Stronger Through Him

  Our dryer is limping a bit on its last leg.   But we continue to replace the element and coax a few more months out of it. Consequently, we are using our drying rack more often.  And when the dryer was unavailable for a few days, Ella was less than impressed with the wired together rack that slanted just enough that with the wrong move it would deftly deposit the entire rack of clothes into a pile on the ground. So I ordered a new one. Only when it arrived, no two components had been put together.  It brought back many memories of the Sauder furniture years..... except the diagram was at least in English!  I was kind of annoyed.   The jumble of parts looked nothing like the picture of the product I had ordered.   But I spent the next few hours assembling the rack with some occasional helpful clarification from George. I dropped screws and washers and had to move the loveseat to find them.  I put some pieces together wrong and had to go back and fix it.  But we now have

  Alex is currently serving at the Mexico City missionary training center. Having just spent a year at college, there are of course many parallels to the communal living experience including eating in the dining hall. However, there is one very stark difference which she recognized and embraced immediately.  Contrary to the very American practice of taking tons of food and then discarding what you don't feel like eating, they are instructed to take minimal amounts first and eat it all, before getting more if still hungry.   Why? Because wasting is not God's way nor does it show true gratitude.   And she told of the employees there who are grateful for their jobs but see the poverty all around them all the time.  And when one of them saw a missionary dump a plate of food, she began to cry.   To see some throw edible food in the trash while others starve is crushing.   Can you do better? I know I can.  And with the ability to stretch our dollars and teach our kids to

  Psalm 36:5 "Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds."

  I've spent a couple of days in a pity party as I tested positive for yet another round of covid. So I'm coughing and have chills and aches that are screaming through my freshly torn knee injury and threatening to rupture my eardrums.  Walking up and down the stairs is a production.   I think it has been particularly frustrating because I didn't think I could get it now.  Since I had it in June (when I was hospitalized) I thought I had immunity.  The official guideline said I did.   And yet here I am.   It's when things don't go as expected or we feel blindsided by life that it can be most difficult to hold onto not just our faith, but our sanity.   When I can think of all the good things I could be doing and accomplishing if my health would give me half a chance, I get frustrated.   And I know that Jesus could step in and heal me.  Not just of Covid, but of Lupus and its many complications.  But I don't think that's his plan.  I don't pretend to know w

  When I returned home last night, I was met with this beautifully sunny sight.   A friend had dropped them by the house for me.  Sunflowers are cheerful, bright, and can grow in less than optimal soul.   I'm balancing frustration, exhaustion, worry, and pain this week.  It's called life.   But I'm also aware of the light, friendships, laughter, family, love, insights and ultimately peace that is present in even greater quantities in my life.  Because of Jesus Christ. Elder Cook taught, "One of the remarkable characteristics of young wild sunflowers, in addition to growing in soil that is not hospitable, is how the young flower bud follows the sun across the sky. In doing so, it receives life-sustaining energy before bursting forth in its glorious yellow color. Like the young sunflower, when we follow the Savior of the world, the Son of God, we flourish and become glorious despite the many terrible circumstances that surround us. He truly is our light and

 Just a reminder that to truly listen we have to at least sometimes be silent.  (I'm a talker so this one takes intentionality for me!) God told us to "Be still, and know that I am God".  All of us, including our mouths. Jesus showed us that same pattern, when the storm raged and he told the waters to be still.   And they obeyed.  So can we.  And then listen and feel and connect and learn.

  Last Friday I was at Lake Erie with some teen cousins.  The Great Lakes are one of my favorite places to visit and I was excited to share that experience. It was a beautiful night with a warm pleasant breeze as we stepped past the green flag posted on the beach without much thought. We waded out more than 100 yards and still the sand was soft and we could play in the warm water.  They laughed and splashed and took pictures. As we were leaving I sensed a change in the wind.  A little cooler and the tide started coming up higher a bit at a time.  I wondered what tomorrow would hold. Sure enough when I headed to the shore to watch sunrise the next morning, there was a strong cool wind snapping a red flag in place of the green. Riptide warning.  The water was closed to swimmers. The waves were a bit bigger but not bad and it was a beautiful scene.   We had been in that water only 10 hours earlier and it was completely safe.  How easy it would be for some to say that the wa

 As I sat this morning in a class on trauma and it's life-long  impact particularly on children, one line particularly jumped out at me. As the expert researcher shared - trauma has risen sharply with the decline of the stable family unit. And it crosses economic, geographic  and racial subgroups.   As she said,  no matter how hard we try, society cannot replicate the impact of a successful family. That doesn't mean we can't try, and we were specifically learning about things we could do in education. But she reminded us all to shore up our own families.  And what are the things that research shows matter most for kids?  Reading together. Dinner at the table as a family.   Fun activities with all engaged, at least sometimes outside. Time together.   Telling stories together - especially parents telling about when they were young.  Working together.  Laughing together.  This might be brand new research in terms of the specific outcomes for some of the groups, but our prophet

 I pulled up to the airport late last night and sent a text to two young teens.   "Hello.  This is Natalie, your moms' cousin (and Ella's mom).  I will be your airport ride tonight." I then went to wait at the baggage claims to pick up these boys from two different households who didn't know me. Because that's what family does.  We are gathering this weekend.   From West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Utah, Alaska, Idaho, and Tennessee. Many of the teens in our family are coming together to connect and then go to EFY together.  To worship Jesus Christ together and learn and love.  And I get the privilege of catching a glimpse.  In 2 Kings we read about Elisha and his companion completely surrounded by the Assyrian army.  Hope seems dismal as his friend looks around and counts the armies.  But then Elisha responds with one of my favorite comforting passages.  "They that be with us are more than they that be with them”. He then prays that his fr

 Soft sand beneath my feet. Wind off the water pulling at my hair. Waves crashing rhythmically. Glimmering light reflecting off the surface. I close my eyes and still feel it's warmth. I sense the Creators' presence fully.   Another day.  I feel.  I breathe.  I trust.

I saw a post my niece had commented on in which the discussion was on what specific things people as children had marked as signs of "making it" or "wealth".  Of course there was a large spread, but the list included things like having more than one car. A fridge that has an ice dispenser in the door.  A/C. A pool. A basketball hoop with the plexiglass backboard. Cereal from the boxes, not bags.   Owning your own VCR instead of renting the one at Blockbuster. Hamburger Helper.   A pantry- having enough food to need to keep it somewhere! I immediately began to notice how many of those things I have in my life now.  And began to feel a bit more humbled and a lot more grateful. Then I kept reading. Pillows.   Blankets. Meat. Water that's always on. Having a birthday party.  I looked around again.  The stack of medical bills and prescriptions are still piled up on the side of the fridge.  And mission payments start this month.  But the Lord has helped provide, often

  I love summer storms.  I have since I was little. The smell of rain on the hot parched earth, the feel of warm splashes of water on my skin, the swirls of grey and white and black in the heavens and the light show all are parts of the experience that work together in a sensory explosion. Yesterday I was sitting on my porch listening to the thunder echo and race through the clouds seeming to go higher and higher and loud enough to feel the rumblings.   Air made me think of last week's lesson from 1 Kings 19.   Elijah was frustrated.   The people weren't listening and he was alone.   They were even seeking to kill him. In verses 11-12 we read: And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the ​​Lord​​. And, behold, the ​​Lord​​ passed by, and a great and strong wind rent ​​the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the ​​Lord​​; ​but​ the ​​Lord​​ ​was​ not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; ​but​ the ​​Lord​​ ​was​ not in the earth

  Today is a day I hope to remember forever.  Our Stake President came to our home and with our kids gathered around he set apart Alex as a missionary. He talked to us about what it means to be set apart and how that is a very personal term- as it's what each of us is individually being consecrated for and given the divine help we need to accomplish.  The promises this girl was given as she gives her whole heart as a missionary brought tears to my eyes. But it also made ponder on my own current callings and responsibilities.   And reminded me not to forget to tap into that divine help and my own blessings for the things I have been set apart to do.   President Bonnie H Cardon reminded, "You have been set apart by one who has priesthood authority; this means as you perform the duties of your calling, you exercise priesthood authority. You have an important work to do. Be sensitive to and act on the promptings of the Holy Ghost. As you do so, you can serve with conf

  Sometimes our growth is so incremental we don't even recognize it. But looking back at where we have been can show us just how far we have come.   The first time I remember Ella ever attempting a rock climbing wall she was 5 years old and so light that gravity wouldn't help her come back down when she let go.  She was terrified and distressed and a worker had to go up and rescue her. She adamantly swore she would never climb again.   We told her she didn't have to try at this moment and it was okay to be afraid, but that yes, she would climb again. And she has several times over the last 11 years with gradually increasing confidence and courage.   This week she is at Girls Camp and we got a text from a leader that said our girl was awesome at the climbing wall.   My mind was immediately drawn back to that sticky midwest summer day in Indianapolis when she was crying for us as she hung suspended by the harness and we tried to reassure her from below.  We kn