Ever had one of those days?

I was so prepared for an awesome day today! I had to teach two classes at our co-op today, so I spent much of the week and most of yesterday and last night preparing and gathering supplies. I woke up early (I'm not saying what time because my early is definitely later than a lot of others') so I could shower and get breakfast and ready children and be out of the house by 9, in order to complete my setting up in time.

All was going fine. I got kids up, everyone dressed in clothes laid out the night before, fed their faces and even combed hair. Hair combing doesn't always happen on co-op days here.

I loaded the car. Everyone got shoes on. I reached for my keys ... only they weren't there. I searched yesterday's pants pockets. Not there. I looked on the several shelves and counters they could be on. I hear child #3 shouting from the garage that the car is locked. I call back that I'm looking for the keys.

Feeling a sense of dread, I call hubby. I'm totally convinced he has pocketed my keys, for like the 5th time (did I say that??) and am struggling to remain calm. As we talk child #1 tries to talk to me, but stops when he sees I'm on the phone. Hubby declares himself innocent after a thorough double-check of his pockets. I hang up and the child tells me, "There's good news, and there's bad news. The good news is that the keys are found ... they're in the car. The bad news: I'm just kidding, the car is unlocked. The sliding doors won't open but the front is unlocked." Ha ha, he's so funny. That's what he was going to tell me when I was on the phone falsely accusing my husband.

That sliding door comment sets of an alarm in my brain though. Uh oh. Sure enough, I go outside and see keys in the ignition. And the ignition is partially turned. RATS. Dead battery. I remember that I had to eject the movie for the kids because they wanted to finish it inside, and that small slip in routine confused my poor brain enough that I forgot to turn the power back off.

Have no fear, though. I have killed my battery more times than I can count (once in the rain outside the INS office). We now have a battery-powered car jumper that I can do myself. (I still have to read the instructions every time, but still, I get 'er done.) The jumper works well when it's charged. I check the battery level on the jumper ... it's weak. NO! Still, worth a try. Except ... last time we took the car in for repair, some how they damaged the little lever that you depress to open the hood. And the hood WILL NOT open. I try and try. For like 10 minutes. Another call to hubby with some tears threatening to erupt, but kept in control. Magically, as soon as the man is on the phone, the hood opens. Yay! Glad electronics and automobiles will at least obey the man.

Takes me 4 tries to get the cables on properly, but I hear a magical "door ajar" chime, turn the key, and ... its chugs a bit ... then turns over! Ha ha, you thought it wasn't going to start, right? Gotcha. God has not completely shunned me. We might get there in time to scrape together a rushed set-up and still be ready.

Everyone is cheering and so happy. As I walk to the front of the car to unhook the cables, child #3 complains that the sliding door still won't open. I tell him to leave it, the battery may not be working and don't touch, I'll do it. I hear the passenger door slam. I walk back to the driver's door to use the button that opens the sliding doors. Click click. Driver's door is not opening. Click click. I keep pulling the handle, not comprehending. I look across the car and see that both locks are down. Down = locked. I can't believe it. Child #1 quickly points the finger at #3 and says he locked the door, thinking he was unlocking the unworking sliding door.

It was interesting how quickly my blood boiled, and I think I screamed. My next reaction was to grab some wood and smash open a window. I was SO. MAD. We had overcome so many obstacles in such a short time, only to be completely thwarted in the end by a child who wouldn't obey instructions. Hot tears began to gush. I'm sure my face was purple and I was wailing. I ordered the children inside (who also began crying, except for the culprit, but I think he was too scared to cry). Another call to hubby, this one loud and teary and full of repressed cussing. He agreed to come back home and rescue us and get our sorry butts on our way. The car was still sitting in the garage, running. And there was NO WAY we'd make it to co-op on time, let alone be able to set up. I had no idea what I was going to do.

Finally I composed myself and went in to comfort some sad kids. They were mostly sad that they wouldn't get to see their friends. We agreed that maybe it was all good; maybe we were being protected and all that stuff happened because if we had left in time we would have been in a bad accident or something. That helped us all feel a little better; we know Heavenly Father watches out for us so we could believe things were happening as they should.

I hear hubby's car door slam about 25 minutes later, just as the phone rings. I answer the phone while I wave to him and he opens my door and unlocks the car for me.

It's the co-op organizer. Classes are canceled today due to location issues.

Of course.

(You may be thinking I'm making this up, or exaggerating. If I hadn't lived through this I would think that myself.)

Great women, past and present

Yesterday I got to go hear Julie Beck speak to the women of American Fork.

She filled 3 church buildings with women who wanted to hear her. Three buildings. One city (for the most part - I'm sure a few outsiders snuck in). I know.

Sometimes it's surreal to remember that I live in Utah, surrounded by people of my own faith. I often have to pinch myself. It's so different from how I grew up. And I like it. I remember first walking into Walmart and seeing a book by President Hinckley and nearly fainting. A church book in WALMART?!

I feel like I'm supposed to be excited about living in the "mission field" and having opportunities to teach the gospel to non-members. I've been there. And now I have to say I enjoy the benefits of living in Happy Valley with many like-minded folks immensely. I know, it's not perfect, and the people here are still regular people with all of the issues you see everywhere else, but lots of things are so nice. Like how your whole neighborhood is in your ward, and those 2 houses who are not active better watch out! We still get to do lots of missionary work; the difference is we don't usually have to start with an overview of basic beliefs and repeat our long church name several times. It's pretty fun when everyday life and religion actually collide - not the least of which include bumping into President Eyring and his wife in an elevator (when you've only ever seen them on the big screen in the church), or traveling 2 minutes down the road to hear the General Relief Society President speak. To only women. In one little city.

Crazy.

Sister Beck is an amazing and inspired individual, and I admire her even more now. Her husband is pretty dang funny - he said when they stepped off the airplane in Africa, he'd never felt so large and white in all his life, and the people thought she'd brought along food storage. "I was like food storage!"

Sister Beck is a study in poise, compassion, knowledge, wisdom, education, teaching, kindness and clarity. Most of her past talks in conference have made me think, "I need to print that off." (Coincidentally, I'm starting a binder like the one I saw here. Been trying to get to this for years now.) Yesterday she spoke of what it was like to first be called as General Relief Society President, how she could be in the ranks of the amazing women in church history, and said, "You can think of dozens of people who could fill a calling better, but when the Lord points his finger and says 'YOU' then you just do it! It's His way of making beggars of us." And He helps you. She talked about how studying the history of Relief Society has helped her with her focus immensely, and I have been trying to spend more time learning the lessons of the past to help me as well (if you would like a wonderful starting point in your study, check out http://www.societysunday.com/). I love learning from the great women of history, as well as the great women of present, and I feel so blessed today to have access to both. This has been a year of spiritual growth for me and I am grateful!

Most of her talk was similar to the review I found here when she spoke recently in Idaho. Then she did the same thing she did there: opened up the remainder of the time for questions. I was shaking in my boots for her! I mean, anyone could have thrown anything out, and we've all been there when that blasphemous question is asked in Sunday School, or a testimony bearer starts rambling and venting. That easily could have happened (but it would have been interesting to see how she handled that). I can't imagine feeling prepared to answer anything that was thrown at me, on the spot in front of thousands. This is where the poise and knowledge stuff came in :) The questions were excellent, and the answers were astounding. She was able to back up each answer with quotes, scriptures and experiences. Wow. I truly hope to be like that some day. It will take a lot of work, not to mention a real closeness to the Spirit.

Some of the answers she gave:
How can we best help those who have so little when we have so much?
-Study D&C 1
-One of the most important ways we can help those who struggle in other countries is to raise prepared missionaries. The 2,000 stripling warriors are a metaphor for women creating a force for good that can be sent out into the world and do what needs to be done in the name of righteousness.
-preparing men and women to enter the temple establishes covenants on the earth - no small thing!
-use the Internet to share the gospel, not waste time or neglect children while you "talk over the back fence" (uh oh, guilty)
What is your biggest concern for the women of the church?
-they are not always aligned with the Lord, in their priorities - I mean LOCK STEP
-those who need strengthening do not have strength around them
-2 Nephi 28 - v.20: they are angry about their roles and responsibilities in the plan - angry about that which is good. We are the female half of the plan, and without us it will fail.
                    v. 21: apathy
                    v. 22: entitlement - need to have sensuality, power, prestige, which the world thinks is important but is not. We are here with a responsibility. Nobody owes you anything; we owe everything to the Lord.

Priorities:
Essentials: making covenants, serving, scriptures and prayer. Every day. These are the Lord's expectations. This is the short list.
Necessary: eat (shop, cook), clean (to have a home where the spirit can reside), things to do to become self-reliant so we can build the kingdom. This is the long list.
Nice-to-do:  if we take care of the other things it's amazing how much time we have for nice-to-do things. The Lord blesses us for our efforts.

How do I know I have the Spirit with me every day?
-With the Spirit, the mountains could fall around me and I'm OK
-Without the Spirit, the littlest thing is too hard to surmount
-D&C 11:12-14
-we can learn to know the Lord's voice very clearly


I better wrap this up before I get accused again of talking over the back fence :)