Today's #lighttheworld theme involves showing love and appreciation for one's parents.

The official ligththeworld site advises:

"We shouldn’t wait for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day to express our love to our parents. We can show appreciation year-round by serving them and living the way they taught us to live."

Like every athlete who has ever scored a touchdown, a goal or hit a home run, I am going to focus my appreciation on my mom (sorry Dad... you know I love you).

That last part really hit home for me. Although she is not perfect, my mom has always been an incredibly kind, loving and generous person. She "taught me how to live" through her actions every day of my childhood. Although I am not very religious, my mother is. One of my favorite lessons she ever taught me was how to observe the Christian season of Lent.

Lent is the time leading up to Easter. In my neighborhood, it was traditional for people to "give something up" for Lent. The idea was to make a sacrifice during this time to represent Jesus's resisting temptation in the desert. Even though I was at a public school, many kids would talk about giving up candy, soda, or swearing for Lent. Apparently giving up homework did not count (I tried).

One day while we were at the grocery store, I asked my mom what she was giving up for Lent. She responded, "Oh I don't give up anything. I like to do a good deed every day instead."

"You can do that?", I asked.

She smiled and responded, "Of course you can. It's nice and it means more to me".

Although it is common for people to do this, it was very unique in our social circles. Her own family did not do this. No one at Church did it. In fact, I didn't even know this was an option. To tell you the truth, I don't think she knew it was an option either. It just felt right to her... so she did it.

I learned two of the most valuable lessons of my life during our trip to Jewel that day.

1. Do good deeds.
2. If you have a choice between following the rules or following your heart... follow your heart.

I am not perfect either. However, I try to live those lessons every day. Even though I don't always succeed, it is not because my mom did not teach me or role model for me.

Today I am going to honor my mom by telling my kids that story about her. Then I am going to give her a call and tell her what I taught my kids.

The #lighttheworld website provides some suggestions for honoring your mother and father:

• When was the last time you actually talked to your parents?
  Give them a call (don’t just send a text) and tell them how much you love them.

• How well do you know your family’s history?
  Learn about an ancestor, and share his or her story. FamilySearch can help you get started. (Visit FamilySearch.org.)

• Need some meaningful advice about something you’re dealing with?
  Ask your parents; you may be surprised by their wisdom.

I am very lucky that my Mom and Step-father are still alive so that I can express my appreciation for them. Not everyone is so lucky. Others may have biological parents who did not show the love they deserved. But that does not mean they cannot participate in this special day.

• If your parents have passed away, perhaps you can honor them by telling someone about a lesson your parents taught you or a kind deed they did.

• Perhaps you can honor a parental figure who has made an impact in your life.

• Maybe you can be that parental figure for a child who does not have one.

For more information on #lighttheworld, please visit https://www.mormon.org/christmas/25-ways-25-days/day-5

Several community members have already followed @gavvet's lead and have created #lighttheworld posts of their own. Now we need someone from the community to inspire others on day 6. Tomorrow's theme is: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." You can find more information here.

@gavvet and I will be consulting with Day 3's winner @methusalem to choose a post that is especially creative and inspiring. @gavvet and I will reward that post with a significant up-vote. Then that person can help choose the "winner" for day 9.

If you decide to participate by creating your own post for day 6, please make sure to use the #lighttheworld tag and include the day's video, theme and link, as we have done.

If you'd like to see a great example, please check out @methusalem's inspirational Day 3 post https://steemit.com/lighttheworld/@methusalem/freely-ye-have-received-freely-give.

Although we will be on the lookout for great #lighttheworld posts every day, we will definitely need contributions on days 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24.

My Daughter MJ asked that I include this picture that she drew. She explained, "Mommy taught me how to tuck someone into bed and to make them feel safe at night. So I am going to do that for mommy some day."

Images 1, 2, 3, 4