Simply Sunday

Today we are "back to the daily grind" of being just us in our house and preparing to grab our schedule and routine by the horns tomorrow. Don't get me wrong ... we have loved the time we've had to spend with our families the past two weeks!! That being said, there is something so lovely about settling back into a routine. Our "normal" has been nowhere near NORMAL for almost 8 weeks now with the whole kitchen debacle!! There is much to be done around here to get the house back into full functioning order, and I look forward to tackling the cleaning, the clutter, the Christmas decor, and even the laundry. Sick, I know ...

We FINALLY got the opportunity to go back to the 9 AM time slot for church. I'm pretty sure the angels were singing when we walked into the chapel ON TIME! It helps that I had been up since 6 AM to see Ed & Pam off to the airport ;) With Steve being in the bishopric, I believe that 1 PM church may have been the worst time on the planet. He would leave for meetings by 7 AM, {possibly} make it home for about an hour (if we were lucky) before having to be back at the church for interviews and such before 1:00 meetings, and then wouldn't make it home after church {which ended at 4} until at least 5:30 or later. Add to that occasional firesides, Bishop's Youth Nights, and home teaching, and you can see our Sundays were often gone without more than an hour together. I'm hoping that our new earlier schedule will afford us a bit more time together as a family on Sunday!! I'm not complaining - really. I wouldn't have it any other way for the opportunity it affords Steve to serve with our amazing bishop and the people in our ward. It is such a blessing to our family to know that he is worthy and willing to serve in such a capacity.

I can already tell I am going to love our new schedule. Not because I'll get to take Sunday naps {cuz seriously ... will I ever REALLY be able to get a nap in?}, but because it opens my afternoon to the possibility to do.more.good. Not that I couldn't have done more of that in the mornings before 1 PM church, but that I usually didn't. I was scrambling to get 4 kids ready, myself ready, a lesson (or handout) ready, etc. Not making the time to just sit, focus, and enjoy the fact that it was a "day of rest." Starting at 9 means those things need to be done on Saturday ... as they should be anyway.

Today I got to spend my afternoon working on plans for our upcoming RS meeting this week, helping my daughters complete goals for their Faith in God requirements, listen to my girls sing at the top of their lungs, attend a scout committee meeting, make dinner for my family, and sit to read from the most recent conference issue of the Ensign.

I want to be better about writing down the things that impress me as I read or study them. To capture just a bit of the whisperings that I feel from time to time. The words of our modern day leaders have a way of reminding me of truths that I may already know while gently nudging me {without to much guilt} to act on those truths.

I was reading Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk entitled "Of Things That Matter Most" and was once again reminded of the need to focus our lives more on the fundamentals of the gospel. He said, "I think most of us intuitively understand how important the fundamentals are. It is just that we sometimes get distracted by so many things that seem more enticing....

...we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most....

... Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship - the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace."

It's going to be a big year for us here ... Cougar moved up to "big boy" Primary today as a Sunbeam, Brinley will turn 12 and enter Young Womens in two weeks {her New Beginnings program is actually on her birthday}, and Kendyl will turn 8 in September and be baptized this fall. We are so blessed and I could not be more proud as a mother or feel more fortunate. Did I mention I'm going to love our new 9 AM church schedule?

Lazy Sunday

Sundays are always a little less exciting around these parts. Today was one of the LAZIEST days I have experienced in a very long time. I didn't get out of bed until almost 9:30 AM. You read that right ... 9:30. It reminded me why I don't sleep in - it put me in a crummy mood!! I hate having a bad attitude - it really doesn't happen that often {which I am grateful for}. Lucky for me it hit on the one day that we don't have company visiting. WHEW!! It didn't help that I forgot my visiting teachers were coming, my printer has decided to quit working (while I was trying to print Kendyl's primary talk and things I needed to substitute for primary music), and I've been eating nothing but garbage lately (which makes me feel like garbage)!

Steve had no meetings before church today so it was FABULOUS to have him around to help with things! I didn't have to worry about lunch, making sure the kids were showering, or anything that I normally do (except helping to do hair for the girls). Today involved trying to get back on top of the laundry pile {which easily falls behind when company comes to visit} and getting sheets and towels washed and ready for our next set of visitors to arrive tomorrow.

We are up to our eyes in leftovers, so I chose to keep dinner simple. Most of the family requested hot dogs. Seriously. Gotta love that I can go outside to grill without a jacket on in December!!

During dinner we played a new game that we received for Christmas from my brother Ryan. It's called the Gather 'Round Dinner Game and the kids just loved it!! I can see it quickly becoming a tradition around our dinner table.

With Brinley quickly approaching her 12th birthday we are working hard to finish up her requirements for her Faith in God award at church. Seems hard to believe she will be attending Young Women's in just a few weeks!! Tonight she was working on a 4 generation pedigree chart. We used the New Family Search website and showed her how to find all of the information that she needed.

Also hard to believe that today was Cougar's last day in nursery ... he will be a Sunbeam starting next week! Our little boy is growing up ;)

Mormon Messages

I am so grateful for the new Mormon Messages videos that the church has been putting out. Each one of them is so uplifting!! Any time I feel the need for a "pick me up" or a reminder of who I am, where I'm going, the blessings I have, the ability to overcome trials, etc. I can find the perfect message. They now have some that are geared to the youth, too, that are inspiring examples of the good that exists in the "rising generation."

You can subscribe to the YouTube Channel so you are alerted whenever a new video is released so you never miss one! They are easy to share on blogs and Facebook, too. I posted one on Motherhood back in September ... still love that one. I can't pick a favorite because they each touch me in a different way depending on what I "need" to hear when I take the time to watch them.

These are just a few that I love and go back to again and again - ENJOY!!

Lessons in Learning

I had the opportunity to teach in Relief Society today {for those who are not members of the LDS church that is our Women's Organization} and it was truly humbling. I was given a talk entitled "That Our Children May See the Face of the Savior" from our last General Conference to base my lesson on. I spent a lot of time reading different messages that have been shared about our own relationships with the Savior, how we can teach our children about him, and how important it is for us as parents to use everyday teaching moments to teach about Christ and live our lives as an example of Him. I often find that I am the one who needs the lessons the most when I am asked to speak. There was so much that I wanted to share with the sisters about the importance of our jobs as mothers. I had WAY too much content for the amount of time I had {I ended up having to skip over at least 3 pages of notes}. I cried WAY too often and felt like a babbling idiot more than once (which is BIG for me because I am typically a very unemotional person who only cries about 3 times a year ... really). In the end I can only hope that the ladies there walked away with a small portion of what I did.

I ended my lesson with this quote that came from a talk that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared in a talk over 10 years ago {you can read his entire talk HERE} - it is an excerpt from a letter that was sent to him from a young mother who struggled at times with feelings that she couldn't measure up to the tasks expected of her (boy, can I relate). To quote from his talk:

But one thing, she said, keeps her going: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep.
“It is this realization,” she says, “that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious,” she said, “and will plead for His help. Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered. I like that idea,” she concludes. “It gives me hope. If I can be right before my Father in Heaven, perhaps His guidance to our children can be unimpeded. Maybe then it can be His work and His glory in a very literal sense.”

WOW. I closed with this video that was created with pieces of this same talk. Go grab a tissue and make sure you watch it. Every time I watched it as I prepared for my lesson (and learned to download YouTube videos and burn them to DVD ... YES!) I was overwhelmed by the sense that I am doing better than I think I am. The Lord is there to carry us through the challenges as long as we will rely on him. Elder Holland also said, "if you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do." Thank goodness.

Church Callings

I have been lucky in my life to serve in many different church callings - all of which have taught me things about myself. It is always hard to be released and left to feel like you could have / should have done more, done things differently, etc. I've had a hard time adjusting to the idea that I am no longer in the stake YW presidency. I loved that calling!! I love working with the youth and the women I had the opportunity to serve with are amazing ... I learned SO MUCH from each of them and am a better person for having had that time to serve with them!!! That being said, it has been hard to be without a calling for almost a month now. There is something about knowing you have a job to fulfill rather than just coming to church. I honestly had no idea where I might end up serving and have been anxious about it after having had such a wonderful most recent calling. Well, today I was called to the scout committee ... completely out of my comfort zone and realm of experience!!!! The closest thing I have to scouting is a 2 1/2 year old boy and a husband who is an Eagle Scout! To say the idea is frightening would be an understatement. Having my husband be the one to extend the call to me was plain WEIRD, too!

Lucky for me they just called a new committee chair last week and she is awesome - totally organized and ready to make our scout troop something to be proud of!! We already started talking grand plans for our ward scout camp that we are in charge of this year (um ... glad that I got to help plan girls camp last year) and are so excited about some of the ideas we have. They certainly won't regret putting two women in charge :)

Today I am grateful for church callings because I am reminded of the opportunity that they give us to share our talents, learn new skills, grow in the gospel in ways we might not otherwise, and challenge ourselves to put our trust in the Lord and do what he asks of us - knowing the blessings that lie in store when we obey.

WOW - that's a lot of "churchy" posts in the past few days!!! Don't worry ... I'll be grateful for something totally frivolous tomorrow - I'm pretty sure I already know what it is :)

Temples

Today (yes, I'm post dating for Saturday) I am grateful for Temples. We have a monthly goal to attend the temple and while we're not perfect, we have done very well this year. What a blessing it is in our lives!! There is something about just walking onto the temple grounds - no matter which temple you are at - that changes the way you think, the way you look at things, and the way you "hear" things. There is no question that the temples sit on sacred ground and that walking into them is walking into the House of the Lord. I was once again reminded of this tonight as a new temple president shared his experiences of his first week being in the temple all day, every day.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take some of my cyberfriends to see the Salt Lake City Temple while we were in Utah for the Digital Scrapbook Experience. Several of them commented on what a peaceful place it was and how beautiful the grounds were. I could not agree more. The photo is one I took from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on that visit ... I love the views of the temple from there!!

I am grateful for the work that goes on in the temples - binding families together for eternity. I am blessed to be sealed to my husband and know that if we are faithful and remain worthy that we will have that blessing for our own family. We have been fortunate the last few times we have been to take names through for my brother-in-law to help the work of his family progress and look forward to doing more.

If you are not of my faith and are curious to learn more about temples please visit www.lds.org/temples.