Things I loved in January...

Pirate ships..

Colby and Grey painted and assembled some amazing pirate ships. Cash helped with the sails. Just a little Friday night fun.

So handsome! 

Art class

Cash has been taking art lessons from one of my co-workers, Mindy. He seems to be enjoying the class. Cash is very artistic and I love seeing his art projects. Mindy said, "He works really hard on his projects and I think he is getting good results. It has been great having him in class." Mindy is one of my aides and I really enjoy working with her, she is intelligent, and has a great sense of humor. I'm thankful Cash is having a good experience in art class.

ThrowBack Thursday ~ Rubber band gun...

Cash, Colby, Grey, and Grahm still

like making things is Grandpa's shop.

Cash was proud of his rubber band gun.

Eyes to see...

 As I pray for the Lord to open my eyes to see things I might not normally see, I often ask myself two questions and pay attention to the impressions that come:

“What am I doing that I should stop doing?” 

“What am I not doing that I should start doing?”

Eyes to See | Michelle D. Craig | October 2020

(Quote from a talk given by Elder Kim B. Clark | Encircled About with Fire • August 4, 2015)

"I learned that we needed to ask ourselves two questions. I believe these are the questions whose answers will lead us to do what we need to do to prepare for what lies ahead. Here they are: (1) What am I doing that I should stop doing? and (2) What am I not doing that I should start doing?

As we asked those questions in prayer, we received very specific answers. We changed how we spent our time, what media we allowed into our home, how we served in the temple, how we studied the scriptures, how we served the Lord, and many, many other things. We needed to increase our spirituality. Through this process of repentance, the Lord Jesus Christ reached out and changed our lives. We felt His mercy, His grace, His love, and His power. Through His matchless power He changed our hearts and our minds, and He lifted us up to Him. It was a turning point in our lives." 

STEM Activity?

What started as a STEM activity using pasta and a marshmallow, turned into making silly marshmallow guys! Cash had that idea and we all laughed at the creations.

We also played a few Minute to Win games. 

Good times with the Grands! 

Lay hold upon every good thing...

I am reading a book by Sister Nelson, called “The Heavens are Open.” It’s a wonderful little book, and I have enjoyed her writing style and insights.

"Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ."
(Moroni 7:19)

“Mormon invites us to “lay hold upon every good thing.” Some people mistakenly think they need to lay hold on every good thing all at once. 

The scriptures tell us that “to every thing there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). To that piece of wisdom we can add “in the Lord’s due time.” And speaking of times, there are times that we need to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 21:1), but at the same time we are not suppose to “run faster than we have strength” (Mosiah 4:27). And there will be many times when the most important thing we need to do is to “be still, and know” that He is God (Psalm 46:20). Then when, if we have cheerfully done all things that lie in our power,” we can wait “with the utmost assurance for his arm to be revealed’” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17).

I am captivated with Mormon’s challenge to lay hold upon every good thing. When we “lay hold upon” something, it becomes real to us. There is an implied permanence, a focusing, an embracing, and a making something our own. 

What happens when year after year we do not lay hold upon good things but continue to only touch things lightly. If we are doing good things without depth of feeling, without commitment, without passion, without deep love, we will miss out on the joy. 

What are the good things we want to lay hold upon?
Better family relationships?
A greater understanding of the scriptures?
More peace in our lives? 

More holiness?
More patience?
More sorrow for sin?
More faith in your Savior?
More sense of His care?
More joy in His service?
More purpose in prayer? 

There are many more good things mentioned in this beautiful hymn, including gratitude, trust, hope, meekness, purity, and strength. But the great desire is expressed in the final line, “More Savior like Thee.” (“More Holiness Give Me” | Text and music: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838–1876) 

The Heavens Are Open | Wendy Watson Nelson 

Bench pictures

"You will never look back on life and think: Hmmm, 

I took too many photos of my grandchildren"

June 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine...

If you would have told me about a year ago there would be a world wide pandemic, I would have considered it ridiculous, and far-fetched. I have worried since school started in August about being exposed to COVID and possibly exposing my family. Today I was grateful to receive the first dose of the vaccine. I already feel some relief. Approximately 15,000 educators and support staff received the first round of the vaccine today. Someday this will all be over.

Cozy...

ThrowBack Thursday ~ Brothers...

 

Mercy...

This is wonderful and 

inspiring message given 

by my favorite prophet. 

Is it okay to have favorites?

I want to be more merciful.

How godlike a quality is mercy. It cannot be legislated. It must come from the heart. It must be stirred up from within. It is part of the endowment each of us receives as a son or daughter of God and partaker of a divine birthright. I plead for an effort among all of us to give greater expression and wider latitude to this instinct which lies within us. I am convinced that there comes a time, possibly many times, within our lives when we might cry out for mercy on the part of others. How can we expect it unless we have been merciful ourselves?

How great a thing is mercy. Most often it is quiet and unassuming. It receives few headlines. It is the antithesis of vengeance and hatred, of greed and offensive egotism.

And as mercy is given and taught by parents, it will be repeated in the lives and actions of the next generation.

I speak to fathers and mothers everywhere with a plea to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes.

I plead for a stronger spirit of compassion in all of our relationships, a stronger element of mercy, for the promise is sure that if we are merciful we shall obtain mercy.

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

Blessed Are the Merciful | Gordon B. Hinckley
April 1990

Our Super Hero Grandson's...

Cash - Colby - Grey - Grahm

January 2021

The happy life...

“The happy life is not ushered in at any age to the sound of drums and trumpets. It grows upon us year by year, little by little, until at last we realize that we have it. It is achieved in individuals not by flights to the moon or Mars, but by a body of work done so well that we can lift our heads with assurance and look the world in the eye. Of this be sure: You do not find the happy life … you make it.” – Thomas S. Monson

 (“Attitudes of Accomplishment,” BYU devotional, May 19, 1970).