My very astute friend Bethany emailed me this in response to my last post. I love it so much I am sharing it with the rest of you. It is from a devotional given by Gregory Clark, associate dean of the BYU College of Humanities, on 6 May 2008.
"What, exactly, does it take—day by day, hour by hour—to choose faith over fear?"
"My youngest daughter and newest son-in-law are patiently therapeutic in their approach to my fearfulness. For my birthday last year they copied in calligraphy a quote from President Hinckley and framed it for my office. It hangs above my desk. This is what it says: “It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry.” I read that every day. Multiple times."
"These are the first three sentences of a statement President Hinckley included in his wife’s funeral program on a day that must have been one of the hardest of this good man’s life. Here is the full statement: 'It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. . . . Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. . . . If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.' [Gordon B. Hinckley, quoted in Latter-day Counsel, “Excerpts from Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, October 2000, 73; see also “Put Your Trust in God,” Ensign, February 2006, 63]"
"I think this is the answer to my question about how to go about the constant project of choosing faith. This is what faith looks like in daily practice. And if President Hinckley needed to remind himself daily to choose faith over fear, then I should probably be reminding myself even more often."
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Braces: The Sequel
Danika got her braces off last month . . . what a goof.
And Brooke got hers on 2 days ago . . .
And thus, the torch passes from one sister to the other.
And Brooke got hers on 2 days ago . . .
And thus, the torch passes from one sister to the other.
Good News!
So here it is, 2 weeks since my last post, and I'm already failing at my resolution to post more often. Oh well. I've decided that I'm okay with mediocrity in most areas of my life, so why start being "gung ho" now? ;-)
Anyway, the good news is . . . Mike is not going to Iraq in February! Yay!!! That is a huge relief. And some other good news we got on Wednesday is that he has been named the new director of the RCFL in Salt Lake (that is where he works--Regional Computer Forensics Lab)! Another yay! We are so blessed.
It's funny how you can go along for years operating under the status quo, and then all of the sudden have so many changes thrown at you. It's a growing period for us I guess--but again, that dang happiness anxiety keeps nagging at the back of my brain. I just hope "growth" doesn't equal tragedy or calamity. I just keep thinking of a friend of ours from college who passed away last Friday of a brain tumor. Evan was 42, and he and his family had fought a very exhausting battle for 2 1/2 years. His wife Margot was amazing through the entire ordeal, and I just hope Heavenly Father knows I could not be that strong.
Haiti and the after effects of the earthquake are haunting me too. I just agonize for everyone there who is suffering and trying to help. I wish there were something I could do to directly relieve even just one person's pain or to meet their needs--especially all those children. I guess all I can do is donate money to the Humanitarian Fund and maybe make hygiene kits and pray. It's a terrible scene, and I wonder if it will ever happen to us. And the floods and mudslides in California--that's another disaster in the making as I type. It's hard to feel calm when there is so much turmoil. It's interesting that the Mutual theme for this year is Joshua 1:9:
Anyway, the good news is . . . Mike is not going to Iraq in February! Yay!!! That is a huge relief. And some other good news we got on Wednesday is that he has been named the new director of the RCFL in Salt Lake (that is where he works--Regional Computer Forensics Lab)! Another yay! We are so blessed.
It's funny how you can go along for years operating under the status quo, and then all of the sudden have so many changes thrown at you. It's a growing period for us I guess--but again, that dang happiness anxiety keeps nagging at the back of my brain. I just hope "growth" doesn't equal tragedy or calamity. I just keep thinking of a friend of ours from college who passed away last Friday of a brain tumor. Evan was 42, and he and his family had fought a very exhausting battle for 2 1/2 years. His wife Margot was amazing through the entire ordeal, and I just hope Heavenly Father knows I could not be that strong.
Haiti and the after effects of the earthquake are haunting me too. I just agonize for everyone there who is suffering and trying to help. I wish there were something I could do to directly relieve even just one person's pain or to meet their needs--especially all those children. I guess all I can do is donate money to the Humanitarian Fund and maybe make hygiene kits and pray. It's a terrible scene, and I wonder if it will ever happen to us. And the floods and mudslides in California--that's another disaster in the making as I type. It's hard to feel calm when there is so much turmoil. It's interesting that the Mutual theme for this year is Joshua 1:9:
"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest"
It's easy to have courage when you're sitting in a warm, safe home with a full belly, and I wonder what tests of strength, courage, and faith await us and our children in the coming months and years.
But on a happier note, we spent the long weekend in Las Vegas. Sunday Alexis (Barlow) Christiansen (one of my Laurels when I was YW pres. in that ward) sang in church, so I got to see her and her baby. She has 3 girls now--just like me! And I got to go to lunch with my girlfriends from our old ward--all of whom I am extremely blessed to have in my life. All the women in this group are a-ma-zing and constitute Primary (past and present), Young Women (past and present), Relief Society, and former Stake Young Women's presidencies. More importantly, they are the righteous moms of my girls' friends, and I love them for being such wonderful examples! You couldn't find better women anywhere, not even Utah (lol! wink). I miss them so much, but I'm so glad we can stay in touch.
Left to right: Jodi Thomson, Toni Thatcher, Kim Goon, Linda Borla,
Amelia Haycock, me, Wendy Davis, Cheri Jenkins
We stayed at the Delahoussaye's and Debbie let Megan hold Dustin's snake!
Oh, and one last thought . . . the Newbery Medal was awarded on Monday to this book . . .
If you have kids in 5th through 8th grade, I highly recommend they read this! It's a great story--I loved it.
But on a happier note, we spent the long weekend in Las Vegas. Sunday Alexis (Barlow) Christiansen (one of my Laurels when I was YW pres. in that ward) sang in church, so I got to see her and her baby. She has 3 girls now--just like me! And I got to go to lunch with my girlfriends from our old ward--all of whom I am extremely blessed to have in my life. All the women in this group are a-ma-zing and constitute Primary (past and present), Young Women (past and present), Relief Society, and former Stake Young Women's presidencies. More importantly, they are the righteous moms of my girls' friends, and I love them for being such wonderful examples! You couldn't find better women anywhere, not even Utah (lol! wink). I miss them so much, but I'm so glad we can stay in touch.
Left to right: Jodi Thomson, Toni Thatcher, Kim Goon, Linda Borla,Amelia Haycock, me, Wendy Davis, Cheri Jenkins
Oh, and one last thought . . . the Newbery Medal was awarded on Monday to this book . . .
If you have kids in 5th through 8th grade, I highly recommend they read this! It's a great story--I loved it.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Off to a Good Start
I think it would be a great idea to try to post something about my life each week, at minimum (ha ha ha! after you wipe the tears from your eyes from laughing too hard you may read on). That is a lofty goal for me. I have lots of friends (well, one--Kim) who is really good about posting a lot of everyday stuff on her blog. I'm sure it is fun to look back over the year and see all the things their family has done. I especially loved her November posts where she wrote about one thing she was thankful for every day that month! Go Kim!
I don't think I should put quite that much pressure on myself, but I would like to chronicle a bit more of my life, so I don't get to the end of 2010 and say: "I didn't accomplish anything this year." That is just such a downer.
So far this week I feel like a good mom--I have fed my family every night so far (this is a bit of a rare occurrence). I actually thought ahead (astonishing, I know) and had something in the crockpot for them on Tuesday because I knew I had to work and then go with some of the YW to do baptisms at the Temple at 4:00. Other feats of my week (sprinkled with homework, answering phone calls, cooking, and clean-up) include:
Goal for the weekend: Finish preparing Sunday's lesson, put away Christmas decorations & clean out YW closet at church. How could anyone NOT be psyched about these things?
I don't think I should put quite that much pressure on myself, but I would like to chronicle a bit more of my life, so I don't get to the end of 2010 and say: "I didn't accomplish anything this year." That is just such a downer.
So far this week I feel like a good mom--I have fed my family every night so far (this is a bit of a rare occurrence). I actually thought ahead (astonishing, I know) and had something in the crockpot for them on Tuesday because I knew I had to work and then go with some of the YW to do baptisms at the Temple at 4:00. Other feats of my week (sprinkled with homework, answering phone calls, cooking, and clean-up) include:
- Monday: errands, sent off family calendars, taxi girls to and from Bountiful for dance (1 hour round trip 2X)
- Tuesday: work and baptisms @ the temple
- Wednesday: work and attended a meeting at the church about a service project (see more about it here), Megan and Mike went skiing
- Thursday: work, taxi girls to dance carpool, walked the dog, met with a builder to go over house bids, looked at a house for sale
- Friday: 2-hour training meeting for work, ran the geography bee at school, assembled YW birthday gifts for this year
Goal for the weekend: Finish preparing Sunday's lesson, put away Christmas decorations & clean out YW closet at church. How could anyone NOT be psyched about these things?
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