Pie Jesu

I went to Music for the Master at our church this past weekend and this number impressed me the most. It was a lovely duet by two sisters accompanied by their mother. I actually liked it better than this professional version, but this one ain't bad. Enjoy

Those silly kidos

At David's birthday party we asked him who he would like to say the prayer. His reply: "Jesus". Yeah, that would be nice hu David? Yesterday Gabe thoughtfully prayed for grandma "not to be old anymore."

When I was playing outside with Gabe and he got a cut on his elbow I asked him if he wanted to go wash it off inside and get a band-aid. I think he was a little scared at the prospect of me rubbing it and he replied, "No, I want Jesus to heal it. Let's just pray".
I was a little disappointed that I had to explain it doesn't always work like that. Sometimes Jesus lets us be hurt or sick so that we can learn something, like not to swing too close to the trunk when holding on to the vines.



Grandma got a new light weight vacuum and Gabe decided to test it out. Later on he came to me and told me, "Mom, I vacuumed and it is looking quite nice." Fantastic Gabe, I'm quite pleased.

While visiting Zach's sister's family in Massachusetts (Jenny and co.) the Melchizedek priesthood holders had the honor of blessing and passing the sacrament. Among those that participated was Uncle Roger. Gabe is used to seeing 12 and 13 year old boys pass and he leans over and whispers to me, " Mom is he pretending to be a deacon?" I had to suppress a giggle in sacrament meeting.









Yesterday I took the boys to Animal Days out at NC state farms. There we all manner of farm animals to pet and look at. When I asked David Hyrum what his favorite part was he answered, "Lellow (yellow) Tractor", true to form. When I asked Gabe what his favorite part was he responded, "the ice cream." Ok, well what was your second favorite part? "My cheese stick" No Gabe, what was your favorite thing that you SAW? - blank stare. Great, glad we went to go see the animals.


(P.S. I just missed the baby rolling over for the first time becuse I was writing this! Way to go mom- another one of those stellar mom moments)

Do the clothes make the man?

Clothing can say a number of things. It can indicate rank, position, class, status, allegiance, job, preference etc. We wear different clothing according to what roll we are playing. Clothing always sends some sort of message- formal or casual, day time/ night time, beliefs or body (as I read in an article once.) The clothing we put on also sends an internal message as well as an external one. It effects the actions and attitudes of the wearer.

Studies show that when business men dress down for casual Fridays their job performance tends to be casual as well. As a mom I feel more awake and ready to do work when I put on my mom-clothes than when I'm still in my pajamas. When a police officer fasten his badge he has donned the mantel of authority and now represents someone who is supposed to uphold the law. When we dress for church we put on our "Sunday best". This shows God that we would give Him our best and that we will act our best in His house. It also serves as a personal reminder that the Sabbath is a holy day and that we are dressed for worship. When we enter the temple we dress in white to symbolize the purity required to stand in the presence of the Lord. It is a physical reminder as we dress ourselves and a visual reminder as we sit among a sea of similarly dressed individuals. It represents not only purity but unity since all the other messages that clothing send have been erased. No rich, no poor, no doctor, no fast food worker, no fashionable, no unfashionable- all the same in the eyes of God.

All this is leading up to what I read in Exodus 28 about the clothing that the priests were adorned in before serving in the tabernacle. They are clothed in gold and fine cloth almost like royalty with a mitre and crown on their head. (The mitre is a cap that is put on the head before a crown is placed on it.) There is no king in Israel at this time and the only leadership serves as both secular and religious roles in this theocracy.

There is also an item called an ephod placed upon the priest. The priest is wearing a golden breastplate with precious stones set in it. Inside the breastplate is a urium and thummin. "for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial." (Ex. 28:12) It symbolizes his calling to care for the 12 tribes of Israel. The urium and thummin are instruments of revelation indicating to me that he is entitled to revelation in this sacred calling. This breastplate is a burden to wear but also a privilege. It weighs upon the sholders but it also covers the heart.

I liken this to any calling we have in the church, including parenthood- a burden but also a sacred privilege in which we are entitled to revelation from God to fulfill. We wear it upon our shoulders and our hearts. There are many other symbols about the clothing that the priests wear which we’ll save for another time but I’ll end with a quote I came across in Relief Society about a month ago.

“Where do parents draw the line? That is a matter of parental wisdom guided by the inspiratioin of the Lord. There is no area of parental action that is more needful of heavenly guidance or more likely to receive it than the decisions of parents in raising their children and governing their families. This is the work of eternity.”

Elder Dallin Oaks

I am eternally greatful for the three jewels in my breastplate.

Sick as a dog

You know how some weeks are just sick weeks? Well thats what it has been here in our house- the sick week. Sunday Grandma had a nasty stomach virus but recovered shortly there after. She promptly passed that to Gabe and David Hyrum on Monday. Between the two boys we must have been up till 2:00 changing sheets, pajamas, and dispensing comfort. Luckily this was also short lived but Gabe had a lingering ear ache that we went to the doctor's for on Tuesday. One doctor's visit and a neat little 4$ bottle of Amoxicillin later, he is well on his way back to chipper Gabe. Wednesday was Zach's day. After work he stopped by the minute clinic to be diagnosed and treated for strep. Thursday was my day, I was layed out flat for 24 hours with something resembling the flu- fever, neausa, and total body aches. It was a huge blessing that Zach was home that day and tried to pull double duty doing Mom and Dad's work. But by Friday we were all feeling at least mostly better to enjoy this beautiful sunny weekend.

We've made the most of the lovely 70 degree weather and stuck some lettuce and spinach in the garden. Zach turned the soil and the boys and I did the seeding and watering. Gabe was especially excited to have his own packet of marigold flowers to plant. I think, in his mind, flowers mark the official arrival of spring and warm weather since he doesn't quite get seasons and the calendar year yet. What is best though, it means he gets to wear shorts again, and that makes him one happy little boy.

Vacation Fun

(The Three "Kenny's"- Kenneth Gordon, Kenneth MacLeod, Adam Kenneth)

(Beck and Benny)

(Girl cousins congregating around Hunter)

(David Hyrum took a spill down the steps outside and got nasty cut on his face)

(Doesn't Amy look so natural holding a baby boy?)

We're Home! Now to take a vacation from our vacation. It was wonderful to hang out with family and for the boys to play with their cousins but it threw off the baby's schedule which was pretty fragile to begin with so it is good to be back to "normalcy", and warm weather for that matter. Till this summer!

Bread from Heaven

Manna

Referred to by Moses as the "bread from heaven". In the Exodus story the children of Israel are blessed with ... well what exactly were they blessed with? Manna, interpreted "what is it?" (footnote Exo. 16: 15) a food product that they were unfamiliar with at first. Something that they had never experienced before. There are some simple parallels of this wonderful gift from up above to the daily Spiritual nourishment that our Father in Heaven wishes for us to partake of.
At first we may be unacquainted with the language of God, but with practice and time we will begin to understand his word and what it is.

The Israelites had to collect it daily (excepting the holy sabbath). As with a physical diet where gorging one day a week and fasting for six isn't a very effective strategy, neither is reading our scriptures three hours and skipping out for the rest of the week.

The manna was collected each morning, by noon it had burned off. If we wish to recieve of this daily spiritual nourishment (scriptures, prayer, etc.) our opportunity may be reoccuring but within a given day it is perishable. Lesson- make it a priority, get done first.

The Lord sent it all the days of their journey in the wilderness of sin. For 40 years they were fed a steady diet of the Love of God. Just like our journey here in our wilderness of sin (the world) the Lord will send us continual spiritual nourishment our entire life if we will get off our bumskie and go collect it. The Lord doesn't just pour it down their throat, nor does he make it terribly inaccessible. (right outside their tents)

Manna, this bread of heaven, this gift from God is round, white and sweet (Exo. 16:14,31) It is not unlike the fruit in Lehi's dream that represented the Love of God. A careful reading of the scriptures often links the Word of God with His Love. He gives us His words because He loves us and wants us to be spiritually filled.

It is good to think about the gospel and food on this beautiful fast Sunday.

12 Hour Drive

I am sitting here at Zach's sister's house (Jenny) with snow on the ground outside in beautiful Massachusetts. If I had my way, we would get a job up here in lovely new England near his family, but perhaps the Lord has other things in store for us. Still no good word in the job market yet.

We got here yesterday morning around 6:30 after pulling an all nighter from Raleigh so our kids could sleep in the car. This plan worked realitivly well except for the fact that it is hard for me to sleep in a car. We pulled in after I had finally fallen asleep at 5:30. If there is one thing that makes me grumpy, its being tired ( insert mental image of Medusa) Hopefully the shower masked some of that.
Zach was the real work horse, driving all but 2 hours of our entire trip. Just another reason I'm grateful to be married to that guy. The reward is well worth the work though, 8 days of "spring" vacation here with my family. Maybe it will even be enough for me to forget the fact that I'm having my 4 month fall out. Not with a person, with my hair. With all of my children some of my hair falls out after about four months. My hormones have returned to "normal" and the extra hair on my head which has been holding onto during pregnancy releases its feeble grip. Back to thin hair again- Boo hoo. Perhaps breakfast will console me, or maybe a wig.