Find Rest

I'm tired a lot lately.
It takes a lot of stinkin' energy to be a good mom. And honestly I don't feel like a great one all the time. I'm not always excited to get on a pretend airplane and get on and off over and over while we travel the world. And here's a secret: I sometimes wish for silence... And I hate admitting this stuff. But life isn't all rose colored right? Well I had a special experience that helped to remember how I can be a better mom. How I can be excited to pretend, and to listen for hours, and to make dinner with little ones at my feet. Jacob gave me a priesthood blessing and Heavenly Father reminded me of this promise.

Matthew 11:28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Can you guess what stood out to me? "I will give you rest" Rest from being exhausted, rest from doubting myself, rest from anxiety over all the little things.

I'll take it.

Now I've got to learn how to trust Him. Do it with me?

A fussy one

This little one has been giving me quite a test the last week or so. For some reason she refuses to sleep. She just screams instead. To the point that she has lost her cute little voice several times. So she's completely overtired, bags under her eyes and all. This means days filled with, "NO!, no, No!"coming from her sweet little mouth. Distraction is a great tool. Especially reading and her baby doll. Poor girl.

Well, last night Jacob gave her a priesthood blessing and decided to put her in a different room. She still fussed for a little bit, but no screaming! I wonder if she is afraid of something in her room? Is it separation anxiety from starting nursery at church? I guess she'll be sleeping in her pack and play until we figure it out. Until then, I'm so glad it's the weekend so Jacob can help me...I was starting to go crazy. I did crazy things yesterday. I almost bought hostess donuts at the store, and I made macaroni and cheese with canned peaches for dinner. Those that know me can attest that those things are considered crazy for me. Since I really don't like packaged mac and cheese, and hostess donuts are packed with hydrogenated oil (a contraband in our home). Pray for me my friends and for my sweet little girl to get over her fears.

I'll Always Be There For You

While doing some research for a family home evening lesson on respect I found this story that gave me an urgent desire to instill this phrase in Luci and my (hopefully soon to come) other children. Do our children know that they are uncomprehendingly loved? Do they know that we will be there for them no matter what? This talk by President James E. Faust can be found here.

Warning**...Tear Jerker

In 1989 there was a terrible earthquake in Armenia that killed over 30,000 people in four minutes. A distraught father went in frantic search of his son. He reached his son’s school only to find that it had been reduced to a pile of rubble. But he was driven by his promise to his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” He visualized the corner where his son’s classroom would be, rushed there, and started to dig through the debris, brick by brick.

Others came on the scene—the fire chief, then the police—warning him of fires and explosions, and urging him to leave the search to the emergency crews. But he tenaciously carried on digging. Night came and went, and then, in the 38th hour of digging, he thought he heard his son’s voice. “Armand!” he called out. Then he heard, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told ’em that if you were alive, you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved. …

“There are 14 of us left out of 33. … When the building collapsed, it made a wedge, like a triangle, and it saved us.”

“Come on out, boy!”

“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, ’cause I know you’ll get me! No matter what, I know you’ll be there for me!”

All family relationships should be honored including those to our kindred dead. Love, service, and help should flow between brothers and sisters and the extended family.

The Lord's Hand

The past couple of weeks I have seen the Lord's hand in my family's life a lot. Jacob is a great example to me of noticing these things since he keeps a journal of how the Lord blesses him and his family each day. He never misses a day. It's amazing to read his entries (I'm his wife, so I'm allowed ;) and realize how often we can see His hand. Since Friday Sept. 12 there have been a lot of close calls. On Friday Luci and I were going to pick up Jacob from school and it was pouring I mean POURING rain. We were going down a huge, steep hill when I lost control of the car. We started spinning and ran into the median, luckily there was not very much traffic and the median was very small. With the help of a very nice officer, we got the tire fixed and Luci slept through the whole thing. Then last Sunday we were hit by Hurricane Ike... yes it's true, a hurricane in the midwest. The wind gusts were insane. The city of is still recovering from the fallen trees, burnt down buildings, and 90% of the city's power being out. A huge branch fell on the roof of our new house, but surprisingly did no damage. Then just this Saturday while I was making pancakes Luci was playing and she magically scooted (now she can scoot I guess) into a huge frame which is very heavy and knocked it down on top of herself. It scared the pants off both of us and Jacob had to talk me out of calling 911. (You could say I definitely over-reacted) So my friends, I am grateful to be alive with my baby and husband. I know the Lord watches over all of us. Even if things would have not turned out as they did, I know that we can trust Him. If we choose to we will see His hand in every aspect of our lives.