Was it already a whole week ago that I met my newest nephew? How cute are those bubbles and that smile!!! His parents adore him! He is so sweet and alert and lovable! We miss Spencer! We miss his parents! He is in our hearts forever!
The past few days we've had my aunt and uncle here from Canada also. I tell you - we are LOVING IT!!! We feel downright spoiled spending time with loved ones twice in a week. Now that we've gotten used to how great it feels to have family here even if just for a short time, we're feeling melancholy at their just as fast departures. We know it will be a long time before we're together again, sadly. Here's to hoping the time will fly until we see each other again, yet knowing how much will have changed by then. . . . Family . . . love each and every one no matter how far or how fleeting our time with them.
Monday, September 21, 2009
What Matters Most . . . .
Tonight in family home evening our family watched the short video by our church titled, "What Matters Most." I confess that lately I have given a lot of thought to this very topic. President Monson reminded me that what matters most is people. He said something that I want to always remember: Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved. It reminds me of the adage that when in doubt, if you have to choose between being right and being kind, be kind.
This is not easy for me. Not that its hard to love. Its been such a blessing to have my calling right now. I have found that when my sisters need to share the hard things in their lives, listening with love and pointing them to the Savior actually infuses my soul with light and increases its capacity to love them even more. I never feel burdened but grateful for the opportunity to share His love. No matter the problem, my loving them is always the right thing for me to do. How easy is that to know my role and have it so clearly defined for me.
Sometimes, though, in the relationships that do matter most, I find myself distracted by problems. I find that its not my natural inclination to respond with that great mantel of charity and glorifying the Lord. Those problems are not mine. I can show empathy, and sometimes I have experienced something so very similar, but this is different. This is my own real life. . . reality in its most raw form.
Charity never faileth. The one thing I can count on no matter what is that Jesus Christ's love me for is perfect, and it has not, and it does not, and it will not ever fail me. Knowing that I am REALLY a daughter of God means that the promise in the scriptures that Charity never faileth was meant for me. It is my Heavenly Father's own testimony that He put into place a way and a means for me to get back to Him. I can trust deeply in His love for me. It is real and it is everlasting. Just typing it here brings tears to my eyes, so grateful I am for that knowledge which is unwavering within my soul.
In my quest for doing what's right even when its not always so evident and clear, the Lord has led me to the words of others that have inspired me. The web is a deep, wide place. I went to the obvious sources of inspiration first. Then on just faith, I clicked on links that had the exact answers I was looking for. Why did I remember one woman in Idaho's blog address, and feel the need to click on one particular friend in the long list of links she had? I can only reason that the Spirit directed me to do so. These were the voices of women I do not know, but am so grateful for the truths they spoke. It resonated in my soul that their wisdom was that which I needed. It doesn't change the fact that when life gives you lemons and you make lemonade and sometimes you realize those lemons weren't really what you were expecting them to be that you have a problem to solve. However, with President Monson's and everyone else's advice to focus on loving more than the unexpected bad lemons, in the end it will all be all right. I trust in the Lord. How grateful I am for His continued sustainence for me. I pray He will lead me where I need to go most, and to have the courage to follow whatever directions he offers.
If today was the day to climb into the ark, would I go when there are no clouds in the sky? I pray to listen and lead and learn so that the things that really do matter most are the things I focus on too. . . in every situation, especially the ones that aren't so easy.
Finally, a day to create! It has been so long to wake up knowing that this is the day designated for fun crafty projects! Of course, there were antecedents and possessive pronouns to encounter first thing, but after that . . . Fun! Baby blankets were first on the agenda. Our ward is growing with little cherubic cheeks so I wanted to be ready for them. Next was an Enrichment project - Ikea frames painted Black with scrapbooking paper and white vinyl spelling JOY. Fast, easy, and inexpensive. I'll be personally making plenty for the holidays. We're offering this at our Christmas Craft night. Next was a lovely homemade dinner. The nights I teach piano I usually put something in the crock pot or whip something up quick. We're certainly not starving, but its nice to take the time to really cook and bake. Tonight's menu - chicken and rice. I ignored my standard recipe and played with spices and seasonings and it all was yummy. We added vegetables and it was comfort food time. . . Love it! Tonight I've been working on family Christmas gifts. I can't say too much now, but wait until after the holidays for all my postings. MyMike's heading to see his family in a few weeks so I thought I'd send their presents with him and save on shipping so I needed to get started. Keeping it heartfelt and homemade - my favorite gifts to give! I know I feel the love when I unwrap a homemade gift, so tonight was my first offering to those I love. I can't wait to do this again soon!
Do you remember where you were on July 9 this year? How about when you heard the news of the World Trade Center bombings? I'll never forget. When I scrapbooked that time in our life a few months later, though, I realized that life had moved on. As traumatic as that day in our life felt, the next day, the sun still came up. I still made dinner. The children still went to school. MyMike still went to work. Life went on and here we are eight years later. My sense of living a more creative life has grown in the last eight years. I think its because I realized very clearly on 9-11 that on a perfectly lovely day, the world can suddenly change for the worse, never to be the same again. Yes, life moved on, but today I thought of the 10,000 children who lost their parents that day. Their lives have gone on too, but they've been left with the knowledge that their parent was killed because of hate. My heart still aches for them. They experienced a much greater loss than what I experienced that day. To take the moments we get and not take them for granted, is an important lesson I learned that day. I am grateful that in 2009, my children will remember the events of July 9 better than Sept. 11. To make the most of each day is living the creative life.
In 15 minutes increments over the past couple of weeks, I created eight pages of our summer camping experiences. I used CTMH Back Country paper pack, Cricut Plantain Cartridge for the titles, and Pewter and New England Ivy embellishments, Twill,and Natural Hemp. (Double click on the photos to see the details, if you like.)
Missing my oldest daughter, so made this collage of the fun we all had together. . . . Happy she's doing well. Sad she's so far away. How fun was this to put together! I love a good collage. Its an immersion in memories that floods you with warm feelings. It was a good summer. These are among my favorite memories!
(And ignore the date on littlebuddies and my photo. . . he hadn't yet learned how to set the camera.)
This morning began the first creative project of the school year - a Culture Collage. (Welcome to 2009 - this would have been called "All About Me" 25 years ago.) I am loving LittleBuddy's drawings. He divided the extra large construction paper into 4 squares and in the one square he labeled "Music," he drew every instrument we own - including the organ! I loved his viola and cello! Then he wanted something more colorful so we found some stamps to accent all of his squares. He stamped and I punched them into circles and he glued it all together and wrote it all out. My favorite part of the whole project? "Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Easter is the day we remember the death of Jesus." He shares his faith because it is so much a part of our culture and our family. I LOVE THAT! I'm just warning you now - this will be a challenging year for me. Little Buddy's last year in elementary. Big Buddy's a senior in high school. A lot of "lasts," a lot of "never agains," and so I'm particularly happy when they are meaningful. The last creative collage of elementary school. Filling out college applications . . . And, can't someone come up with a more creative way to fill out an emergency card? I used a return address label instead of writing it all out lots of times and only wish I had a better way. . . every parent of school-age children in the country would appreciate this! MyGirl also started her sophomore year as a home-schooler. She is anti-photos. Occasionally I get one in that shows her real self. Usually when I'm snapping she's grimacing, turning away from teh camera, and sticking her hands in front of her face. And, I hate to have her remember her always that way, because other than when camera is in hand, she's not like that. SO, suffice it to say, she's off to a good start. Her US History book is big and a little daunting at first glance, but we've allocated so many pages per day and it'll work out fine. I think they were all ready to get back on a more regimented schedule. I know I am.
