This isn't in the usual spirit of my blog, but I had to put it on anyway. :)
I have a good friend named Katie Wood (publicly known as Katherine Wood) who has written a series of books. It is called the Gideon Biddle series. This is the most amazing series of books ever written.
Gideon is a boy who finds himself caught in the middle of a battle between good and evil. (But not in a cheesy or cliche way. I just won't give any details that will give away the story.) Gideon is a boy in a magical world who finds ways to defeat the bad guys even though he himself is unable to do magic.
There are three books in the series. (Number three is coming out soon. I am privileged enough to have read an advanced copy...) I highly recommend this series of books. These are the greatest adventures of all times!
I loved this series, and I know you will too!
KatherineWoodofficialsite.com
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Priesthood Power
A couple nights ago, our baby, Katie, kept having nightmares. I put her down at about 8:00 PM, and by about 10:30 PM she'd already woken up screaming about six times. She was having horrible nightmares. The last time she woke up crying, I sat in the rocking chair to cuddle her, hoping to calm her down. The thought came to me that if Scott gave her a blessing, she'd stop having nightmares.
I carried her upstairs. Scott was in bed (as I had also been when she cried once again) and so the bedroom was dark when I carried Katie into our room. When Daddy came towards her in the dark, she started screaming bloody murder. She didn't recognize him in the dark, and she was seeing something from her nightmares, not her father.
Even after I turned the light on, she wouldn't stop crying and screaming. Scott laid his hands on her head to give her the blessing. The feel of his hands on her head when she couldn't see his face scared her even more.
As soon as he called upon the power of the priesthood, she stopped crying. She didn't cry again because of nightmares that night. It was such an amazing experience. My only regret is that she is too little to remember it.
I carried her upstairs. Scott was in bed (as I had also been when she cried once again) and so the bedroom was dark when I carried Katie into our room. When Daddy came towards her in the dark, she started screaming bloody murder. She didn't recognize him in the dark, and she was seeing something from her nightmares, not her father.
Even after I turned the light on, she wouldn't stop crying and screaming. Scott laid his hands on her head to give her the blessing. The feel of his hands on her head when she couldn't see his face scared her even more.
As soon as he called upon the power of the priesthood, she stopped crying. She didn't cry again because of nightmares that night. It was such an amazing experience. My only regret is that she is too little to remember it.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
General Conference Challenge
A few days ago, my friend Cassie told me about a challenge the Young Women in our stake received from the stake president at the end of Girls' Camp. Cassie was doing the challenge, and I decided to do it with her.
He gave each of the girls a copy of the Ensign with last conference's talks. He challenged each girl to read every talk from last General Conference before the next one in October. He told the girls he'd been praying for a way to help them increase their spirituality. He promised them that if they would do this, they would not only increase their spirituality, but help them develop a relationship with their Heavenly Father and the Savior. He also said it would help them get answers to their prayers.
I started this challenge yesterday, and I've already noticed a lift in my overall spirits. I thought I'd pass on this challenge. You don't even have to get a copy of the Ensign with the talks. I've been reading mine on lds.org.
I just thought it could help others as much as it's been starting to help me.
He gave each of the girls a copy of the Ensign with last conference's talks. He challenged each girl to read every talk from last General Conference before the next one in October. He told the girls he'd been praying for a way to help them increase their spirituality. He promised them that if they would do this, they would not only increase their spirituality, but help them develop a relationship with their Heavenly Father and the Savior. He also said it would help them get answers to their prayers.
I started this challenge yesterday, and I've already noticed a lift in my overall spirits. I thought I'd pass on this challenge. You don't even have to get a copy of the Ensign with the talks. I've been reading mine on lds.org.
I just thought it could help others as much as it's been starting to help me.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The Simple Solution
Today we had a major storm. We had a severe weather watch. (And we did watch it through the open front door- it was pretty awe-inspiring...) Torrential rain came in waves. Large hail pounded the ground. The wind whipped the trees around. Our entire street was flooded. Cars drove by and you could only see half the wheels.
Our back yard is on a slope. The way the tiles have been placed in our patio, we have a wonderful water gathering area right outside the basement door. As a result, every time we have these huge rainstorms, we have to watch for flooding in the basement by the door. Until now, we've never had a flood.
Today we did, though. The water was leaking in through the door. We discovered that while it was still only bad enough to get the tile and carpet wet. But we knew we'd have a big problem (and brand new carpet ruined) if we didn't fix it quickly. Scott began trying to find a water pump from neighbors and friends. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a bucket.
I had suggested the bucket to Scott, but the rain was coming down hard enough and the puddle growing fast enough, the bucket method wasn't going to solve the problem. But since he was needing to scrounge around and find a pump to really solve anything, I decided to use the bucket as a temporary effort in saving the basement.
It was very hard work. Even now my whole body is shaking from exhaustion. But you know what, it actually worked. I was able to get enough in the bucket that it actually made a small dent in the potential flood. Each bucketful was a little more than the rain coming in. Then the rain slowed down.
I was wondering if my efforts were doing any good, as I was exhausted and hoping Scott could find a pump quickly. Then I noticed that right by the door, there was a tiny patch of cement that was actually starting to dry off. That's when I knew that the simple solution of the bucket was going to work. That gave me motivation and I increased my efforts. I was actually able to get ALL of the water out of that area. It was amazing. Had the rain not stopped completely I wouldn't have been that successful- but I still would have stopped the basement from flooding.
Yes, the water pump would have been easier. (And yes, Scott did find one- but not until the rain had stopped and most of the area in front of the door was dry.) It would have been faster, too. But the bucket solution worked just fine. It was a good reminder for me that we don't always have to have the fancy technology solutions. Sometimes the answer is just the simple solution of hard work.
Cute side note to this story: When our family was watching the rain from the front door (before the flooding scare) Anna started telling us about the wise man and the foolish man. You know, the rains came down and the floods came up? I asked her who built his house where and she told me the wise man built his house both places. Still pretty good for a three year old. :) She thought it was pretty awesome to finally SEE what that song would look like... :D Thank you all primary leaders everywhere.
Our back yard is on a slope. The way the tiles have been placed in our patio, we have a wonderful water gathering area right outside the basement door. As a result, every time we have these huge rainstorms, we have to watch for flooding in the basement by the door. Until now, we've never had a flood.
Today we did, though. The water was leaking in through the door. We discovered that while it was still only bad enough to get the tile and carpet wet. But we knew we'd have a big problem (and brand new carpet ruined) if we didn't fix it quickly. Scott began trying to find a water pump from neighbors and friends. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a bucket.
I had suggested the bucket to Scott, but the rain was coming down hard enough and the puddle growing fast enough, the bucket method wasn't going to solve the problem. But since he was needing to scrounge around and find a pump to really solve anything, I decided to use the bucket as a temporary effort in saving the basement.
It was very hard work. Even now my whole body is shaking from exhaustion. But you know what, it actually worked. I was able to get enough in the bucket that it actually made a small dent in the potential flood. Each bucketful was a little more than the rain coming in. Then the rain slowed down.
I was wondering if my efforts were doing any good, as I was exhausted and hoping Scott could find a pump quickly. Then I noticed that right by the door, there was a tiny patch of cement that was actually starting to dry off. That's when I knew that the simple solution of the bucket was going to work. That gave me motivation and I increased my efforts. I was actually able to get ALL of the water out of that area. It was amazing. Had the rain not stopped completely I wouldn't have been that successful- but I still would have stopped the basement from flooding.
Yes, the water pump would have been easier. (And yes, Scott did find one- but not until the rain had stopped and most of the area in front of the door was dry.) It would have been faster, too. But the bucket solution worked just fine. It was a good reminder for me that we don't always have to have the fancy technology solutions. Sometimes the answer is just the simple solution of hard work.
Cute side note to this story: When our family was watching the rain from the front door (before the flooding scare) Anna started telling us about the wise man and the foolish man. You know, the rains came down and the floods came up? I asked her who built his house where and she told me the wise man built his house both places. Still pretty good for a three year old. :) She thought it was pretty awesome to finally SEE what that song would look like... :D Thank you all primary leaders everywhere.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Out of the Blue
So today I took my kids to the grocery store with me. Daddy was trying to edit the preview for the documentary he and his friends have made. (Side note, it's entered in for TWO Emmy Awards- how cool is that!) I decided to take the girls with me when I got groceries so he could have some chatter-free time to edit the preview and get it done today like he wanted.
On the way to the store, a song came on the radio. Anna asked her favorite car question, "What's this song, Mommy?" I told her my usual response, "I don't know, Sweetie." (She wants a title, and if I know it, she then wants the name of the singer. So far, the only one I consistently know is Taylor Swift... Because I know that ONE voice, she thinks I should be able to tell her all information about all songs...) Anyway, after I told her I didn't know the name of the song, she told me its title- or at least the phrase they repeat quite often in it. She was right, too. She'd been able to tell me the title of the song before the words had even started. I could have told her the name of the song (at least what I call it) if she'd asked after the chorus. I was so impressed with her that she could pick it out that soon. (She gets that from Daddy. He can do that same thing.)
After I got over the Mommy Pride that she was being so smart and showing such a good memory, the thought came to me, "I am SO glad I don't listen to rap." She was telling me the main phrases in the songs. What if I'd been listening to a song that swore? This time it came out of the blue, but at least had a trigger. If she hears the song a few more times, she may be telling me the words because of a less obvious trigger. A few more times after that and she'll know it well enough to quote it without any triggers...
Just a reminder that we need to watch what we say, do, and listen to. And we need to even if there aren't kids around. Just because it isn't getting spouted back to us by a three year old doesn't mean it isn't getting recorded... Heavenly Father sees it all.
Just a thought.
On the way to the store, a song came on the radio. Anna asked her favorite car question, "What's this song, Mommy?" I told her my usual response, "I don't know, Sweetie." (She wants a title, and if I know it, she then wants the name of the singer. So far, the only one I consistently know is Taylor Swift... Because I know that ONE voice, she thinks I should be able to tell her all information about all songs...) Anyway, after I told her I didn't know the name of the song, she told me its title- or at least the phrase they repeat quite often in it. She was right, too. She'd been able to tell me the title of the song before the words had even started. I could have told her the name of the song (at least what I call it) if she'd asked after the chorus. I was so impressed with her that she could pick it out that soon. (She gets that from Daddy. He can do that same thing.)
After I got over the Mommy Pride that she was being so smart and showing such a good memory, the thought came to me, "I am SO glad I don't listen to rap." She was telling me the main phrases in the songs. What if I'd been listening to a song that swore? This time it came out of the blue, but at least had a trigger. If she hears the song a few more times, she may be telling me the words because of a less obvious trigger. A few more times after that and she'll know it well enough to quote it without any triggers...
Just a reminder that we need to watch what we say, do, and listen to. And we need to even if there aren't kids around. Just because it isn't getting spouted back to us by a three year old doesn't mean it isn't getting recorded... Heavenly Father sees it all.
Just a thought.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Manner of Prayer
I was reminded this week of an experience I had over ten years ago. My father went in for surgery, had a complication with the surgery, and ended up in ICU. He was in the ICU for three months before he passed away.
When he first went into the ICU, I prayed some of the most fervent prayers I've ever prayed in my life, begging for him to be healed. About halfway through his hospitalization, I was praying as I went to bed one night. I started saying my usual prayer asking for him to be healed. The thought popped into my head, "What if the Lord needs him more than we do? That is so selfish to be asking this. It might be best for everyone involved if he passes away. What if someone on the other side really needs him?" (Paraphrasing the overall emotions, of course. I don't remember exact thoughts...) That night I changed my prayer. I still asked for him to be healed. Then I added that if God needed him more, please help all of us left behind to deal with it.
For six weeks I prayed that way. When he finally did pass away, I was okay with it. Not happy, mind you. It wasn't how I wanted it to work out. But I was okay. Didn't take away the pain of losing him, didn't mean it wasn't an uphill battle for awhile- for the whole family. But we were all okay.
About a week ago my husband drove his parents to a doctor visit in Las Vegas. We expected him to be home around 6- that would be 2 hours for the drive down, 2 hours for the visit, and then 2 hours for the drive home. I actually really expected him home closer to 5. How long could a doctor visit really take? At 6:30 I was really worried. At 7 I was expecting him to be dead on the freeway somewhere. By 7:30 I was sitting with the phone in my hand waiting for the call to come identify all three bodies. (In case people haven't noticed from my blog, one thing I'm REALLY good at is overreacting and panicking where there is absolutely no need for it... I've decided that it's a cute and loveable flaw that is endearing, and so far no one has bothered to correct me about that...)
I was praying the whole time he was gone that they'd travel safely. When I started panicking, my prayers became especially fervent. Then I had that same thought- how selfish of me to beg for everything to be okay. What if that wasn't the Lord's plan? So I started praying the same way I had with my dad. Please let them all be okay, but if not, help me to deal with it.
This time, everything was fine. The appointment turned out to be more involved than any of us had understood and it had taken 3 or 4 hours. That taught me about prayer. When I lost my dad, I had assumed that the spirit had guided me to pray a certain way so that I could be blessed to be okay when the tragedy hit. That taught me that we need to have inspiration with our prayers as well as praying for inspiration. This new experience taught me a lesson I thought I'd already learned, but turns out I hadn't learned it as well as I thought I had. We need to be ready to accept the Lord's will no matter what He asks of us. We may think it's something we can't bear, but we can. We may think that it is just plain suffering, but then come across a time when we realized we learned from something, or we grew from something. I know I grew from losing my dad. I'm never happy he's gone, but I see how much I changed for the better because of that experience. And having that experience made me that much happier to see Scott walking up the driveway after his trip to Vegas.
There is always a purpose, even if there doesn't appear to be one. And that purpose is never the suffering. We can always grow from it, learn from it, be better because of it. We just need to see the blessings instead of the sorrow. We all have sorrow, no matter how happy we are most of the time. It isn't a punishment and it isn't that we are forsaken by God. I feel very blessed in my life, and I think that overall, I am happy probably 90% of the time. Doesn't mean I have never sorrow. And it doesn't mean that sorrow is a bad thing or just for the sake of sorrow.
Just a thought.
When he first went into the ICU, I prayed some of the most fervent prayers I've ever prayed in my life, begging for him to be healed. About halfway through his hospitalization, I was praying as I went to bed one night. I started saying my usual prayer asking for him to be healed. The thought popped into my head, "What if the Lord needs him more than we do? That is so selfish to be asking this. It might be best for everyone involved if he passes away. What if someone on the other side really needs him?" (Paraphrasing the overall emotions, of course. I don't remember exact thoughts...) That night I changed my prayer. I still asked for him to be healed. Then I added that if God needed him more, please help all of us left behind to deal with it.
For six weeks I prayed that way. When he finally did pass away, I was okay with it. Not happy, mind you. It wasn't how I wanted it to work out. But I was okay. Didn't take away the pain of losing him, didn't mean it wasn't an uphill battle for awhile- for the whole family. But we were all okay.
About a week ago my husband drove his parents to a doctor visit in Las Vegas. We expected him to be home around 6- that would be 2 hours for the drive down, 2 hours for the visit, and then 2 hours for the drive home. I actually really expected him home closer to 5. How long could a doctor visit really take? At 6:30 I was really worried. At 7 I was expecting him to be dead on the freeway somewhere. By 7:30 I was sitting with the phone in my hand waiting for the call to come identify all three bodies. (In case people haven't noticed from my blog, one thing I'm REALLY good at is overreacting and panicking where there is absolutely no need for it... I've decided that it's a cute and loveable flaw that is endearing, and so far no one has bothered to correct me about that...)
I was praying the whole time he was gone that they'd travel safely. When I started panicking, my prayers became especially fervent. Then I had that same thought- how selfish of me to beg for everything to be okay. What if that wasn't the Lord's plan? So I started praying the same way I had with my dad. Please let them all be okay, but if not, help me to deal with it.
This time, everything was fine. The appointment turned out to be more involved than any of us had understood and it had taken 3 or 4 hours. That taught me about prayer. When I lost my dad, I had assumed that the spirit had guided me to pray a certain way so that I could be blessed to be okay when the tragedy hit. That taught me that we need to have inspiration with our prayers as well as praying for inspiration. This new experience taught me a lesson I thought I'd already learned, but turns out I hadn't learned it as well as I thought I had. We need to be ready to accept the Lord's will no matter what He asks of us. We may think it's something we can't bear, but we can. We may think that it is just plain suffering, but then come across a time when we realized we learned from something, or we grew from something. I know I grew from losing my dad. I'm never happy he's gone, but I see how much I changed for the better because of that experience. And having that experience made me that much happier to see Scott walking up the driveway after his trip to Vegas.
There is always a purpose, even if there doesn't appear to be one. And that purpose is never the suffering. We can always grow from it, learn from it, be better because of it. We just need to see the blessings instead of the sorrow. We all have sorrow, no matter how happy we are most of the time. It isn't a punishment and it isn't that we are forsaken by God. I feel very blessed in my life, and I think that overall, I am happy probably 90% of the time. Doesn't mean I have never sorrow. And it doesn't mean that sorrow is a bad thing or just for the sake of sorrow.
Just a thought.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
New Indexing Accomplishment
We indexed and arbitrated over 10 million names in one day. Our goal was five million! This is an awesome experience to be part of this. I highly recommend everyone participate. It's an amazing experience. To begin, go to https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing and do a test drive to see what it's like. Then you download the software and begin! This is a great pastime and service. I feel highly blessed to be working on the 1940 census as well as the other projects we've done.
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Fairy Tale Life
I realized this morning why so many of us sometimes feel disappointed in life. We all want to be Harry Potter. You know, we want to wake up one morning and find out that we are special and that the world can't function without us. Or we want to be Cinderella- struggle a bit but then marry Prince Charming and live happily ever after.
My realization comes because of our Ladies' Night Out last night. (To my friends there, you know who you are- thank you.) I realized today that it isn't that none of us get our fairy tale life. I think in the end most of us get it. Fairy tales only tell us the summary version. We get the exciting how I met prince charming part, but not the mundane story of life afterward. I do have a fairy tale life. I met my prince charming and we have two kids. I even got my dream come true of being a stay at home mom.
When we hear about Cinderella, we don't hear about how she and Prince Charming argued over what school to put their kids in. We don't hear about how five years into the marriage Prince Charming found Cinderella in the bedroom crying because she can't lose all the baby weight and doesn't fit into the wedding dress anymore. We don't hear about Prince's high blood pressure. We don't hear about how the two year old broke the glass slipper when using it to dress up the cat.
We often feel inadequate- or at least I often do. I've made it my goal to realize that just because I'm not Cinderella doesn't mean I'm not happy. I am happy. I bet Cinderella had to let it go that Prince snored. I bet he had to get used to the fact that she didn't like his mother. I bet their kids fought and one of them failed out of math because he thought it was stupid. When they got older, I bet he was diabetic and they both went senile.
And I bet they both still lived happily ever after.
My realization comes because of our Ladies' Night Out last night. (To my friends there, you know who you are- thank you.) I realized today that it isn't that none of us get our fairy tale life. I think in the end most of us get it. Fairy tales only tell us the summary version. We get the exciting how I met prince charming part, but not the mundane story of life afterward. I do have a fairy tale life. I met my prince charming and we have two kids. I even got my dream come true of being a stay at home mom.
When we hear about Cinderella, we don't hear about how she and Prince Charming argued over what school to put their kids in. We don't hear about how five years into the marriage Prince Charming found Cinderella in the bedroom crying because she can't lose all the baby weight and doesn't fit into the wedding dress anymore. We don't hear about Prince's high blood pressure. We don't hear about how the two year old broke the glass slipper when using it to dress up the cat.
We often feel inadequate- or at least I often do. I've made it my goal to realize that just because I'm not Cinderella doesn't mean I'm not happy. I am happy. I bet Cinderella had to let it go that Prince snored. I bet he had to get used to the fact that she didn't like his mother. I bet their kids fought and one of them failed out of math because he thought it was stupid. When they got older, I bet he was diabetic and they both went senile.
And I bet they both still lived happily ever after.
The Drive
So I realized yesterday that I'm a complete nerd. :) I was driving with my two girls from Grandma's house yesterday (a five hour drive) and had a few snags. To calm myself down, I spent the first half of the drive figuring out what I could say on my blog about all the experiences we were having... :) So here it is:
First of all, the undercarriage of the car started to come off. We figured that out as I was backing out of the driveway at my mom's house. Great start to the drive. I went up to a car parts store hoping they could help me rip it the rest of the way off so I could drive home. I didn't know what it would do to the car if I dragged it the whole way... They didn't have the equipment to help me, but were able to tell me how to get to a nearby shop. I drove across the street to fill up on gas and began praying as hard as I could to figure out what to do. A shop was going to charge me at least twenty dollars to fix the problem. I didn't have even that amount. All I had was what I needed to buy gas on the way home. Then the thought popped into my head, "Dwayne Perry." Dwayne is a man who lives in my mom's area. He fixes cars for a living. He was good friends with both of my parents growing up, and still takes care of all the problems my mom has with her car. I drove to his house (he fixes cars out of a shop he built in his garage at his house) and 'magically' he was home, despite the fact that it was the Fourth of July week. He immediately came out and helped me with the car. I think it took him ten minutes total, and a lot of that was jacking the car up. (Kids thought that was so cool, as they were both still in it when it went up and down- better than Lagoon. :D) I know the thought to go to Dwayne was NOT from me. On top of that, when I asked if I could mail him a check to pay for his services, he refused any payment.
Then, the next bit of fun happened. I was driving in what felt like torrential downpour. I haven't driven in rain for a long time. (St. George doesn't get it all that often, so even when it rains at my house I rarely have to drive in it...) I hit the rain and the I-15 core construction all at once. Traffic was also horrible because everyone was on lunch break. I was so scared and stressed. Then the thought came to me that if I turned on the cd it would calm me down. I had Anna's primary song cd in the cd player. It did calm me down. We listened to that same seven songs the entire five hour drive. It's amazing the effect our music will have on us. :) (Ironically, two of the seven songs were about rain...)
A few other 'fun' things happened on the drive, but those two were the most amazing to me. We made it safely with no other real trouble. The rain didn't last the whole drive, and we got home only a few minutes behind schedule, despite all the delays.
It's amazing what can happen when we both pray and listen for answers. :)
First of all, the undercarriage of the car started to come off. We figured that out as I was backing out of the driveway at my mom's house. Great start to the drive. I went up to a car parts store hoping they could help me rip it the rest of the way off so I could drive home. I didn't know what it would do to the car if I dragged it the whole way... They didn't have the equipment to help me, but were able to tell me how to get to a nearby shop. I drove across the street to fill up on gas and began praying as hard as I could to figure out what to do. A shop was going to charge me at least twenty dollars to fix the problem. I didn't have even that amount. All I had was what I needed to buy gas on the way home. Then the thought popped into my head, "Dwayne Perry." Dwayne is a man who lives in my mom's area. He fixes cars for a living. He was good friends with both of my parents growing up, and still takes care of all the problems my mom has with her car. I drove to his house (he fixes cars out of a shop he built in his garage at his house) and 'magically' he was home, despite the fact that it was the Fourth of July week. He immediately came out and helped me with the car. I think it took him ten minutes total, and a lot of that was jacking the car up. (Kids thought that was so cool, as they were both still in it when it went up and down- better than Lagoon. :D) I know the thought to go to Dwayne was NOT from me. On top of that, when I asked if I could mail him a check to pay for his services, he refused any payment.
Then, the next bit of fun happened. I was driving in what felt like torrential downpour. I haven't driven in rain for a long time. (St. George doesn't get it all that often, so even when it rains at my house I rarely have to drive in it...) I hit the rain and the I-15 core construction all at once. Traffic was also horrible because everyone was on lunch break. I was so scared and stressed. Then the thought came to me that if I turned on the cd it would calm me down. I had Anna's primary song cd in the cd player. It did calm me down. We listened to that same seven songs the entire five hour drive. It's amazing the effect our music will have on us. :) (Ironically, two of the seven songs were about rain...)
A few other 'fun' things happened on the drive, but those two were the most amazing to me. We made it safely with no other real trouble. The rain didn't last the whole drive, and we got home only a few minutes behind schedule, despite all the delays.
It's amazing what can happen when we both pray and listen for answers. :)
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