Mother's Day honestly

Last night just before midnight I remembered that I needed to teach a lesson in church this afternoon.  The topic was honesty.  I had at least read through the lesson in the manual a couple weeks ago and found a couple other things that I needed, but I was far from ready.  I went to bed.  I did a little bit of minimal prep in the morning while my kids watched cartoons and Dad slept in.  By 10:30 I suddenly felt terrible and collapsed in bed.  This cold has been a bad one and just won't let go, coughing, headaches, exhaustion.  I slept for nearly two hours.  We made it to church an hour late to find the need to change a poopy pull-up.  Of course I forgot to grab my usual bag with all the kid stuff so we zipped to Grammie and GrandDad's house near by for a quick change and finally got to church.  Thankfully there was a lot of class participation with good comments and a good spirit that helped the lesson go smoothly, as well as more than a little help from Above.  It is so good to have the help when it is so desperately needed.

A few thoughts from today's lesson:

Honesty is often defined by what it isn't.  It's not lying, cheating, or stealing.  It is more than that as well.  "Honesty...is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving."
     James E. Faust, Ensign Nov 1996

We believe in being honest and true. (13th Article of Faith)  We also believe that there is Truth, with a big T, absolute truths that don't change with circumstances.

While discussing complete honesty, a class member said that honestly stating the truth is different than honestly stating your opinion.  We should be bold in standing for Truth, but perhaps more careful in stating our opinions.

We even quoted a little Shakespeare.
From Othello

Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.

From Hamlet

This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

p.s.  I wore the beaded necklace Buddy Boy made for me at school.  I think he liked that.