school and Lizzie was quietly skeptical. Sam was looking for proof that Santa existed, Lizzie looking for proof that he did not. Lizzie finally found her proof when she discovered the Santa wrapping paper hidden a day before Christmas and then noticed the gifts from Santa were wrapped in the paper she had seen in my room. That was all the proof she needed. Lizzie confronted me and I had to confirm her suspicions. We decided to tell Sam too. Poor Sam acted like we had just told him the sun would not rise the next day.

Yesterday Lizzie and I were doing some last minute shopping and she sadly said, “I wish I didn’t know about Santa. Christmas is about two things to me, celebrating Christ’s birth and the magic of Santa and presents. Now part of that magic is gone. I guess that means I am supposed to focus more on Christ’s birth now.”

I was grateful for her wisdom in focusing her attentions on the real meaning of Christmas. I was also struck by the idea that we really do find what we are looking for. The promise at the end of the Book of Mormon always seemed miraculous to me as a missionary. (It still does.) I especially love Moroni 10:4 which says, “if ye shall ask with a sincere heart with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

If we really are seekers of truth we will find it. If we seek scandal, negativity, wrongdoing or hurt we will find it. This applies to our testimonies, the church, our relationships…Santa! If I seek truth and good the magic will be there all around me. I recognize this when I am seeking the spirit. I see God’s hand in everything and everyone. I see his love, wisdom and perfection in everything and everyone. When I am lax in my spiritual enrichment I see things through the eyes of a natural man and even attribute natural man-like qualities to Heavenly Father and everyone around me.

My children teach me so much! How could I have ever known when I started out my journey as a mother that my life would be touched and blessed in so many ways by the choice children that call me mother?

For the record…I still believe in Santa Claus.