Towards Peace

Summer 2013 is over.

I worked more than I wanted to,

but financially, it was necessary.

It seemed the more that I prayed for help,

more work came my way.

Funny, hunh?

Near the summer's end, 

I found myself near depleted of courage

and with little planning,

and an invitation from good friends on the "other side" of the Rockies.

I only wanted one thing:

 To feel Peace in my soul.

I knew where to go,

where I always feel peace.
Do you ever feel that you have to get away?
--from the same view, the same people, the same ol', same ol'?

Joseph and Ari and I decided we'd go over to Utah

and spend some time at the temples there.

This is right after we'd gone in the Mt. Timpanogos temple

and done baptisms for the dead--thus the wet hair.

But, seriously, it was packed full,

and we were there for over two hours.

Is there a better place to spend time with my children?

I can't think of it.

The same day,

we went up to Salt Lake City and spent the day on 

Temple Square.

We also took a tour of the Conference Center....

that waterfall is on the roof!

The picture above is carved into stone...

isn't it beautiful?

I gave each of the kids a camera and told them to record our trip

by taking all the pictures,

and they did a great job.

 We had planned on going to the Salt lake Temple,

but didn't make the appointment ahead of time.

So we just enjoyed the gorgeous beauty of the gardens.

 *marigolds

 *coleus and zinnias

 *lisianthus and allysum

 *hollyhocks

 *impatiens, dusty miller, petunias

 *a little bit of everything.

Even a 13 year old can see the beauty all around.

That's important, I believe,

to spend time around truly heavenly things,

as this world presents things counterfeited as

"beautiful"--

to teach him the difference.

To let him feel the difference, that's invaluable. 

Joseph found a Book of Mormon

printed in Norwegian-

the language of his great-grandparents.

Then we headed up to the Christus Statue:

..Where we sat for a long time and reflected and pondered...

(John 20:19-23; 1 John 1:1-4)

36And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43And he took it, and did eat before them.

What feelings surface when you look at this beautiful statue?

The word that comes to my mind is

"Home".

I am reminded that He is my Home.

He is my brother. My Savior. My truest, dearest Friend.

The statue calls to my rememberance 

the words from the hymn, 

"O My Father":

 For a wise and glorious purpose

Thou hast placed me here on earth

And withheld the recollection

Of my former friends and birth;

Yet ofttimes a secret something

Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"

And I felt that I had wandered

From a more exalted sphere.

What does it remind you of?

****

We spent time with great friends who are beckoning us to leave our side of the mountains,

to come to theirs.  Joseph got to hike the mountains the run along Highland and Alpine, Utah.

We went to church there, met some kind people. My friend Sarah gave me the fifty cent tour of Alpine, where we even looked at homes in the area. 

So who knows?

I didn't go to Utah in search of a "move",

but found myself open to the idea.

I also found the peace I was searching for...

it is 

always

always

always

the same--

in The Living Water,

Jesus Christ.

For more information on Holy Temples, I invite you to check out

https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/temples

John 4:14 - But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Behind the scenes:

Things get crazy around here.
Ridiculously nutz.
Last night was a good example:

I got off work at 4:30pm
so I could run home,
throw on a skirt,
freshen up
and get over to the new Mission President's house
by 5:00pm
to help prepare and serve dinner
to those 12 missionaries who left this morning
for their momma's arms--
some were from California,
others from New York,
Connecticut,
Pennsylvania,
Washington state,
and every where else.

Anyway,
that was the plan.
But
just as I was leaving out of the house,
I looked around and asked Daisie,
"Where's Joseph?"
"I dunno. He didn't come home on the bus. He hasn't called." she replied,
while not taking her eyes off the TV.
"Well, I guess they had cross-country afterall today. I'll get him."

Sure enough,
he was waiting outside,
in the drizzling rain
for me to fetch him.
Now, that wasn't so bad--
he'd only been waiting 5 minutes.

Since I didn't have time to run back to the house,
I told him he could just come with me
to the Mission President's house for that dinner.
He was totally fine with it,
only regretted that he resembled a drowned rat
with a hoodie.
But otherwise, he was fine with it.

We arrived a tad late,
but got busy,
and things fell into place easily.
President Anderson and his wife are wonderful--
so personable and generous.
President Anderson even visited with Joseph
about their common bond in Cross Country.
Sweet, hunh?

Well we fed those tired missionaries,
cleaned up the kitchen and left.
On the way home,
I noticed my phone was blinking
with 19 MISSED CALLS.
Oh no, I thought, something's happening at home.

I listened to the first message,
which was from my husband--
"Uh. Noone has seen Joseph or knows where he's at.
Just calling to see if you know anything. Call me back."
The next message was from Daisie:
"Mom? We can't find Joe. Call home."

I sighed and handed the phone to Joseph--
"Call Dad.  He thinks you're lost."

Joseph, "Hey Dad. I'm with Mom. Yeah. Yeah. Okay."

"He says he'll talk to me when we get there,
he's too mad to talk right now."

I called the house right back and Mr. W answered.
"You okay?" I ask.
"Well, I've driven back and forth to the school half dozen times,
thru the neighborhoods...just really worried.  Woulda been nice if someone told us where he was."

I answered, "I told Daisie before I left that I was gonna pick him up."
"Yeah, well, she musta been sucked into the TV because she doesn't remember any of that."
I could hear the concern in his voice.

So I got home,
Mr W met us in the driveway--
I guess to get his eyes on Joseph
and he looked like he'd been on Jeopardy! without a clue...
just a mess.
Daisie popped into the front room,
ready to give her side--
and I just shook my head at both of them--
"Daisie, you told me when I came home from work,
that Joseph wasn't here. I told you I'd pick him up at school.
Did you think I'd just go on with my plans not knowing where your brother was?"
Then I gave Mr.W a full on eyebrow crunch in his direction.
"You two. Honestly."  I shook my head.

All heck breaks loose when I'm not at home, it seems.
Sigh.

To Dean, With Love from Danielle

 Dean's birthday.  August was an emotional month for me.  Having seen the decline in Dean's health,
as I have shared previously, it is unclear how many more birthdays we'll have with our boy.

 There are fewer things that give Dean joy than balloons and clowns...

Dean's older sister knows this,

so she arranged for a clown to personally come to the house,

as a surprise for his birthday.

Her clown name is "STINKER BELLE"

and she is great!

She tuned right into Dean and as you can see,

he was delighted!

The balloon headpiece was an immediate hit!

Dean's language skills have declined,

so he was pretty quiet;

just lots of smiles.

And then Stinker Belle asked if she could give Dean a

paint tattoo of his favorite football team--

while she painted, she encouraged Dean to ask her

"clown questions"--

What do clowns eat?

Funny Bones.

Where do clowns sleep?

On a trapeze.

Bee got a turn too...

Joseph too.

 Along with being a sweet, gentle clown,

Stinker Belle is also a talented artist.

She even made Dean an honorary clown--

he couldn't have been more delighted

and immediately wanted to go to Walmart and buy some clown shoes.

What good is looking like a clown at home, right?

Gotta get out and meet the people!

So that's what we did...

I even posted our trip on facebook to let our friends know

that if they wanted to see Dean in action,

his debut performance was happening, STAT,

at our local Walmart!

We did see a few friends up there,

and Dean loved it when others noticed his happy face.

Small joys, this one. 

His simple happiness inspires me

to want less and to give more.

As Stinker Belle was leaving,

I gave her a hug and thanked her 

for being a blessing in our lives that day for Dean.

We both got a little choked up.

She replied that it was she who was blessed that day.

I had also invited my FB Friends to send Dean

a birthday card

and he was pretty happy to receive those--

it sure made him feel special.

SO thanks to all of you good-hearted friends for 

remembering him!

Danielle also made a beautiful video in honor of his birthday--

she said later that her first thought was to have it for a

certain day in the future,

but decided not to save it so Dean could enjoy it too;

he kept saying, 

"That's me. That's me."

Dean is our magical child...

his has cast a spell on us

so that we have never been the same.

Thank you Dani for loving so well.

Camping at 11 Mile Pike National Forest

 Just a little bit of earth

 and a lotta bit of sky

 long tree branches

 sturdy rocks that haven't moved in a million years

 a spirit of exploration

 moments of "how-high-can-I-go?"

 a little wind to lift us up

 fast moving river to wade

 and a moment to sit and just. be. still.

 finding myself in wide-open spaces

 leaning on nature

 and smiles

 and these lovelies

 gets me through the rough spots

 to look for bright spots

 n' tender mercies...

 that beg my eyes to look again...

 always look again...

 for better days and sunshine

 these bits of wild in a wilderness

 with their random bits of perfection...

 reminds me

 it was all put here

 millions of years ago

 for me and mine

 to open our eyes

 and gladden our hearts

 because The Creator knew

we'd need to see His hand in the world around us.