Tonsils out and Anastasia

Girls camp was this last week (Wednesday thru Friday). Jake was able to attend with the girls and I.  We loved having him here. As a leader my heart was touched and filled with joy watching new friendships form and service happen. I believe hearts were touched lives changed. 

Arriving home, however, that evening I began to feel that there was little purpose for my life. I found myself a little overwhelmed with laundry, finances, and the role in my family as a wife and mother. Later that evening, I ride over to visit with Charity and Becky a minute. Laughing with them brightened my mood but yet driving back home, feelings unwanted of being unappreciated and minimal love entered my mind. It is no secret I wonder how I scored Jake. He his my anchor and calming device. My children are incredible. Watching our girls this week , seeing their interactions, and hearing their testimonies inspires me. Aubree bears a strong witness of the gospel and both exemplify it. Those unwanted feelings diminished as I spoke with Jake. He keeps me going! 

Sitting in sacrament meeting I felt a tender mercy or tiny miracle from above when I opened to read and this was on my screen: “In Times of Discouragement, Remember the Widow of Nain- Especially when we feel forgotten or overlooked, we must remember: Jesus came to the widow's aid precisely in her time of need, and He will come to us as well.”

What a beautiful reminder that I am loved. The Lord knew I needed that and knows me. 

It seems as if our summer has begun but we have not experienced any down time yet and our days are still a whirlwind.  Wednesday, June 5th, Ginny had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She is still very sore but managed to drag herself to see the musical Anastasia.  Naturally, I was concerned about her comfort level but was not a battle I chose to have with the child and despite her pain, we had an enjoyable evening with the girls.  Jake and I are busy writing curriculum for the district but it will provide summer travel money.  We have made a more cautious effort to have family prayer twice a day this summer and we hope to establish this more routinely.  It is so hard during the school year with schedules and Ginny working because there are days she is gone before we get home and the boys in bed when she gets home, so often it is not our entire family together so we are striving to improve that.

Girl's Camp 2019 (5/29-6/1)

Girls camp was this last week (Wednesday thru Friday). Jake was able to attend with the girls and I.  We loved having him here. As a leader my heart was touched and filled with joy watching new friendships form and service happen. I believe hearts were touched lives changed. 

Arriving home, however, that evening I began to feel that there was little purpose for my life. I found myself a little overwhelmed with laundry, finances, and the role in my family as a wife and mother. Later that evening, I ride over to visit with Charity and Becky a minute. Laughing with them brightened my mood but yet driving back home, feelings unwanted of being unappreciated and minimal love entered my mind. It is no secret I wonder how I scored Jake. He his my anchor and calming device. My children are incredible. Watching our girls this week , seeing their interactions, and hearing their testimonies inspires me. Aubree bears a strong witness of the gospel and both exemplify it. Those unwanted feelings diminished as I spoke with Jake. He keeps me going! 

Sitting in sacrament meeting I felt a tender mercy or tiny miracle from above when I opened to read and this was on my screen: “In Times of Discouragement, Remember the Widow of Nain- Especially when we feel forgotten or overlooked, we must remember: Jesus came to the widow's aid precisely in her time of need, and He will come to us as well.” What a beautiful reminder that I am loved. The Lord knew I needed that and knows me.

One of our traditions we established three years ago is D.E.A.R. (Drop everything and read), which gives the opportunity to for the girls to stop wherever they may be and read the scriptures. We tried to make a connection this year with DEAR and Bambi. The story of Bambi is about building friendships. His mother died so he had to surround himself with good friends. Our circles of friendships change as our lives change.  There is a story that was shared a couple of months ago at a training I attended about Elder Tom Perry.  Tom Perry moved his family to New York but to give the family the life desired, he lived outside the city and had a. little commute each day to work on the subway. He notices a man being territorial in a certain spot and decided to beat him there one morning to get his spot and see what would happen. Over the next few days it became a friendly competition.  Chatter started to see who was going to get the spot. People who never talked began to talk. Friendships were made in that unfriendly subway in New York, people began to bring in cupcakes for birthdays and ask about soccer games. One simple act created friendships. 

Be strong and courageous. Courageous must include a yes. Begin somewhere. 

Good Ole May

It seems that May comes so quickly each year and then passes so quickly too...maybe it is because the school year is drawing to a close and we are engulfed in end of the year activities. This afternoon I had another reminder that Ginny will be a senior next year, how is this possible that she has grown so much in the blink of an eye.  She received her ACT scores back this week and is the recipient of a 30...Wahoo! The temple also opened back up this week and Will was able to go for the first time and participate in the sacred work that is performed there on Wednesday (5/15) evening.  Jake accompanied he and Aubree, while I stayed home with Christopher. I believe the stomach bug hit me that day.  Will woke up Monday night through the night sick so stayed home from school Tuesday. Ginny went to seminary Tuesday but did not go to school because she felt sick and by noon Tuesday Jake was sick, so I guess Wednesday was my turn. Jake was also able to go do a session Thursday evening.  He has sat a goal to try to attend monthly, so I am going to do my best to be supportive, even if means running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get the kids where they need to be and when.  I mentioned to him that monthly almost makes it seems like it can be a burden, so I am try weekly this summer and he said then it is more like a priority. I hope I am able to make it more often and I hope we are able to go more often together. There is something about glancing over and seeing that man in the temple that is good for my soul.

Happy 18 years to my forever date

Today marks our 18-year anniversary of marital bliss. Although not every day has been blissful, it has been wonderful. I firmly believe this statement by Elder F. Burton Howard: “If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.” I know Jake and I can last forever! Jake makes me so much better and I feel so blessed that he chose me.  Learning to love and forgive one another has allowed us to create a beautiful life together. He is my everything!

On another note, the Memphis temple was re-dedicated today by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, it was by invitation only, so we did not attend.  We were not able to meet to in our building, so we attended the Lakeland ward as directed.  I am glad that we have a temple locally and hope to be able to utilize it more often. I suppose it is making more effort than mere hope.

April 2019 draws to a close

April is drawing to a close and May is upon us with sunny skies and warmer days. It is also the season that real estate picks up some. This causes more exhaustion but when the pay checks begin to come it is nice.  My last official class ends this week and then I will just have an internship this summer before obtaining my master's degree.  Baseball season is also underway. I very much enjoy watching the kids do things they enjoy and the boys like baseball.  Ginny attended the Priest/Laurel prom this past weekend and had a nice time.  She looked beautiful as always. I wanted to share some of the images that we received over the last few days of our families.  Sarah and David  Fullmer with their two boys, Tommie and Karen Farrell with their family (including Gerald's wife), Megan and Blake Davis family, and Charity's crew.

Happy Easter

         Today is Easter Sunday. It started out a little rocky with Christopher waking up in a foul mood and struggling with his shirt. Will was anxious to arrive at church a few minutes early for the sacrament. The girls had already left because they needed to be at church early for choir. Church was full today, so full they ran out of water during the sacrament and had to bless it twice. As I watched these young deacons (my boy included) scramble in a reverent manner to know what to do, I was reminded of the importance of the sacrament and that every member that desires to partake of the sacrament must be given that opportunity if they are worthy. Yes, it probably took an extra 10-15 minutes and an adult going to help but served as a personal witness and testimony of the entire reason we meet weekly and attend church...to partake of those sacred emblems. My heart was full watching my son participate in reminding of us that privilege we have weekly. I hope I always remember the feeling of importance I felt today. Ginny accompanied the primary kids on the flute today as the sang.  As I sat and watched her, I reflected on her many talents and kindness towards others. Then I watched she and Aubree sing with the choir and felt more joy in the young women they are becoming.  Both are beautiful on the exterior and interior and we regularly are told how great our girls are.  They are both generous with sincere compliments towards others frequently. I hope they always lift others up.
         After church, we drove to Jackson and carried smoke pork, baked beans, and the fixings for nachos.  I managed to convince Becky to ride with us although she and Charity have not been on the best terms.  Overall, it was a good day and visit but I leave my parents feeling like a bad person often.  Mom told me I was "high and mighty" on things and then Charity let me know that she tries not to ask me at all to watch or help with her kids and said a curse word at me after I told her that she does not realize how much people help her. The crazy thing is that I was trying to help her and mom not argue because she was upset because mom said she needed a break this week and asked Charity to have Natalie watch the kids but then mom said she was going to go up and see Sandra one day this week. Sandra stays upset anytime mom watches Charity's kids.  At times I feel like mom cannot win when it comes to making Sandra happy and helping Charity.  
       It did not help that I also discovered this week I was a very type A personality, but I do have some type B characteristics towards others of being empathetic.  Honestly, tonight I feel like I am a toxic person and instead of bringing joy to others, just add to the burdens. The fact that my spirit and attitude has changed so much from church this morning to this evening shows the importance of keeping focus and self-control.  Life can be so hard for everyone and we are all working to create our own happily every afters in spite of any situation life has handed to us, good or bad. Everyone is working to build their lives. There is a story behind every person and a reason they act the way they do, we must refrain from passing judgment and being critical. It is so hard when you feel like a villain and you have nowhere to turn. Maybe, I should turn to the Savior and utilize the atonement, which is not just for sins but for sorrow and heartache too.

St. Louis Trip

Pippen is over and Aubree did a phenomenal job. However, the daily practices coming to an end are nice.  She was also inducted into Beta Club this past week too.  Jake and I were given the opportunity to go to St. Louis for NSTA Conference for a few days. We were awarded scholarships so did not have to pay for the conference but travel and accommodations. We decided to attend the temple as well and it seems that evening that a collaboration of things tried to prevent it from the kids fighting (we spent 30 minutes on the phone with them trying to settle things down) to traffic to arriving late for the session, so we did sealings for about 30-40 minutes and caught a later session. Although there was not much that I remembered about the St. Louis temple interior, memories from our wedding day flooded back.  As we pulled up, in my head I saw Jake coming out of the temple door as he did on our wedding day and felt the same comfort this week as I did then (I had left the temple a couple times on our wedding day because I was so nervous).  Besides the one rough patch Wednesday evening, the girls did a phenomenal job holding down the fort here (mom spent the night each night) and Ginny was so responsible.  Our little short trip (Tuesday evening through Friday afternoon) was a packed with classes but also some tender moments with my husband, such as the temple and walking down the streets holding hands.