Scripture Power

Way back on May 1st, we made it a goal in our family to read from the Book of Mormon every single day for 100 days straight.  You may recall that our family theme last year was "every day, every day, every day," and our two goals for the year were: 1.) to say family prayers together every evening, and 2.) to read the Book of Mormon together every day.  Since we are such a work in progress, it took until May to FINALLY try to make the reading happen every day (every day, every day).  Hahaha.  We decided that once we hit 100 days in a row, we'd celebrate by doing something big and fun.

Because we're so awesome like that, we made it all the way to the 99th day before we dropped the ball.  Hahahahaha.  Seriously, though.  We forgot to read from the Book of Mormon on the 100th day.  It was August 8th -- a Monday -- and with the rush of Family Home Evening and trying to get kids to bed, I think we assumed we had the scripture covered with our morning Scripture Time scripture.  Alas, that was NOT the case.  August is our designated "Back to School scripture" month and our daily verse came from the Doctrine & Covenants instead.

Well, we started back over and this time we made it all the way!  Yay!!!  Hahaha.  November 18th was our 100th day and the fun activity that everybody decided on was a trip to Recreation Outlet on our first day of Thanksgiving vacation the next week.  On that Wednesday, we played the morning away and then topped things off with a run through the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru across the street and lunch from Freddy's.  It was a smashing success and everyone had a blast!

Now that daily reading is pretty ingrained as a habit, I'm going to see if we can set a new goal for 2017 to read every day for the entire year, with an even GRANDER celebration at the end.  To close this post, I'd like to document the scriptures we did each month this year for Scripture Time, so that we have it in the record...

{Scripture Time -- which is a separate thing from our family Book of Mormon reading --  is something we do every morning before school.  Each month we have a scripture we recite and hymn that we sing before saying prayers and heading out the door.  It's the same scripture and song every day for the entire month, and it's always surprising to see how well the kids have learned the scripture by the end of the month.  I love this so much, because as Elder Richard G. Scott said in a general conference talk several years ago, "...learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world.  Great power can come from memorizing scriptures.  To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship.  It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change."  It is my hope that these verses of scripture that we memorize each month will be written on the fleshy tables of their hearts and imprinted in the deepest recesses of their minds, so that whenever they are in need of peace, comfort, or answers to their prayers, they will have those packets of light and illumination to help them along their way and to know they are not alone.}

January

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." 1 Nephi 3:7

February

" And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens."  Enos 1:4

March

"Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands."  Mosiah 17:9

April

"Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—"  Mosiah 18:9

May

"And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."  Alma 17:11

June

"And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name."  Alma 19:36

July

"And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;  Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people."  Alma 48:11-12

August

" Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"  D&C 88:119

September

"Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  3 Nephi 12:16

October

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."      Ether 12:27

November

"And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus."  Mormon 1:15

December

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."   Moroni 10:5

Prayer Sandwich

{Last night's FHE visual aid. Clearly we start at the bottom with the sandwich and work our way up.}

A few months ago, we decided to take on the following quote from The Family: A Proclamation to the World to be our own Family Motto:

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

For Scripture Time in February, we used the first sentence of this motto and in March moved onto the second.  Moving forward, I thought it would be a good idea to focus each month on the 9 principles outlined in the motto.  Last month, for April, we focused on Faith in our FHE lessons and Grace chose Mark 11:22 as our scripture for the month.  For one of our FHE lessons, we dressed the kids up in the "full armor of God" and talked specifically about having a shield of faith.  I really should have taken pictures!  The "armor" I scrounged up consisted of a knit hat for the helmet, an apron for a loin cloth, an old fleece vest of Scott's for the breastplate, rain boots for shod feet, my rolling stick for a sword, and a giant saucer sled for the shield.  I will be interested to see if they remember anything about this lesson other than how funny everyone looked dressed up as they each took turns.  Haha.

{Scripture Time occurs each morning before the kids rush off to school and consists of repeating our scripture of the month, singing a hymn that goes along with the scripture, and doing prayers and hugs.  Short and sweet.  Kind of like me.  Hahahahaha.  Each month I have a different kid pick out our new scripture.  In theory, they would do this prayerfully so as to learn how to follow the promptings of the spirit.  In actuality, I usually guide them to a scripture that will work/just choose it for them.}

For the month of May, we are focusing on Prayer and Sophie has chosen Mark 11:24 --

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

 Technically, it kind of still refers to faith, but it does talk about praying and this is what Sophie chose, so we're going with it!  {Not so coincidentally, it's only a couple verses down from Grace's scripture last month.  Haha.}  As I alluded to yesterday, last night's lesson was on learning how to pray.  We talked about how saying a prayer is like building a sandwich -- we start by addressing our Father in Heaven and end in the name of Jesus Christ, with everything in between divided between giving thanks and asking for blessings.  Pretty simple.  And I technically recycled the idea from the lesson I taught in Jane's primary class a month or so ago.  I will say that drawing out all the sandwich ingredients and involving the younger ones in holding up the pictures engaged everyone a WHOLE lot more than I expected it to.  And even though I could see Ethan rolling his eyes over on the couch, he was still listening -- AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY not causing any distractions or freak-outs while I was teaching the lesson.  All in all it was a family home evening for the record books!  Hahaha.  Feel free to steal my idea.  :)

{This month's song for Scripture Time is Did You Think To Pray, in case anyone is wondering.}

The Raven and The Dove

One of my goals for this year is to read the Old Testament from start to finish.  Being the last remaining book of scripture that I haven't ever read ALL the way through, and also being the curriculum for Sunday School this year, I decided that now was as good a time as any to get cracking on that tome.  A few weeks ago, as I was reading the story of Noah and the Ark, I noticed something interesting that I hadn't ever really paid attention to before.  After the flood, once the rain had stopped and the waters began to recede, Noah sent forth not only a dove to see if dry land were to be found, but also a raven.  I made note of it and thought about it for a while then -- trying to figure out what exactly it was supposed to mean and why it was even included and whether or not there even WAS significance in the brief mention made of this solitary raven -- but eventually moved on with my life and kind of forgot about it until we were talking about the Flood in Sunday School a week or two later.  At some point toward the end of the lesson, I was reading through those verses again and was struck all of a sudden by the black and white symbolism of the raven and the dove being sent back out into the world.  Equal and opposite.  Black and white.  Good and evil.  Happiness and misery. Opposition in all things.  Perhaps it's because the concept of opposition has been on my mind a lot lately that THIS is the particular interpretation I took from these scriptures, but I really like the way the imagery of the two birds conveys this idea.  As a result, for the last week or so -- whenever we have experienced any of those side by side, black and white experiences of life in the form of  trials and triumphs  -- I have jokingly pointed out to Scott that it's the raven and the dove all over again.  For me, personally, having the perspective that opposition is a necessary and important part of our earthly life is a very steadying thing.  Having the proper perspective makes all the difference in the world between simply enduring a trial and enduring it well.  At least it does for me.  {End of deep thoughts from Jessica.  And also, please understand that I am not claiming to have the only or even the right interpretation of these verses!   Hahaha.  Believe it or not, a quick google search will bring up all KINDS of commentary on the raven and the dove.} 

So -- keeping that idea of equals and opposites in mind -- let's have a recap of my birthday weekend!  Hahaha.  Up first?  The Good.

 Me and my twin.  Our birthday and half-birthday bit is still going strong.  Too strong perhaps.  Jane was in tears at the end of the day because I never got her any presents for her half-birthday party. 

As I stated before, Scott took the whole day off on Friday to celebrate with me in style!  After a morning of gymnastics for Jane, we dropped the two little ones off at a friend's house and then headed to the mall for a day of shopping and lunching at the Cheesecake Factory.  Since shopping with Scott is one of my favorite things in the world, it was a practically perfect day!   Made even more perfect in the evening with another babysitter to watch the kids while we shopped for some shoes and then went to the Barnes and Noble.  

 Go Shorty.  It's Your Birthday!

Thai Lettuce Wraps at the Cheesecake Factory.  Mmmmmmm.  SOOO good.  And so messy to eat.  Especially for one who is already a very messy eater.

Seriously, it was the best birthday ever.  So obviously I was setting myself up for the pendulum to swing in the other direction, right?  Well, the first swing was bright and early Saturday morning when Grace woke me up at 5 to say she had just thrown up.  And then it swung even more when I came down with her stomach bug by mid-afternoon yesterday.  And then it just got stuck in that swing mode when we woke up this morning to discover there was yet ANOTHER SNOW DAY in the works for the day.  Luckily, this stomach bug was the shortest lived bug of all time {Grace was sick for really just the morning, and I felt better by bedtime last night}and even though pure chaos reigned throughout the day today, I still managed to squeeze in a few of the projects that I really wanted to work on even if they were completely unnecessary and clearly not a top priority.

Busting out the sewing machine once again.

It's all good though, because it's the bad times that make the good times THAT much sweeter.  And after experiencing another snow day home with all 5 kids today, my trip out to Salt Lake this week for Laura's wedding is going to be the BEST.  VACATION.  EVER.  Hahahaha.  

Before I close, I'll leave you with one final thrift store purchase from my birthday spree last week.  I just LOVE finding interesting and odd pieces of art at the Goodwill.  {And St. Vincent DePaul's, of course.}  When I found this crocheted lace doily in the picture aisle, I couldn't let it get away from me.  After swapping out the hideous fabric background it came with, the doily went from dated to antique.  Isn't it an heirloom piece????  Hahaha.  I know, I know.  I have very eclectic interests and taste.  Until next time -- happy thrifting!

Blue polka-dotted background fabric that just screams 1980's kitchen decor.

Solid dark grey background courtesy of Kona Charcoal.  My second favorite Kona shade of grey.  Ash is my first favorite in case you were wondering.  :)

Because Everyone Loves a Before and After

For the last few weeks I have been feeling super overwhelmed with all the things I need to get done.  And I mean the important things that need to get done, not even the "oh yeah I really should do that but if I don't get around to it that's okay" kind of things.  I mean things like getting the house cleaned, and making dinner for my family, and studying my scriptures, and preparing my Sunday School lesson, and getting to the gym, and making time to spend with the kids and with Scott, and teaching the kids how to be more responsible and respectful {and respectable}, and well -- you get the picture.  All these things are good things and important things, but they are A LOT of things for one person to do.  Even if she is an extremist.

As I began to study my scriptures one day last week, I said a quick prayer asking for help in knowing HOW to prioritize all these things and get them done.  I went on to read a few chapters in the Book of Mormon -- in which the theme of almost every verse seemed to be that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers -- and then as I sat down to begin working on my lesson for Sunday School, something very interesting happened.  As I was looking up scriptures for my lesson, my eye was drawn to the following verse in the Doctrine and Covenants:

 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"  {D&C 88:119}

I had to stop what I was doing and write this down.  "What a good reminder!" I thought.  Then, as I went on with my lesson preparation, I found that my eyes were drawn to scripture after scripture that continued to underscore this same idea -- organize yourself, set your house in order, and -- my personal favorite -- "keep slothfulness and uncleanness far from you" {D&C 90:18}.  It wasn't until I read a final verse in D&C 93:44  -- "...therefore, first set in order thy house" --  that the light bulb went on over my head and I realized that THIS was the answer to my prayer.  What had I been praying for?  The wisdom to know how to prioritize.  And what was my answer?  I needed to FIRST get my house in order.  So simple, yet so profound.

I sat the kids down the next day and informed them that we would be doing a whole lot of cleaning and organizing over the next few months.  Aside from the fact that it will be helpful when it comes time to move, I think the greater help lies in the fact that a house of order is much more likely to create a peaceful and loving environment.  I know for myself that when the house is in shambles, I tend to feel extra chaotic and crazy as well.  I let the kids know that I wasn't expecting Rome to be built in a day, and that it would most likely take days, weeks, and even months until EVERYTHING was in order, but we all needed to pitch in and just get started.

And just what should that starting point be?  Well, since the weekends are always so much fun, I thought it might be best to begin with our Saturday chores.   Hahahaha.  After talking with a couple of friends, I decided to implement a few of their ideas in order to tackle this beast for our family.  I basically came to the realization that I needed to devote the entire day to training and then supervising the kids on all of their chores until they had them all down pat.  Running errands and doing other things just for ME would have to wait.  So for today,  I assigned each kid a one hour time slot in which they were to watch me demonstrate how to do their chore and then check things off the checklist that I made for each room.  Ethan was assigned to clean his bedroom {which he shares with Sophie}; Grace was assigned to clean her bedroom {which she shares with Jane}; and Sophie was assigned to clean the Kids' Bathroom.  In the end, Ethan's room took me an hour and a HALF to clean; Grace's was done about an hour (during which she spent the majority of the time lounging on her bean bag chair and reading a book); and the bathroom took only 30 minutes thanks to Sophie actually pitching in and helping and Grace popping in as well.  {She REALLY wanted to watch an episode of Jessie and I told her they couldn't watch it until ALL the chores were done.}

Ethan and Sophie's Room -- Before...

...and After.

Grace and Jane's Room -- Before...

...and After.

Kids' Bathroom -- Before...

...and After.

Not too shabby, eh?  Most productive Saturday EVER.  Hahahaha.  Because I was on such a roll of productivity this morning, I decided to really knock things out of the ballpark and tackle Jane's hair this afternoon.  You see, we've been having a recurring problem lately with a little thing called a rat's nest at the back of her head.  Anytime Jane goes more than a couple days without brushing her hair, it starts to get tangled and matted and ratted and teased in the back until it's a giant mass of hair that can't be brushed even if she would let you.  I've been threatening her for the last couple of months that if she didn't let me brush through her hair everyday I'd have to cut it so it wouldn't get so tangled.  "No!' she invariably cried, "Then I will look like a baby!"  Well, this week I could threaten no longer -- it was just time to DO.  Even after I brushed out the nest, her hair was so frizzled and frazzled that her ponytail was about 3 times thicker than normal.  After spraying it down with water and then running some conditioner throughout, I went ahead and gave her a trim.  The end result?  Super cute and I wish I would have done this MONTHS ago.  Hahahaha.

Jane's Hair -- Before...

...and After.

{I probably cut about 3 inches off the bottom.  It looks so much better now!}

And there you have it.  We are off to a fantastically successful start to our new "House of Order" initiative!  Hopefully, the enthusiasm won't fizzle.  Hahahaha.

Wow Wow Wubbzy

So, I totally got knocked flat by a mean bout of stomach flu yesterday.  Nothing like a little sickness to help you appreciate your health.  Right?  Luckily it was only a 24 hour gig and if it was going to happen anyway, I was glad it happened on a Saturday when Scott was in town and home to help take care of the kids and the house.  Because I was pretty much useless for the vast majority of the day.  Even though I was out of commission, Scott knocked it out of the ball park yesterday by cleaning out the garage with some help from the kids {okay Ethan} and even went grocery shopping in the afternoon to boot!  Not too shabby.  The day ended on an even better note as I started to feel a teensy bit better and my sweet visiting teacher brought over some homemade chicken noodle soup and crescent rolls for us to enjoy.  It was greatly appreciated!  You would think my kids had never seen a home-cooked meal before.  Hahahaha.  

Thankfully, I'm feeling much better today than yesterday and I'm up for a bit of blogging.  The remainder of this post will be dedicated to my dear, sweet little Grace who will be turning 8 in just a few days.  So hard to believe!  I have finally finished her baptism quilt and she was super excited to finally sleep under it last night.  When I protested that I wanted to roll it up and bundle it with a ribbon to give it to her on her birthday or baptism day, she quickly reassured me that I could still do that -- she'll just be sleeping with it until then.  Hahaha. 

 A really terrible picture of the finished front.

 Showcasing her name block on the back.

Before I go into more details {and pictures} of her quilt and its meaning, I thought I'd back up a little to tell the tale of our Friday.  You see, Grace has amazing reservoirs of  persistence and resistance.  And you pretty much cannot make her do ANYTHING she doesn't want to do.  Trust me.  I know this from experience.  It is one of the hugest challenges of our parenting lives to figure out what we can do to motivate our children to choose the right and to become responsible, hard-working, independent little creatures.  We try our best to enforce consequences for bad choices and to praise and reward with positive consequences for good choices, but the hardest thing of all is that each and every child is totally unique and different.  What works easily for some does not work at all for others.  Scott and I jokingly congratulate each other for our "Parenting 505" skills when we are able to trick Grace out of one of her moods.  And she has a lot of them.  The most recurrent of which seems to be her fancy to NOT go to school.  

Friday morning was rough.  I had told all of the kids that if they wanted to have a movie night they would have to get all their chores done before school.  Grace especially was on the hook because of more bedtime issues from the night before.  When it became increasingly apparent that she would not be able to finish the kitchen before school started, I told her just to wipe the table and sweep and she could finish the rest after school.  Well, she immediately started throwing a fit that I wasn't going to let her do movie night if she didn't finish everything and no amount of pleading, cajoling, or threatening could make her clean up anything.  At this point Ethan began freaking out because he didn't want to be late for school so I told Grace to just get in the car so we could go.  Even as I told her, I knew deep down inside that she was already past the point of no return.  Not only would she not get in the car, she also wouldn't start cleaning or getting her shoes on or doing anything else that would have possibly propelled her forward.  She stayed rooted in one spot hanging on to me so that I couldn't leave and resisting enough that I couldn't make her move from her position.  Her fit may have been sparked by a fear of not getting movie night but by that point it was no longer about anything.  The storm had started and it would need to rain itself out before the sun could reappear.  

After yelling and pleading a little more, I attempted to just PUT her in the car so we could go.  It was impossible.  With her resisting and freaking out every inch of the way I was able to pull/drag/carry her to the open car door, but no amount of force could get her in and to the backseat and buckled.  So, after a mini-breakdown of ME crying and freaking out I told her to just stay home and I'd be back to get her after dropping Ethan and Sophie off at school.  

 Hurricane Grace.

Well, try to picture this next scene.  As I drove off, Grace started running after the car.  All the way up the hill out of our neighborhood, she trailed behind us screaming with her head down in determination, arms pumping in fury, and tears streaming down her face.  Every few feet I'd stop the car and tell her to get in and she'd stand there frozen in place with a scowl and an "I'm not gonna budge" look firmly rooted on her face.  After the third time we stopped I decided this was ridiculous and I got out of the car to try and put her in.  For any passerby on the street, I'm sure this looked like a sure-fire case of kidnapping.  As I pulled and dragged and carried her over to the car and then lifted and pushed and shoved her into the backseat, she screamed and fought and tried to counteract my every move.  It was a mess.  And quite a scene.  I really hope there were no neighbors watching.  Once she was in the car and we were driving off to school she informed me that she had never packed a lunch.  {Even though she had said yes when I asked her earlier that morning.}  When I told her she'd just have to buy, she alternated between freaking out that I would take it out of her allowance next month and freaking out that she never likes the school lunch anyway.  By the time we got to school we were already late and Ethan and Sophie hurriedly climbed out of the car and ran off and away from the crazy.  Grace, however, was not going anywhere.  She was still crying and couldn't pull herself together.  I tried giving her a few minutes to calm down, but every few seconds she'd come up with a new thing to cry about.  I tried every kind of threat and bribe imaginable but nothing worked. 

In the end, I stormed off and took her home.  I was fuming and freaking out myself and I told her that she would just have to make her lunch and get her chores done while I was at the gym because by the time I got back home I was taking her to school, dang it!  Most definitely not my finest parenting moment.  I got halfway to the gym (which is literally just up the street from our neighborhood) before I broke down crying on the phone to Scott like a broken record saying "I don't know what to do with her!"  After a quick prayer {and some more crying} in the gym parking lot, I realized I needed to turn around and go back to her.  I came home to her curled up on the couch crying with Scott leaving another message on the answering machine for her to pick up the phone because he was worried.  "I don't know how to answer the phone," she tearfully told me as I gave her a hug and answered it for her.  

I hugged Grace and told her how much I loved her and then gave her some time to calm down and decompress while I made her lunch for her {including a little treat of butterscotch chips which she really loves} and let her watch some videos on Youtube.  I called the school and let them know she would be coming in a bit late and after only 10 or 15 minutes she was ready for me to take her.  

So, yeah.  My mothering skills are a work in progress.  Fortunately, the rest of the day went much better than the morning and when they got home from school they all quickly tidied up their chores while I got dinner started.   When Movie Time rolled around they finally settled on something they all agreed on and I finished up the binding on Grace's quilt while we watched "Daddy Daycare" on Netflix. 

 Grace wanted a "Flower" theme for her baptism quilt.

 I didn't have enough of the pink dog fabric for the back, so I pieced together some leftover strips and combined it with her name block to make it big enough.

The idea of a Baptism Quilt came about as a result of inspiration drawn from a few different scriptures and a conference talk that was given a few years ago.   In the Book of Mormon, in the book of Mosiah, there is a group of people who have come to the waters of Mormon to be baptized.  In verses 8-11, Alma outlines the baptismal covenant:

 8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

And then in the New Testament in the book of St. John chapter 14 verses 16 and 18, the Savior says:

 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

This idea that part of the baptismal covenant is to comfort those that stand in need of comfort and then that the Holy Ghost {the gift of which is given after baptism} is a Comforter as well, led to the concept of a quilt -- a tangible symbol of a comforting item.   I love the way Sister Matsumori explains this imagery in her address entitled "Helping Others Recognize the Whisperings of the Spirit."  In her talk she tells the following story:

A Sunbeam teacher wrapped each of her class members one by one in a blanket to teach them how the Spirit feels like the comfort and security of that covering. A visiting mother also heard the lesson.  Many months later the mother thanked the teacher... Several weeks after the lesson, the mother suffered a miscarriage. She was overcome with grief when suddenly she felt a great warmth and peace. It felt like someone had covered her with a warm blanket. She recognized the reassurance of the Spirit and knew that Heavenly Father was aware of her and that He loved her.

 When I first listened to this talk several years ago, this story stuck in my mind.  For Family Home Evening shortly after that Conference, we used this object lesson with our little ones and took each of them one by one and wrapped them in a quilt to help them feel peace and love and comfort.  Last year, for Ethan, we did the same thing in Family Home Evening the week before he was baptized.  It was a really sweet experience. 

I'm branded now.  Hahahaha.

bunnysauce 

 

With Grace's baptism rapidly approaching, I am looking forward to doing the same thing.  Comforting others is something we talk about a lot in our family.  With so many children -- and so many of them SO little -- there are opportunities all around to give comfort.  Grace is especially quick to comfort Alex and Jane when they are hurt or upset or in need.  She is a generous and tender-hearted girl and I am grateful to be her mom.  Hopefully, she is just as grateful to be my child. 

I'm Doing it for the Sticker

For the last few months I have been waking up before dawn every Saturday morning to meet up with friends to complete a long run in preparation for my upcoming half-marathon.  Yesterday was the last LONG run -- 12 miles -- before the big day.  I celebrated when I was done by heading right over to the running store and buying my "13.1" sticker to have at the ready for the moment I run through that finish line.  I won't be able to wait until I'm home to let the whole world know that I have completed the distance -- that baby will be slapped up on my rear window to proclaim the news before we even start the drive!

Fuel.

Daybreak.

Since Memorial Day -- when I kick-started my "career" with a 5K, I have run over 175 miles.  That's a lot.  And I'm not gonna lie.  It hasn't always been easy.  Or even fun.  There have been several times where I have found myself questioning my sanity at this stage of my life to even attempt something like this.  Because let's face it -- a solid night's sleep is still a think of fantasy in my world, five children REALLY keep me busy, and {I know no one ever believes me when I say this} I am a REALLY lazy person.  Hahaha.  There have been weeks where I haven't been able to put in all the miles that I was supposed to -- doctor's appointments, kids being sick, other life obligations, etc have come up -- but on the whole I have dedicated and sacrificed enough of my time to achieve this accomplishment.  It's been hard but worth it.  This "journey" has become a very symbolic one for me.  By running this race I will have done something really hard.  Doing this specific difficult thing is representative to me of ALL the difficult things I have done and will do in the future.  I can DO this!  I can do hard things.  And with God I can do ALL things.

My Parkway Sisters -- L to R: Leia, Natalie, Tawny, Charity, April, Karissa, and Moi.

Like so many hard things in life that we go through, it has been made SO much better and easier with the company of good friends.  I've never run in a group before this summer and I didn't even know if it would be possible for me to carry on a conversation while running for so long, BUT -- it has definitely been the most fulfilling part of this process.  I have gotten to know and love these sisters from my ward so much. It has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my summer to be able to visit with friends for a couple of hours each Saturday morning while running.  I would not have been able to do this on my own.  And really -- isn't that symbolic, too?  So, come Saturday morning on September 22nd we will run with patience the race that is set before us and by about 10 o'clock we will have finished our course.  So many life lessons learned!

 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 2 Timothy 4:7

Tender Mercies

To say this summer has been trying would be a vast understatement.  I worry sometimes that I give off this impression that I've got it all together here when in reality I am almost always one kid meltdown away from a nervous breakdown myself.  Today was a rough day.  Scratch that -- this has been a rough week.  Raising children is HARD.  So much harder than I ever imagined it would be.  Especially since my kids are not normal.  Each and every one of them is spirited in their own way.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, essentially it boils down to the fact that they are just more.  More intense, more emotional, more sensitive, more persistent, more everything than a typical child.  In a room full of regular balls, they are the super bouncy balls that are ricocheting off the walls, ceilings, and floors.  {Before crashing through and breaking all the windows in the room as well.}  

After a friend told me about a book called Raising Your Spirited Child a few years ago, I eagerly bought a copy and dove right in.  The first page practically had me in tears.  I'm not alone! I thought.  It's not just my imagination -- my kids really ARE different!  Things that work to help control normal kids do not work as well or at all for spirited children.  The persistence and tenacity of my kids {such as when they're in the middle of a meltdown or freakout session} is astounding.  They will literally carry on for hours and hours without any sign of relenting.  In short they have a way of wearing me down completely.  Hence the rough week and summer.  There is nothing so frustrating as feeling like you have ZERO control over your children especially when you are trying your hardest to do everything you can possibly think of to help them toe the line.  

Now don't get me wrong.  I love my children.  They are great and wonderful and have tremendous potential and capabilities -- I wouldn't have them any other way.  I don't want to break their spirit, I only want to harness it.  To help them realize their potential.  I know that these little spirits were sent to me for a reason.  I am rather spirited myself, for one thing, but aside from that I have ALWAYS had a soft spot in my heart for the spirited child.  Even before I knew what the term meant.  But that doesn't make it easy to take care of them day in and day out.

My point in bringing all this up tonight is that today I reached a breaking point.  Dealing with screaming and fighting children for most of the week finally took its toll and by about 10 o'clock this morning I was an emotional mess.   I was already crying before church started -- not a good sign -- and as the day wore on the tears continued to flow.  Scott has meetings before church every Sunday which leaves me on my own to get myself and all 5 kids ready for church.  I'm usually able to shower and get ready while Alex takes a nap but he didn't really want to do that today.  As I got out of the shower and heard him screaming I yelled for Ethan to take him down and watch him so I could get dressed.  I came downstairs 15 minutes later to a completely trashed house with no one completely ready to go, Jane and Alex both in the bathroom with the door shut -- Jane playing with the soap in the sink and Alex putting who knows what in his mouth -- and needing to leave in the next 5 minutes.  

It was while I was trying to change the baby's diaper and get Jane changed out of her sopping wet dress that I first started to cry.  The kids -- to their credit -- seemed concerned and tried to step up their game to get us to church on time.  Unfortunately, none of that good behavior followed them and they were their usual loud and unruly selves as we filed into our pew near the front of the chapel minutes before church started.  More tears threatened to spill as I realized how loud they all were, how big a distraction we were to everyone around us, and how completely alone I was as Scott was sitting up on the stand to help bless the sacrament because he's the Young Men's president and we don't have a lot of young men.  I made it through half of sacrament meeting before retreating to the mother's room to feed Alex and then allowed myself to hide out there for the rest of the meeting because I just didn't think I'd be able to hold it together if I went back into the chapel.  

Why is this so hard? followed quickly by I just can't do this! is what I thought during many a moment throughout the morning.  I was in a defeated and despairing state of mind.  And then towards the end of church things began to turn around.  I recognize it as a tender mercy of the Lord that I was able to sit in Relief Society today and actually pay attention without having the baby there as a distraction.  The lesson was on Elder Nelson's talk Thanks Be to God, and as I sat there I was struck {once again} with how incredibly important gratitude really is.  And how many things I have to be grateful for even in the midst of difficult trials.  I was touched by comments from the good sisters in my ward and from conversations afterwards with friends.  My heart was touched and humbled as the afternoon wore on to see how NOT forgotten I was by the Lord.  In another tender mercy we came home to a message on our answering machine from our sweet neighbor whose grandkids had just gotten back in town and really wanted the older ones to come down and visit.  With Jane napping and Alex fed and happy Scott and I were able to spend a peaceful afternoon together.  After the week we've had this was truly a blessing.  The blessings continued to roll when a friend from church called to invite us over for dinner and the cherry on top was when Ethan and Grace went off to spend the night with their neighbor friends leaving us to an entire NIGHT of peace and quiet and no fights at bedtime.  

And even though Scott had to spend some of that time at a Youth fireside at the bishop's house, our happiness continued at home when I convinced Sophie and Jane that we could have a "sleepover" here and painted nails, played games, and ate chocolate chips out of fancy cups.  My cup is truly running over.  I am reminded once again of this scripture:

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.  (Mosiah 24:14)

I know the Lord visits us in our afflictions.  He loves us.  We are never truly alone.  I am so grateful for so many things, but most especially for that knowledge.  My cup runneth over.