Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to our granddaughter, Avey Elaine, who is one year old today!

the wish of my heart

Our family has been asked to provide a special musical number for church services this morning. We have chosen to sing a double quartet of a familiar number based on these words of the prophet, Alma, “Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of my heart…” Our rehearsing has caused me to ponder, can angels have the wish of their hearts? What is the wish of my heart? Alma’s wish was to go forth and speak with the trump of God, a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! His desire was that all men would hear and understand the great plan of redemption, repent, and come unto God; that there would be no more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. Alma then realizes the boldness of his wish and thinks of it as sinful, for “I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.” Oh Alma, if you only knew then how your words would touch millions! Your wish has been granted a thousand fold.

As for me, my simple wish this morning is that we do justice to his words.

snow day

The spring Isaac turned 10 he got a new bike. He was very excited to ride it to school on Friday. But Thursday night we had one of our famous late spring snow storms. Aaron shoveled our walks and driveway before early-morning seminary, but the rest of the neighborhood was covered in 6”. Isaac was devastated when we told him he couldn’t ride his bike to school that morning. We became the enemy and had to endure the rantings of a very frustrated and disappointed 10-year-old that escalated as departure time drew nearer. Then I offered a suggestion: we could let him ride to the corner and if HE felt like he could get all the way to school without too much trouble, he could go on; but if the going was too rough, he could come home for a ride in the car. That was agreeable to all parties and he took off. I watched from the window as he went along fine until he hit the neighbor’s walk and immediately went down. He picked himself up, turned around and rode home. He came into the house and calmly announced, “I’d better ride in the car.” He realized that we weren’t the enemy, it was just the reality of the situation that gave him no other choice. I told him how sorry I was and that I understood his disappointment. I did not give him an “I told you so” or “See why I’m the Mom” or “You should have listened to me.” (Sparing him some of my own importance?!?) Consequently there was no resentment on his part, and, having come to the decision on his own, no feeling of, “I wanted to ride my bike but my mean parents wouldn’t let me.”

Although we often know more than our children, sometimes it is important to let them come to their own understanding about things. Then our role as parents becomes to be patient and compassionate, especially when “understanding” the truth about things is painful…

Jesse's adventure

Dear Friends,
I am back in my home, well, half of it. My computer is the only thing in the basement, just because we can't live without it. It will be a while before life is normal again. My son, Jesse, sent me an e-mail about this wild adventure, and I thought you would enjoy it, too...

You know it's been an exciting day when you can compare it to an episode of The Office. Here it goes: I was sitting up on the 2^nd floor of the Community building showing a resident more art techniques (actually the same techniques), and he saw what he thought was a bird over by the stairs. I looked and, with my vast knowledge of the animal kingdom, realized that it was not a bird. Upon closer inspection, I instantly realized that the erratic flight patterns were that of a bat (in the order Chiroptera).

We immediately coerced it into the hallway on the East side of the 2^nd floor of the CB and promptly shut the door. We then searched everywhere for some kind of net we could use to catch the bat. After being thwarted in our search, we settled on a trash bag. I geared up with some heavy gloves and a ninja outfit (well, I imagined the outfit anyway) and hurried up to the hallway. I was brilliant (if I do say so myself). If you want an idea of how heroic I was, watch The Office Season 3, the episode called "Business School," and multiply Dwight by 20. That's me.

Actually, I went in the hall and couldn't find the bat. I kept expecting it to fly out of nowhere and latch onto my face (which would have been pretty funny to an onlooker, but I imagine I would have been less than thrilled). Luckily, that did not happen. I looked for about five minutes until, fearing defeat; I started to head back to the hallway door. That's when it happened. I looked down slowly (like they do in those horror movies when something really bad –like a bat latching onto somebody's face- is about to happen) and there it was. I saw the hate in its eyes (even though it probably couldn't see me because most bats are blind) and the thirst for blood emanating from its teeth. Putting all my years of training to work, I gently placed the trash bag over it and nudged it onto the side of the bag until I could safely close it. I then danced around like a little girl and let out a blood-curdling scream of triumph. Or maybe it was a dance of triumph and a girly scream. Well, whatever it was, I had won. I stood supreme. We eventually let it go outside as a sign of good sportsmanship.

And THAT is why I think the mascot should have something to do with bats.

-Jesse R

PS: If anybody is missing a pet bat, I don't know where it is.

we did it!

It is our (my mother is here with me) last day as surrogate parents!  We are astounded and amazed at how smoothly everything has gone for us.  Well, if you don't count the fact that what I thought was de-tangling spray was actually mega-hold hair spray (poor little Elise, she has the worst bed-head I've ever seen, and, needless to say, hair spray is the LAST thing it needed).  Fortunately I discovered my mistake on the third day...  

Anyway, I finally figured out (had Maddi show me) how to get on the internet and thought I'd better check in since my access to a computer will be hit and miss for awhile.  The day before I left on my trip we had a flood in the basement back home.  There wasn't much water, but there was a lot of damage and at present the basement is totally emptied while contractors replace wall boards, base boards, carpet, etc.  So as much of an adventure as this past week has been, I think I have an even bigger one waiting for me when I get home tomorrow!

I will post updates as I can, in the meantime, you know how to reach me!

cross-stitch

for Summer in Washington

Black Narcissus

One of my favorite movie lines is from Black Narcissus. The conversation goes like this:

Mother Dorothea: Give her responsibility, Sister. She badly wants importance. Sister Clodagh: Do you think it's a good thing to let her feel important? Mother Dorothea: Spare her some of your own importance... if you can.

It is a mark of greatness to spare others some of our own importance. We do that when we let others tell the story we could tell better; when we rejoice when another receives a privilege/honor we wanted for ourselves; when we resist the urge to take over when others “don’t measure up”. Sparing someone some of our own importance is not giving offense, it is not taking offense; it is humbly letting something go. It is listening when we have much to say. It is sparing some of “our valuable time” to perform random acts of kindness; it IS a random act of kindness. Letting others feel important is a way to value them, and valuing others is the key to healthy human relations.

Thank-you, dear readers, friends, for helping me feel important. You are very special to me. I am leaving early tomorrow and will be away for a while, staying with my sister’s children while she and her husband have a much-needed vacation. Call my cell if you’d like to chat!