A Good Day for Jesse...A lesson for Mom & Dad

Last Sunday was our Primary program at church. Max braved the stage and sang with the other children. Jesse attempted to go up, but fear overcame him, he cried, and quickly sat back down with Mom and Dad. While we were proud of Max, and loved watching him up there singing, he even had a small speaking part, Dad and I were struggling with what to do about Jesse? We kept asking ourselves if we were making the right decision? Should we have made him go up there? Are we encouraging him to NOT participate? All this going through are heads. While Jesse was sitting with us, he would talk about going up there, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. When we got home Dad and I talked about it some more and how can we encourage our children to have self confidence without making them feel guilty or any other unwanted feelings? Then we just left the topic alone. Dad started getting ready to go home teaching and he asked Jesse if he wanted to come along and be a Missionary with Dad? Jesse said, "Yes" and immediately sprung into action getting his church clothes back on. He was excited about this opportunity to be a Missionary. He grabbed his scriptures, even wore one of Dad's ties. They grabbed some cookies to take to the family they were visiting, Jesse gave me a hug, and left with dad. (This was the quickest I've ever seen Jesse get ready, get into the car, and buckle up without one of us saying, "Hurry up" etc..) Seeing his excitement made me so happy. It made the whole experience at church seem small. Maybe we just need to look for ways where Jesse does "shine" and praise him up and down about it. Taking either of the boys "visiting teaching" etc. is usually a bad experience because they can't sit through the visit, so for Dad to voluntarily take Jesse was BIG! I know he was prompted to take Jesse. After an hour or so of being gone. Both Jesse and Dad came back happy! Phew! Dad said Jesse was shy at first and when the one they were visiting asked if he was shy, Dad replied, "No, he's still learning." Perfect response! Then, at the next two houses, Jesse's fear subsided, he even said a prayer. What a great day for Jesse, and Dad. In the car on the way home, Jesse asked Dad, "Did I do good?" Dad's reply was, "Yes, Jesse, you did good. You were a good Missionary." He was so proud of himself when he came home. Great job Jesse!