November 4, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Seth had a birthday this week. He is five years old. He is such a blessing to our family. He has such a fun sense of humor, LOVES to
play games, and is generally happy, so helpful, and so happy with life. I am grateful to have him as one of my
sons.
In other news, well, not so much news, but it was pretty
quiet around here. We don’t have any
more soccer, so we are home more in the evenings, and our Saturdays are now
more free. A couple weeks ago, we had
parent teacher conferences. Matthew,
Kara, and Lindsay are all doing really well in school. I am so grateful. Kara has improved so much in Math. She even gets to take the pretests sometimes,
and tests out of the homework for a week, which she loves. I think it has been so good for her self
esteem. Last year they were so focused
on speed and timing (which they still do this year, but mostly just that the
kids know their facts), and this year they are doing more with the math, which
she likes. Matthew and Lindsay are super
good readers. Now just to keep them in
books that are interesting and appropriate for their ages.
Oh, I just remembered we took Elise to the ER the other
night, so I guess not so much quiet.
(so, this may be more details than the weak stomached people want to
read, so skip this part if you don’t) I put her to bed, and was helping Seth
get settled, and she fell out of bed.
She face planted on the metal part of the trundle bed. She really cut her gum up. It was a lot of blood (which wasn’t unusual
because it was a mouth injury, but she kept saying it was broken. Her teeth were all perfect and not loose or
anything, so I had Brian take a closer look.
I am not so good at the touching and moving cuts to see how deep they
are… anyway, Brian took a better look and said you could lift her gum flap up
and see up to the top of the tooth. So,
we called the dr to see what they said, and they said to take her in. We did, and after multiple looks, and pokes and
prods and phone calls to my dentist and the pediatric dentist, we went home. They said as long as it lies flat, no
stitches were needed. I was a little
apprehensive because it was such a big cut.
They did give us a prescription for a HUGE bottle of antimicrobial mouth
wash (so I think we have about a quart left, in case anyone else is in need). We might have used a few teaspoons. It is almost completely healed now. You can hardly tell. I know mouth wounds always heal fast, but I
was startled.
One thought that I have been pondering lately is probably
not a new thought to most of you, and one I think I have taken for granted most
of my life. I remember when I was a
teenager and first really really knew that my Savior and my Heavenly Father
loved me, but lately I have been wondering if and how much I love my Heavenly
Father and my Savior. I know that if
someone asked me, I would say I did, but how much do my actions prove
that? I know that He loves me, and I
have always thought my faith depended on that knowledge, but I am wondering if
my faith depends more on the knowledge that I love Him. I have been thinking about the scripture in
John 21:15-17 when Jesus asks Peter, “lovest thou me?”. How are my actions showing love towards my
Heavenly Father? Our Heavenly Father and
Savior love us, whether we know it or not, its always there. I love my children, when I am sick, tired,
busy, etc…, I always seem to be able to care for them, feed them, do laundry
(whether or not its folded is another storyJ),
and help them. When life sends my ups
and downs, how do I show my love for my Heavenly Father. Is visiting teaching always a priority when
life is busy? How often do I share the
gospel? When I am frustrated or tired,
do I snap at the kids more? Is that what
I would do if I was showing my love for God?
When my faith wavers, and I don’t want to do or understand whatever
challenge is placed before me, what does that mean about my love for God? I know His love is constant, so that must
mean the problem is on my side? Do I
love God more than mammon? Do I trust
Him?
Today in Stake Conference, the stake president talked about the
sacrament and being reverent (even if you have children who aren’t quiet) and
understanding the atonement, and how showing reverence shows love for our
Savior. The stake RS president (Sister
Willden) talked about Visiting Teaching and how serving each other was serving
God. The mission president’s wife talked
about how understanding more of the gospel makes us want to share it more, and
if we don’t want to share it, we need to better understand it. Once we understand the love God has for us,
we want to share that love with others.
Those three talks in particular made me see how I can better show my
love for God. I feel like it was an
answer to my prayers and ponderings. I
will have to ponder more to see specific goals I can set.
Anyway, that is our excitement for the week. Not as exciting as Peter and Deb’s
excitement, but that’s ok with me. We
love you all, and hope you have a great week .
Love,
Brian, Martha, Matthew, Kara, Lindsay, Seth, and Elise
Taylor
