On Adventures

I was brave and daring tonight.

I drove into Boston - like, actual Boston. In my car. And found a parking place. And parallel parked. On the left side of the one-way road. Successfully (with help)!

All so I could have dinner with one of my favorite friends and former visiting teaching companions who lives in Boston.  And it was totally worth it.

If this is my box:

This was my box tonight:

And that is a good thing.

The End.

Things I Love

I love sunshine. There was just enough streaming in through my windows today to make for a perfect, vitamin D-replenishing nap after church.

I love baptisms. It is a great place to feel the Spirit and be reminded of the covenants one has made with Heavenly Father.

I love visiting teaching. It feels good to know you're making a difference in someone's life, even if all you do is listen.

I love roses. They brighten my home and fill the room with beauty.

I love Sundays.

Spring Forth With Joy

My house smells like the gorgeous purple Hyacinth that adorns my dining room table. It is a joy that I can smell it, and it is a joy to look at. It makes me want to plant a million fragrant flowers and then sit on my front porch and enjoy them all evening long. Oh, how I long for spring!

The smell reminds me of past springs, when I found the budding trees and blooming flowers so delightful I made the time to walk to institute just so I could smell it all coming back to life. The scents, the warmer weather, and the longer days created opportunities to slow down and really enjoyed the beauty of God's creations. I look back fondly on those memories, and will be delighted to re-live them in a few short months.

There is something marvelous about light breaking through darkness, life budding from winter-worn trees and soil, and order emerging from chaos. I love the contrast of the opposites, and ultimately, the peace it brings.

I'm Just Curious

Does anyone else eat junk food in an effort to get up enough energy to make & eat dinner?

I came home tonight, shoveled snow, and then sat down to "rest" with a bag of (probably super-unhealthy and fat-loaded) chocolate covered caramel popcorn (thanks for sharing, K!) so I could gain the energy required to get up and ... microwave leftovers.  (Of course, now that I've eaten a million calories worth of popcorn, I'm not hungry...)

Blah. That kind of flawed logic necessitates an early bedtime.

On Love

Valentine's Day. What a holiday. The mandatory "tell everyone you love that you love them" day. And do it by giving them a piece of candy, or a Dora the Explora' valentine, or a mushy poem, or flowers, or chocolate.  So says the world.  And I enjoy those traditions, sometimes, particularly the part about chocolate (who doesn't?).

Today, I have contemplated a larger expression of love.  The kind where someone does something for you that you cannot do yourself. Perhaps you just cannot do it right at that moment, and perhaps not ever. This kind of love gives expression as an angel friend sees a need and fills it - with dinner, groceries, someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a hug, or a multitude of other small acts of compassion. This kind of love is - and should be - expressed every day, not just on Valentine's Day, and it is this kind of love that builds faith in a loving and compassionate God.

In Relief Society today, we talked about our need for a Savior and Redeemer. As I ponder the gift of love He willingly gave, the Atoning sacrifice He made for you and me and every individual in the family of Adam, my heart fills with a deep reverence and gratitude. I, in all my stubborn independence, have a hard time admitting I can't do it by myself (with "it" being anything from shoveling snow to obtaining exaltation). And then when I finally realize I don't have to do it alone, His grace and enabling power kick in, and I am magnified far beyond my expectations.

Our God is not a "call me if there's anything I can do for you" God.  He is an "I'm standing on your porch with dinner, just open the door" kind of God. 

And for that, I am most grateful.

Five Reasons Why My Mother is a Saint

1. She mailed me a package.
2. It had fresh AZ grapefruit and oranges.
3. It came the week I was sick (and I generally only get sick twice a year).
4. She didn't even know about the being sick part until after it was in the mail (inspired!).
5. I ran out of fresh fruit yesterday (double inspired!).

I ate the first one as soon as I got home, and it was just what I needed.  I love you, Mom! Thank you!

PS - February grapefruit taste about a billion times better than January grapefruit.  Just so you know.

Random Thoughts

Someone's prayers have been answered.  It didn't snow 6-9 inches like they thought - in fact, it hasn't even started sticking at all yet (at least, it hadn't when I started writing...).  I, for one, am grateful - now it is much less likely that I will have to try to persuade someone to come shovel my driveway in order to access my car tomorrow morning.

There's a war going on inside me.  It's the good guys - white blood cells, antibodies, etc. - against the bad guys - nasty germs and viruses.  I can basically tell who's winning by how I feel.  I'm pretty sure the good guys are winning at this point - I had enough energy to make & eat lunch and clean up the last 3 days worth of dishes before I had to retreat back to my position on the couch.  With luck, I'll even be able to do some laundry in an effort to sanitize my home before the day is over.

It does make me think about the other battles we face on a daily basis.  The continuation of the war in heaven ... the natural man vs. spirit ... the challenge to choose good over evil on a moment-to-moment basis.  For example, yesterday I didn't even pick up my scriptures, yet I had the energy to check my email and blog and talk on the phone.  Battle lost? Perhaps.    One small choice might not appear on the surface to be a big deal, but it is the compilation of our small choices that yields the essence of our lives.

In preparing to teach Relief Society on Sunday, I have occasion to ponder the question: What are your feelings toward the Savior as you learn of his role in the plan of salvation?  My mind reverts back to the times in my life where my efforts have seemed insufficient, yet combined with his grace and mercy, they are accepted before God.  After all, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."  I think of choir numbers that went far better than I could ever have anticipated, except that we had consecrated our performance unto the Lord; I think of the times I received direct inspiration in conversation with a friend, and was able to say exactly what was needed.  These are the examples of grace I try to remember, particularly during other times when I (perhaps mistakenly) think I must do more, or be more, before I merit his assistance.  Regardless of my shortcomings, however, I can feel that my Savior loves me with a love beyond my comprehension, and I know that he willingly performed the Atonement because of that love.  And that fills me with wonder and awe.

On Being Ill

My ears pop almost every time I swallow. Awesome.

I stayed home and spent the better part of the day on the couch.  The couch and I are now good friends.  Between one and three o'clock in the afternoon (this time of year), the sun shines in my windows (if I open the blinds) and sheds some light on my situation.

It could be worse.  I could have no voice (instead of a croaky one) and thus would not have been able to chat with my SIL this afternoon.  My neighbor could have kept her warm soup to herself at lunchtime.  I could have had no internet connection - and thus no entertainment for most of my coherent day.  My blog font could make the word Ill look like the Roman numeral three.

So now I will go to bed and hope that 12 hours of sleep will make me functional tomorrow - or at least able to be up for longer than 30 minutes at a time.  I'll take whatever I can get.

The end.

Saturday Night Contemplations

I love quiet.  Especially after thoroughly enjoying something loud, quiet is particularly endearing.  The movement one makes from loud into quiet is a pleasant transition into peace, calm, and (often) sleep.  Don't get me wrong, loud is fun, when you choose it. Last night's loud, for example, included lots of good friends, a few people I didn't know (but we tried to change that) and a couple of karaoke mikes.  It was great ... and left my head buzzing when I moved back into my usual quiet.

I think my favorite kind of quiet is the kind you share with lots of people, when you feel so much like you belong that words aren't necessary to communicate love and acceptance.  I feel this most often when I work in the temple, and second most in Sacrament Meetings.  But sometimes those aren't very quiet.  People who love each other have a hard time keeping from verbalizing it, and hundreds of verbalizations of love vocalized all at once gets pretty noisy!

I was thinking today as I sat in the temple about another time in another temple.  My sis was going through before she married her rhb, and I walked in and saw my oldest brother sitting there - the one who had told us he wouldn't make it to this meeting since he would probably still be driving his family halfway across the country.  I was so excited to see him that I had a hard time keeping it in (and probably didn't, to be honest).  They had gotten up super early (and probably drove extra fast) to make it in time.  It ended up being a wonderful experience.  For some reason, remembering that surprise today filled my heart with a bunch of different emotions, and I was grateful again that there are places on earth that we can unexpectedly run into people we love, squeal in delight, and then cover our mouths in apology and quietly enjoy the heavenly feelings that expand our hearts.

Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He invented families.

Pretending

Pretend Fridays are the best. 

All day long I thought it was Friday.  Only it wasn't, for anyone else. Just me. Tomorrow I am taking a day off, and I am going to enjoy it thoroughly!  It will involve:

No meetings
No PowerPoint presentations
No reports
No commute
and
No phone calls (except ones I want to make)

Happy day!

And So It Goes

It's one of those weeks again.  You know, the kind where you are a little overbooked.  When, if you don't prepare, things like eating get bumped off the schedule because there isn't time.  So here I am, at 10:40 pm, making enough Minestrone Soup to feed an army ... well, actually, just me.  So I have something prepared to eat until the next time I have time to breathe.  Which if I'm lucky, will be on Thursday.

Fortunately, the week is full of good things.  Temple work, other work, social-y sorts of activities.  Some of the social-y stuff might fall by the wayside in favor of sleeping, but either way, it will be ok in the end.

Because the end is always the best part.

(Actually most of the time, the temple is the best part, but that doesn't have quite the same ring.)  :-)