Same ole me

I had thought I had gotten over most of my social awkwardness that I had as a child and teen. But I find myself still unaware (clueless) at times. I have a plan going forward. But it is amazing how a new haircut can make most things better. I found a new haircut lady and asked her to give me a wash and go (with product of course) cut that would be flattering to my face shape. 

I really like it. 

It's short, with some fullness on top. 

I got a referral today after everybody was off on their day. So all my boys will be shocked when they come home. Last time Boaz said my hair was freaky, I wonder what he'll say today. 

I also am making bread today. I put it in the fridge while I was at my appointment, because you know - priorities. I got back and the lid was popped, but no mess. Excellent. Now I'm waiting for the loaves to rise and I'll have fresh bread to deliver. 

Focus on my strengths, right?  

Scripture - 2 Peter 2

My attention is caught by beautiful words. I should have my attention caught by beautiful concepts or doctrine. Today a word caught my attention, and the verses reminded me of our time. 

Pernicious - it is a lovely word, even if the meaning is sinful and evil. 

Our society has become beguiled by the beauty of the lies of Satan; to the point that they cannot see the simple beauty of truth and light. 

I hope to always see and follow this light and truth. I hope to avoid the lies of Satan. I hope to be true to the society of Heaven. 

Signs of spring

I have been feeling bad for my poor little lemon tree lately. It hasn't been looking too happy. But today I noticed this:

There are bursts of red new growth all over. I'm excited.  I hope it gets enough sun - all the shadows from the trees and house, but it has been living there for about six months. So keeping my fingers crossed. 

Scripture

This scripture caught my attention today. 

Ever since we were in Sunbeams, we have been taught to pray. Prayer is the answer to almost any Sunday school question. We have said it so much that it becomes almost a cliche. 

I am 50 years old. I look for more active things to do. Things that I can control, plan, and organize. These actions are all good - and necessary. 

Today I am reminded that sometimes all I can do is pray. And that prayer can be powerful. 

Irritation

I did not see it when I sewed it. 

I did not see it when I ironed it. 

I did not see it when I sandwiched and basted it. 

I did not see it when I quilted it. 

I did not see it when I bound it. 

I did not see it when I took a picture of it. 

I did not see it until after I mailed it off. I mailed it to a sweet niece who has in laws who are professional quilters. I'm sure they will see it right off - because it is OBVIOUS!

The bottom right corner - the block is oriented wrong. It breaks the pattern. 

I told my friend and she said the people of the Middle East deliberately make a mistake because only God is perfect. I've heard that about the Native Americans also. (Which is interesting in and of itself.) However, I make plenty of mistakes: enough mistakes that I don't need to do one on purpose. 

It is probably a good thing that I didn't see it after I bound it. I probably would have unpicked the whole corner and it would have taken me forever to get it back together. 

A beginning

Well, it's not Monday, but it still is this week. I did some other projects before I got this out. 

For example:

I sewed Boaz's merit badge patches on his sash. 

I started the laundry. 

I vacuumed the upstairs. 

And now I'm blogging instead of sewing. 

But this is happening. 

Wish me luck. 

Two more down

Two sweet girls were born in December. One is already two months old. I'm behind, no big surprise, but today the quilts are finished. 

This one is for Jemma. 

The back. I loved the happy flowers. 

A close up to see the quilting. 

The second quilt is similar. 

This for Wren. 

I used the same back. 

The quilting. A different pattern. 

Baby quilts have been great to practice free motion quilting. I have Josh's eagle quilt that I need to quilt. I think he has given up on it being completed, but I have been practicing. His is next up. 

Haircut day

They allowed me to get a picture. 

I do live with handsome men. 

Stake Conference

Okay our visiting authority was Elder Kevin Miskin. 

Today's session was wonderful too.

Our Stake President spoke first. We are focusing on preparing for the next stakes temple day in August. Part of the preparation is to find family names. There will also be a focus to get the youth out. President Peters said we should focus on taking one name all the way through. I've done that once before. It is pretty amazing. The second focus in on marriages. Our stake will be putting on four firesides that focus on marriage this year. He also said that we have reached a point where 50% of our women in the church are single, and we are approaching that number in men as well. Those numbers include widows, widowers and divorcees.

We heard from the mission president and his wife. We will have to amend our dinner practise. We've been having dinner at 5:30 to make sure Craig can get home on time, but will have to modify our timing to the missionaries schedules. So dinners from now on will be at 5:00. 

Elder Miskin spoke about a time when he took his two oldest sons on a huge hike. They were trying to hike 27 miles in one day. He mentioned when we are young we think we are invincible and we think our kids can do anything. His boys were 8 and 6. Poor kids. He said he realized 2 hours before dark that they wouldn't be able to make it so they turned back. Just as they turned back, his 8 year old started spasoming. He gave his two blessings. The spasms stopped, but his son couldn't walk So his 6 year old carried a day pack in front and on his back and dragged one behind. He carried his 8 year old but he couldn't touch his legs because they were painful. They were walking in complete darkness and he realized he was on the wrong road. They said a prayer again and his 6 year old said they needed to go in a direction that the dad knew was wrong. They went in the direction the 6 year old said and in a few minutes heard a girl crying. They followed the sound and found three lost sisters. The oldest was 12 and the youngest was 6. So now this exhausted father had 5 children to get of the mountain in the darkness. They found a road and started walking down it. Eventually, they saw headlights outlining search and rescue people. The girls recognized their mother and ran to her arms. The dad and his two boys didn't stop to talk to the people. They just kept going, now knowing the way to the car. (I was amazed that they didn't ask for a ride, but my boys all understood his mindset, being mal.) They drove home and made it to bed. In the morning, the dad was still so angry. He was praying, "Why didn't you answer my prayers?" He heard an answer he was not expecting. "If I would have answered your prayers, I could not have answered theirs." He then challenged us to look about us and see those who need to be rescued on our road. We who know where we are goin must reach out to those around us and offer assistance.

He then gave a promise. After explaining that the Twelve and First Presidency had prayed in the temple for 8 months to know what the members of the church could do to be safe in these perilous times, the answer came to keep the Sabbath Day holy. He promised us that if we could do that, that Jesus would save our children. We need the one day a week to get away from the words of the wicked.

And today is Super Bowl Sunday. Here we sit watching the game. But we have committed to do better - starting next week.

This year we have late church - starting at 1. Our Sunday's are usually pretty good. We talk about what we all learned in our meetings as we eat dinner. Craig makes his delicious chocolate chip cookies. We will keep those traditions and work on doing more things together as a family.

Stake Conference - Adult session

So two things before I forget.

We had a visiting area authority come. He and his wife were struggling with one child. They were praying and received an answer. He was a warrior. He was so valiant for agency that to have that mighty spirit come to earth and be a child and have his agency constrained by childhood and parents was almost more than that mighty spirit could handle. I don't struggle mightily with my sons, but I instantly had tears in my eyes. I have thought both times when I held them as newborns that they were warriors saved for these last days. And yes, I can hear the thunder and the music starting.

The second thing that really touched me was the Area Authority said, "No ray of light is ever lost." He told the story of a missionary who felt like he had failed. He had said a prayer when he was at a gas station that if there was a car across from him he would open his mouth. Nobody was there, and he was so relieved. But then a white Jeep Cherokee pulled up and he knew he had to do something. His opener was something like, so is the gas better on your side than mine? She said, "I know who you are and I don't really want to talk to you right now. If I wanted to talk to Mormons, I would talk to my neighbor." This poor elder asked who was her neighbor. He was the Stake President, now this area authority. He told her he was President so and so. The commensed to argue about what she should call her neighbor. She got irritated and drove away. He returned home to Hawaii and thought he failed as a missionary.

His family returned to California for a family vacation, and he visited his old area. It was a Stake Conference. The President noticed him come in looking so sad and was inspired to go and talk to him. The young man left quickly and the President found himself jumping over things to get to him before he drove away. The young man knew who he was and called him by name.  They visited for a minute or two and then the young man asked about the neighbor that drove a white Jeep Cherokee. And told what he had done as a missionary. The young man wanted to know what had every happened to her. The President said, "She's inside teaching Sunday School. Come in and talk to her."

She had driven away from the gas station and gone straight to her neighbor's house and asked, "What is this about you being a president? Are you the president of a biker gang?" They talked and she accepted the gospel.

The Area Authority said, "No Ray of light is ever lost." I love that. He mentioned the missionary was socially awkward. That hits close to home for me. I find hope in this story that all my awkward moments still might be useful to Him I am trying to serve.

I cried then too. :)

Goals - attend the temple more frequently and find ways to talk about the gospel.

Scripture - Hebrews 2

I have loved these verses for a long time. They are poetic and beautiful to me. That the God of creation loves fallible and unreliable man is worthy of notice. 

That He entrusted us with His creation. I know we mess  Mother Earth up so many times and in so many ways and yet somehow he has a built in reset. 

I love the hope these verses give me. 

Back yard color

My little vine that climbs my back fence has been blooming happily for a while now. I love it because it is beautiful, colorful and it attracts hummingbirds. 

Today I had several hummingbirds and some smaller birds (wrens) enjoying my vine (bush) also. 

A happy sight and sound this morning in my back yard. 

Of course they flew away when I went out to take a picture. 

Busy Sunday

Sunday I taught in Gospel Doctrine. I've begun teaching again this year. I like it, it makes me an odd duck I think. Josh gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I'll have to get his notes a bit later. He did a great job. And Boaz gave a talk in the 5th Sunday Combined Meeting. The youth and adults attended and the new theme for the youth program was introduced. So basically he gave a Sacrament Meeting talk. He worked on it all by himself.  I read his first draft, and suggested he end with a positive story. So he added the brief bit at the end.

Good afternoon brothers and sisters, today I have been asked to tak about prayer. I will admit prayer is one of my weak spots. I have developed a habit that when I pray I say the same things every time,,, and I don't really think a. Bout it at all. Then sometimes I realized what I did than I say the things that I really think about. When I don't, I've come to realize that it doesn't even "count" as praying because the purpose of praying is to communicate with Heavenly Father, not to say the same things over and over again but to really communicate How would you feel if someone came up to you every day and said, "Hey how's it going?" Then just left without even giving you an opportunity to respond, which is another aspect of communication, responding. If we want to communicate with Heavenly Fatgher we have to listen for Heavenly Father's response and act upon it. We can't expect an answer then when we get it, not act upon it.

When we get an answer to our prayers it mostly doesn't come all at once. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:

   "When we pray we rarely get our response all at once. Seldom will you recieve a complete response all at once. It will come a piece at a time, in packets, so that you will grow in capacity. As each piece is followed in faith, you will be lead to other portions until you have the whole answer. That pattern requires you to exercise faith in our Father's capacity to respond. While sometimes it's very hard, it results in significant personal growth.

He will always hear your prayers and will invariably answer them. However, His answers will seldom with come while you are on your knees praying, even when you may plead for an immediate response. Rather, He will prompt you in quiet moments when the Spirit can most effectively touch your mind and heart."

I think this means that even though we think it would be better to have the answer right away it would mean to miss out on great opportunities to better ourselves.

In the April 2007 General Conference, Elder David A. Bednar tells of a story about a man that was active during his childhood then veered away when he was a teenager. Later in life he met a lovely girl and eventually got married and had children. Their 4-year-old daughter became suddenly very ill and the man found himself praying for his daughter to get better, but she never did. the man's prayer changed, and instead asked "Let Thy will be done." When the little girl fell into a coma, and seeing that his little girl didn't have much time left, he being filled with trust and understanding, asked the Lord to able to hold his daughter close to him one last time. As soon as he finished the little girl opened her eyes and the man was able to hug her before she passed.

One thing about praying that me and my dad has experienced lately is that we don't always get what we want. For Thanksgiving my family and I went to Utah to see my mom's side of the family and some of my dad's. We stayed there for a couple of days at one of mom's sister's house. While we were there one of my cousins friend's lost his keys when he was playing football with some friends. My dad decided that it would be a good expereince to help him. When we got there we prayed, then split up to look for the keys. We looked for a bout an hour and a half before we decided that we wouldn't find them. In fact my cousin's friend ended up spending $400 to get new keys. My dad was not only very sorry that he couldn't find the keys but also very disappointed because he thought it would be a great experience for me to see firsthand how theLord answers prayers. It did however teach me that our prayers are not always answered the way we want them to be.

Another experience that my family and I had about prayer is when we decided to come here to California. We could have went to Boise, Idaho, which was much closer to our family, about a 14 hour difference. But we decided to come to a place where we had no family and friends. A place that was exactly the opposite of an Idaho city in all ways. And we are okay. We have made amazing new friends, and we live in an amazing ward.

I want to end by saying that I know that prayer is essential to our spiritual health an it it the only way we can communicate with our Heavenly Father. And I know that He listens to all our prayers even when it seems that he is not. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.