(wearing my mom's vintage dress and some thrifted, red vintage shoes, necklace f 21. love them)
Our Easter weekend was busy and wonderful. Our church (edited to add: I discovered is a lie) had a temple outing and then headed off together for a little bbq and Easter egg hunt, followed by a slide show of everyone. A very lovely, very pleasant, somewhat stressful, very exhausting day. Our Sunday was full of reflections on Christ, chocolate, salsa and naps. I hope everyone's Easter was wonderful!
While my weekends are usually crazy, aside from my child's little soccer game, most of our weekend was spent watching The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints semi-annual General Conference. Twice a year, in April and October, the members all over the world gather to listen to our church leaders, who are divinely appointed apostles and prophets speak to us. Their talks are so inspiring, they help us see how to be stronger, better people and issue moments of warning at the same time, yet they are always full of love, hope and sincerity. I always listen intently with much faith and reverance am never disappointed. Not to mention the legendary Mormon Tabernacle choir singing, moves me to tears almost every time.
I loved the talk by Richard G Scott's. He speaks about his family being together forever and how to strengthen family ties and marriages. Which was so touching to hear as he not only lost his wife recently, but two of his children, one of them as an infant while he was a young man. His little stories of his marital antics are so sweet.
Another one of my favorite talks was Jeffrey R. Holland's. He explains what General Conference his and how it is divinely inspired (around the 3 min mark), and how God truly lives and communicates with us today. It was so powerful, but his always are.
Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, spoke 5 talks this conference, that can be accessed here. There is also so much love in his voice, and he always has the best stories. I truly have a testimony that he and the other men and women called in these positions in the church are truly inspired by God, and that they communicate His messages. While I know there is a lot of misinformation about our faith in the world, my heart knows of it's truthfulness, and that God truly has a plan for each and every one of us. Past conferences, since 1974 can be seen here.
I am feeling very autumnal today. Warm, muted colors of the earth, connected to nature. Feeling appreciative of God's creations and the humble beauty that man can create with them. Listening to the 179th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints broadcast from Saturday and today, the messages of beauty, love and inspiration, mercy and hope, warning and council, the beautiful music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that speaks to my soul, feeling the Spirit of the Lord and the love from the great women and men of God, and their wise and loving council. Things to reflect upon. Changes to make. Clutter to manage. Leaves to gather. Kisses to give. Acorn squash to bake. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Loving Savior and Heavenly Father to thank. It's going to be a good day.
I love Sundays. They are a time of renewal, peace, relaxation. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we choose to keep the Sabbath Day holy in a rather strict way as we interpret the commandment quite literally. No parties. No vigorous cleaning, sports, maintenance... No spending money. No working (if one can help it). No making others work (so no going out to eat). No going to the lake/mall/movies or any other form of entertainment. We fill up our tanks of gas and do our grocery shopping on Saturday if we must as a day of preparation. We limit our play and our online/tv entertainment and other worldly distractions so as to not interfere with maintaining the spirit and peace we feel on this day. Visit here to find out why we believe this helps.
Some may view this lifestyle as restricting, but I see it as freeing. It is a day where I am not pulled to and fro by the world. A day where I don't have to run errands, or commit to attending events, a day where it is all about enjoying my family and faith. Sunday evenings are the times when we invite our families and friends to dinner to fellowship and get to know each other. There is a true peace I feel on this day. I believe everyone would do well to have a true day of rest. No matter your religious beliefs, you must try a day of meditation, rest and positive energy once to see how refreshing it can truly be!
One such way we enjoy spending our Sundays, are on Sunday drives. I believe these started out at a time when churches required a much farther distance to travel. But now, though our church is but blocks away, we enjoy taking a detour to get home. Though the scenery isn't particularly astounding in a Texas suburb, we switch the routes up and look for pretty yards with lots of trees and flowers.
Sunday drives are a time to talk, reflect on our Sunday lessons, bare our testimonies to each other and interact and enjoy the scenery we have before we unpile the kids out of the car and heft them up three flights of stairs to cook them dinner after a long 3 hour church service.
I believe it is good to do that. Quietly ponder and then vocally reflect on your feelings on your drive, before the hustle and bustle of life swifts you away once you are no longer trapped in the confines of your automobile.
This weekend I visited my local antique mall and brought my camera! I have over 200 amazing photos to share with you and will be posting the best of the best this week, so do come back! (click on photos for larger view)
Mommy: (blow drying hair)
3 yr old: (jumping on mommy's bed)
Mommy: (putting on make-up)
3 yr old: I love Jesus
Mommy: You do? How come?
3 yr old: He loves me. He lives up high! (pointing to the sky)
Mommy: He does?
3 year old: Yeah, but he lives on Earth, too.
Mommy: uh-huh
3 year old: I'm going to die someday
Mommy: (silence)
3 year old: But it's okay because Jesus loves me.
Mommy: He does. I love you too!
3 year old: You're silly mommy
Mommy: (continues putting on make-up)
3 year old: (screaming contest with little brother ensues)
I try not to ask leading questions so I can see where my son goes with these conversations. He really likes to talk about God and the wonders of the Earth. I hope it never stops.
I know this letter has been around for a while, but I read it and it was a reminder that we should never underestimate our children. We should teach them that it is okay to not always agree, and to question authority at times lest something like this awful thing happens to them (video here, but don't watch if you upset easily. For a rundown sparring the details, in the video, the abused young girl says she did was she was told by the abuser because her parents taught her to never question what an adult told her to do).
Some day our precious little ones will grow up and may possibly rebel or go through other hardships and make our hearts ache, but that doesn't mean we can't open up our arms to them in those rough times. We have to remember, that if we do our part, they have to be trusted to eventually make their own decisions. I believe, that at a young age, a child can be led by the Spirit, as they are closer to the veil than we are. But as we age and we harden and the world bears down upon our children, we as parents and adults in general have to help guide our young. As the Prophet Joseph Smith once said, “I teach them {the children} correct principles, and they govern themselves." I love this talk, "Teaching Children to Govern Themselves" on the subject.
That has always been my goal, and just as long as my children know that I love them and want what is best for them, everything will be alright in the end if we keep our family strong. What is your goal when fostering your children up in this world?
I just read the story of Carol Decker for the first time today. You can read updates at their blog.
Almost one year ago today, Carol had an emergency ceasarian section to deliver her second baby, Safiya. Due to severe complications from hypertension from septic pneumonia, arteries to both her legs, one arm and her eyes blocked her circulation that forced amputations. Carol had both her leg's below the knees amputated, her left arm below the elbow amputated, her right ring finger amputated; and is now blind. All of that is due to ischemia from vasopressive drugs used to keep her blood pressure high enough to survive.
Carol now struggles with multiple surgeries, prosthetics complications, blindness, pain, learning to move again and being a young mother to two young little girls. She has a supportive husband who blogs about their progress, helps her function and even does her make-up. Now the Deckers are faced with medical expenses over the 2 million dollar mark and any help or words of love is always appreciated. Please see the this video from KOMO news, it is an amazing story.
I hope we all today, can be a little more thankful for what we do have in this world. That we can share a little bit of hope, prayer and service to those in need.
Carol's story and her supportive husband reminded me of this video about being a "real man". Elder D. Todd Christofferson, shares a touching personal experience and exhorts men to live by the attributes of true, Christlike manhood in this segment entitled "Let Us Be Men".
Tonight, while snacking on copius amounts of [lightly] salted pretzels (following a strawberry and chocolate sundae, naturally), we watched The Visitor. It was really an incredible movie, funny, sweet, sad, touching, frustrating, a good mix of it all.
And, while I love the blockbusters like Star Trek (please don't tell me I am the only one who really liked Spock more than Kirk... and seriously, Kirk and his daddy looked almost identical!) a good indie film is almost more gratifying. So, go and Netflix it!
Also, A Print a Day released her online mag, Parasol a week or so ago, so if you haven't checked it out, go and download it HERE! It is free and inspiring. In her next mag Parasol Review, I even have a little short story in there, but it isn't out just yet.
Design wise, what is on my mind this week? Area rugs. I'm thinking jute, shag, black and white, buttercream, flokati, pale yellow and creme stripes... oh the decisions, esp when on a budget (and 2 toddlers and a dog narrows it down even more). But that is for another post.
Sunday, I gave a talk in church about Forgiveness. It went really well and I was grateful for the opportunity to speak. It is always uplifting to have to teach something that you know you need to hear. If you would like a copy of my talk (well, the jist of it anyways) you can see it HERE. It was largely inspired by the talks “I Will Remember Your Sins No More” by President Boyd K Packer in May 2006 and “Remember Lot’s Wife" by Jeffrey R. Holland in Jan 2009 (or read only version). Great talks, you should check them out (esp the last one if you are married, it's EXCELLENT!)
I love my beautiful Mother's Day bouquet. My honey works for a major shipping co and one stop on his route is a flower shop. Well, they always give him flowers on special occasions for *free* to bring home to me! This bouquet is absolutely beautiful! I even split it up to give some blooms for my sweet mom for Mother's Day as well!
For Mother's Day, we had a lovely lesson at church on words/actions that hurt others, and how we as women may not always know when we can be hurting others. We talked ways we can show love and support to others, and try to see more clearly our own weaknesses and gifts. It was a lovely and uplifting lesson, and we followed it with a yummy Mother's Day brunch of fruits, cheese and crackers and croissant sandwiches.
We then visited my Husband's family (his dad is recovering from heart surgery) and we then came home and made Sheppard's Pie (my fav) with my mom and watched Outsourced. A cute little indie romantic comedy (yes, we did skip any love scene we encountered (there were 2).
Also, I got my Mom and Mother-in-law cup cozies. They both are always carrying around a drink of some sort wrapped in napkins, so I thought these would be perfect! Unfortunately, they got thrown in a pile somewhere, so I haven't given them the cozies yet, but they will be loved, I know it!
A quick word on Mother's Day. Not every woman is a mother. Whether it is by personal choice, or the opportunity just hasn't come yet, whether a woman is no longer a "hands-on" mother who has lost her child through death, spirit or distance, if you no longer have your mother on Earth or really despise the one you have... every woman can celebrate Mother's Day.
It is my belief that woman have divine nurturing tendencies to be mothers. You can be a mother in a sense in your community, in your home, in your prescence or career. Through love, educating ourselves, perservering and honing a sincere desire to help others are ways you can also be a mother. By using our motherlike qualities, we have the power to influence the world for good, one small child, adult, politician at a time.
Here are some free printables and ideas for next Mother's Day for you! Here is a great site for vintage cards, Vintage Holiday Crafts and second post HERE.
You need: one jar with a tight fitting screw on lid, a pinch of salt, 2 marbles and heavy whipping cream filled about 1/2 way. Put all inside jar, screw on lid and let your kid shake it up till it's creamy butter.
I hope your enjoyed your Mother's Day! Remember, next year, keep it simple, fun and easy :)
