I'm Going on a Trip

Not just for spring break,
but for BYU Women's Conference in May.
I'm jazzed about it.

The only thing that makes me nervous is all of the sitting I will be doing as a 6 1/2 month pregnant momma.
4 days of constant sitting may prove to be a little much...but I'm willing to take the risk.

I'll update you for certain after the fact!

Approaching

General Conference weekend is almost upon us.
My kids are so excited.
So am I.
My sister will be here, and after we wrap up the weekend, we're headed into our spring break!
We've got big plans, which will involve a break from blogging.
But, I should have smashing pictures at the end of it all.

It's been a crazy week...
Dance performance, occupational therapy, scouts, acheivement days (and that was just yesterday)!
Book club on Tuesday, more OT on Monday...just trying to juggle it all and stay sane in the process.

Oh, I got a couple of good mail packages out yesterday...it makes me HAPPY!!

I'm mulling over my life, and trying to think of something profound to blog about, but for now this will have to do!

The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd

Last week, when I was headed home from Phoenix, I stopped at Deseret Book to get some pictures of Christ for some Primary children.
They only had 4 of the picture I wanted, and the man behind the counter suggested I stop over at the small distribution center near the temple to see if they had more copies of the same picture.
(For the record, Distribution had them for $.10, whereas they were $.50 at Deseret.)
While I was there, I saw that "The Testaments" had been released on DVD.
I had seen it in April of 2003 when I went to General Conference with the Young Women I was serving at that time.
It was powerfully amazing at that point in my life, and I truly wanted my family to see it and feel the power of the Spirit that this film brings so beautifully to those who see it.
My family watched it in Mesa in 2005 at the visitors center near the temple there...while I was in a session at the temple...but I hadn't watched it again until Family Home Evening tonight.
We made an admendment to our no tv rule tonight, and put this in right after dinner...
By the time it was near the end, everyone was wholly engaged...and emotional.
I spent a few minutes afterward bearing my testimony, and even Nathan, our shyest son, asked for time to bear his testimony before family prayer.
Pick up a copy ($4.50 from Distribution/free shipping), or borrow a copy from your nearest meetinghouse library.
It is powerful.

Making Amends 101

Thomas and Bekah were throwing punches (honestly) at each other while we were getting ready for church yesterday.
Pat made them sit down next to each other and tell each other 3 nice things about each other.
It's funny to think that such a small thing could make a difference...but it works, without a hitch, EVERY single time.
In fact, it works so well, that in the past, when I have asked what the problem was the day after a "fight", neither party can remember the issue.
Pat did this growing up, and instituted it in our family.
We adjust the number of good things depending on the age of the kids involved, and the severity of the issue.
(We did get up to 20 nice things once, but I think that is our record.)
It is amazing to watch it change bitter, angry hearts to forgiving, positive, loving hearts.
My mom used to tell me it took 3 positive things to negate a negative...and this seems to prove that point.
I hope you try it soon.

Holy Growth Spurt!

Bekah had a dance performance tonight.
The last performance she had was in December,and we were reminded shortly before the performance to check and make sure their costumes fit.
Not a problem.
Although I thought it might be getting small, when she tried it on in December, it still came to her knees.

While that's not my favorite length, at the ginormous cost of a costume worn once or twice every 3 months, I'm willing to make it work for a while.

I didn't even think about trying it on her for this upcoming performance!
Tonight, she came out, ready to be buttoned in back...and her dress was halfway up her thighs.
Thank goodness for the bloomers underneath!
Honestly, she's grown at LEAST 3 inches in 3 months. And while I've noticed some of her pants had gotten too short, I hadn't stopped to think about measuring her.

That's a growth spurt.
She'll be getting a new costume...just in case you weren't sure.

Beauty

"This is a fire rainbow - The rarest of all occuring atmospheric phenomena.
(Picture captured this week on the Idaho/Washington border). The event lasted about 1 hour.
Clouds have to be cirrus, at least 20K in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals, and the sun has to hit the clouds at exactly 58 degrees.
I say its God's handiwork . Very beautiful sight!"
(quoted from an e-mail I received today)

I have to agree. God's work is amazing.

Enriched

My week has been enriched.
Truly.

This week I was honored to attend, not one, but two Enrichment meetings.
Our regularly scheduled Enrichment night was this Tuesday.
Also, in our stake, there is a daytime enrichment meeting that includes lunch on the 3rd Thursday of the month.
It originally started as an excuse for the older sisters in the stake to get together and be social, since it was difficult for many of them to drive or get out at night.
When enough younger moms expressed interest in coming, a nursery was added, and viola!, I had the option of attending another meeting.

Evening enrichment was amazing.
Our leader has given her heart and 110% every month since she was called.
(I know because I worked with her for about 18 of those months).
This month was no exception.
The only difference for me was I am no longer the Enrichment counselor, and so I saw this night for the first time as a participant rather than as a "inside man".
That committee (from the leader on down) worked their tails off!
We had a progressive dinner (physical food), and each room had a speaker (spiritual food).
Here are a couple of things I came away with:

If you are too busy to read your scriptures, you are just TOO busy.

"Ye are the Salt of the Earth"
Salt: a sign of the covenant, representational of preservation from corruption, the power to be the seasoning, savoring, preserving influence in the world.
"When men are called into mine everlasting gospel and covenant with an everlasting covenant, theay are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men." D&C 101:39

(Salt was used as a cleansing preservative in biblical days. Nothing else saved things from decay and rot as well as salt.)


A handout was given in a class where we tied quilts as we talked about humanitarian service.
It said:
A CANDLE
A candle's but a simple thing
It starts with just a bit of string
But dipped and dipped with patient hand
It gathers wax upon the strand
Until complete and snowy white
It gives at last a lovely light.

Life seems so like that bit of string
Each deed we do, a simple thing
Yet day by day if on life's strand
We work with patient heart and hand
It gathers joy, makes dark days bright,
And gives at last, a lovely light.

The sister had that poem memorized.
It is powerful to hear someone share something they have internalized.

It made me think of "good mail".
When is the last time you sent someone something just to let them know they were important to you??
If you can't remember the last time, make some time and do it soon.
It makes you happy, and brightens their day too!!


Today's meeting was on the brain function, and we focused on how if you truly think something, it comes to be.
My favorite part was this:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

--Marianne Williamson

Inspiration is amazing.

It touches us, sometimes unexpectedly, but changes our hearts and our minds.

I am grateful to have been enriched.