BIG (literally) Project

I was asked by the stake relief society to design some subway art to cover four 8 by 20 foot sound boards in the stake center. They had the idea of what they wanted so I wasn’t starting from scratch completely. But…it still took a lot of time! After I had my design completed, I had to turn that digital picture into something real and tangible! That turned out to be easy, thanks to my prince charming, but time consuming. Kelly printed the large letters (and by large I mean letters about three feet) at work. And then I took every word brought it up to scale and printed the letters onto paper. Most of the time it took one page for each letter. After I printed them up, the relief society presidency cut them all out! I cut out the large letters. On Friday, we gathered all of our supplies and as many hands as we could and we put the boards together. We started at about 10 in the morning and by about 1 in the afternoon we had 1 board completely done. I was panicking just a little at this point. But I was counting on a learning curve, hoping that the rest wouldn’t take as long. By six o’clock we were finished with all of them except for a few missing letters. At this point I ran home, printed up what I needed and returned to put on those final touches. I was home with my feet up, eating some dinner by eight.

Here is the finished project and one of the boards close up.

Family Temple Day

I can’t believe we didn’t get any pictures of today…truly a bummer. But I have to record it, because it was the best day! The Murdock’s invited us to go to the temple with them as Michael prepares for his mission. We were so happy to go and support them, and Michael asked Kelly to be his escort. When we talked to Kelsey about our new plans, she told us that she had Saturday off! And she wanted to go with us! So we made it our family temple day as well. The girls went to the baptistry while we did our session. Then we went out to dinner before making the drive home. We weren’t all in the same place at the temple, but my heart rejoiced to know that we were ALL in the temple. No one missing. I can’t wait till we can all be in the temple, in then same room, together.

I know that this is only possible because of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly heals.

Caution:Construction Zone

Hard had area. I should have taken a picture of the sign I put up, warning us of the hard hat area in our family room!

But…construction is complete. The built in is done. Now comes paint and cabinets and we will have this room back in working order.

The Paradox of Man

We have been studying about repentance and the atonement, as found specifically in the Book of Mormon for our family study. We have been reading chronologically and then studying also along with a book entitled “He Did Deliver Me From Bondage”. It is a deep soul, searching kind of study. It has been difficult at times, to express on paper the feelings and thoughts that I have. Yet I have found that the effort to do that, have exposed the strengths and weaknesses in my testimony. And in particular my testimony of the Savior and His Atonement, how it applies to me. Alone.

I have really struggled with the concept of nothingness. My carnal self fights against that reality, and that struggle has taught me so much about myself. Trying to be important, exemplary or just plain “cool” in someone else’s eyes leaves very little room for the Savior to do His work with you. When I try to find my worth through the world’s eyes, I feel a rush., but that fades and I am left feeling empty. In contrast, when I turn to the Savior, and allow myself to be “nothing” in compared to what He offers, I am filled with His love, love that fills to overflowing, which in turn leaves me with more love to share with others.

Elder Uchtdorf called it the paradox of man. That in compared to all of God’s creations, we are nothing. Yet, all of God’s creations were for our benefit, to help us fulfill His purpose, which is to help us return home to Him. Making us everything. Alone, I can not bring myself back to dwell with God. Try as I might, even if I spend my days in service 24/7, I can’t do it. Only the Savior can. I must humble myself, as a child, and realize that the only way I can walk back to the presence of God is if I hold His hands and He leads me. He offered Himself as a ransom for all, yet when I call on Him, He is there for me, and knows exactly what I need.

Elder Holland described it so beautifully with these words: “To you is extended the peace and renewal of repentance available through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In such serious matters the path of repentance is not easily begun or painlessly traveled. But the Savior of the world will walk that essential journey with you. He will  strengthen  you when you waver. He will be your light when it seems most dark. He will take your
hand and be your hope when hope seems all you have left. His compassion and mercy, with all their cleansing and healing power, are freely given to all who truly wish complete forgiveness and will take the steps that lead to it” (Ensign Nov. 1998, 78).

So my spirit self is over ruling my carnal self, and I can say, with confidence:

I am nothing…without the Savior.

Make Over Continues

The work in the family room continues in snippets of time Kelly finds during the week and then you can see real progress on Saturday. He has the framework almost complete today before we have to quit so that we can go to another UofA game.

I promised pictures, and I really want to get a picture of the band forming the outline of the United States. It is so cool and I was so excited, but my batteries were dead. That hardly ever happens to me…but it did. So no pictures till our next game in two weeks. This week was especially fun because they were honoring servicemen during breaks in the game. It is so touching to hear their stories and see how happy their families are to have them back. And so much fun to be in such a large group of people cheering for patriotism.

And in other news…I made these wreaths today for my front door…doors.

Bradeigh's Visit

Bradeigh came to visit for the day while her mommy was out of town. We had a lot of fun together. I was a little worried about how to entertain her without her usual toys, or other people around, but we did great. In fact, she entertained me!
One of my favorite things I learned about Bradeigh is that she can snap her fingers. Here is a picture of her snapping her fingers. This really should be a video to get the full effect. But the picture gives you the idea—Bradeigh moves her hand around but the clicking sound come from her mouth. Classic.

Service for Servicemen

We had a great activity with the young men this week—and it was planned by the young men. We decorated cakes and then delivered them to the active duty servicemen in our ward. We split up into groups to decorate four cakes and make the deliveries. My group was Jenn and Lottie and we delivered our cake to the Larsens. They really appreciated the gesture, even choking back a little emotion. The girls were touched by their gratitude and the spirit of giving.

A great night!