Sunday, February 01, 2015
This week has gone ok. Monday was laundry day and I also went shopping for the week’s meals. Chad worked from home that day so I was able to make a quick run to Walmart while Tilly slept. It was nice. Karalee had volleyball that afternoon. We were quite late because we went to the library to get a book for her upcoming book report before I realized she was supposed to be at volleyball. Since we were so late I stayed to watch her. She is doing well and learning great volleyball skills. I really like the coaches.
Tuesdays are my marathon days because I have mutual those nights. To make matters worse Power road closed on that day and will remain closed until Feb. 4th. I go on power to get to the kids’ school so now I have to take a detour which is annoying. I know I’m being a baby about it, but it is really bugging me. Tyler and Jen since you live right by it, is it driving you crazy too? Spencer had a basketball game late that afternoon. They lost to a really great team, but did a lot better than the first time they played them. Bryant and Karalee had scouts and activity days at 6:00 and then I had mutual at 7:00. Our laurel’s class heart attacked our secret relief society sisters which was fun, but there were some weird dynamics with the girls that night that didn’t go well. I felt like it was the worst mutual activity I had ever been to and have had it on my mind a lot trying to figure out what we could have done differently and what we can do to help the girls.
Wednesday afternoon I had a presidency meeting and we discussed new beginnings and finalized assignments. You can see our plan HERE. I’m really excited about it. Karalee had volleyball that afternoon. That evening it was Karalee’s turn for a date with me. (On our family home evening chart we have a date category and Chad and I take turns taking each of the kids on a date when it is their week. The whole date has to cost less than $5.) For our date we went to Fry’s to get a slushy and then to sonic to get some food. While we were talking I asked her if she had any crushes on boys at school. She said she did but didn’t want to tell me about them. I asked her if she’d like me to tell her about my crushes when I was her age and she said, “Please no.” Oh boy! I’ve been laughing at that all week!
Thursday afternoon Kristen, our laurel advisor, and I visited one of our laurels who had a big seizure that morning. We took her some of her favorite things and visited with her for a few minutes (I recently had each of my laurels and my own kids fill out that favorite things form for me). After our visit I took Marlee to choir then ran Spencer to his game then ran back to get Marlee and went back to Spencer’s game to watch him play. He played so well. They won soundly. Spencer has improved a lot this year and plays with confidence now. He was so nervous at the beginning of the season.
Friday Tilly and I took Bryant out of school for a lunch date which was fun. That evening the school age kids each invited a friend or two or three over for Chinese food and to hang out and play games. They had a great time. They didn’t mind playing basketball on the wet court. We’ve gotten a lot of rain this weekend which has been wonderful.
Yesterday Bryant had a basketball game and did well. He is a good little player. His team won. Yesterday evening Chad and I went to dinner at Buddy Z’s pizza in Queen Creek. They serve Chicago style deep dish pizza and it is wonderful. This week I got had a bad ear ache that has gone down to my neck and so last night I started taking the 2nd box of z-pack antibiotics that Spencer was prescribed a while ago that he didn’t need because the first boxed worked well. It is starting to work, but I still have some pain.
Our testimony meeting today was wonderful. Probably the best I’ve ever attended. Chad was released as Troy Line’s first councilor in our Elder’s quorum yesterday afternoon and then immediately called as the first councilor to Joseph Johnson in our Elder’s quorum. He was re-set apart today, but I couldn’t go listen because I was teaching a combined YW’s lesson. Chad and I got to go serve dinner at a Men’s shelter in Mesa this evening as part of our ward assignment. It was a neat experience. Each man was so grateful.
My quote for today is from our Sunday school lesson. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said: “The Lord is well aware of our mortality. He knows our weaknesses. He understands the challenges of our everyday lives. He has great empathy for the temptations of earthly appetites and passions” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1996, 46; or Ensign, May 1996, 34).
Love,
Mindy
P.S. As part of my YW lesson preparation I was asked to complete a Choice and Accountability value experience in personal progress. I did experience #3 regarding agency. Here is my journal portion:
Jan. 30, 2014
I’m working on personal progress again tonight and have been asked to record in my journal my understanding of agency and the consequences of choices and actions. The way I understand it the only thing we have to give Heavenly Father is our will. Everything else was and is His to begin with. We give God our will as we obey his laws. There are divine laws that must be obeyed. “A God who make no demands is the functional equivalent of a God who does not exist” (Elder Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves).
Heavenly Father deeply wants to bless us. However, He can only bless us in proportion to our obedience to His laws. “When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:21). A few weeks ago I gave a lady, who happens to be a member of the church, a ride. It was a Sunday afternoon. She asked me to take her to Marshall’s. She told me, “don’t worry I’m not doing any major shopping, I’m just returning something.” I thought about that a lot. I know she will be blessed for her decision to attend church that day, but she probably missed out on blessings that would have come from keeping the whole Sabbath Day Holy. Luckily I am not her judge and I do not love her any less for her decision. Another example of how I learned the relationship between obedience and blessings is when I first moved out on my own and started earning my own money and paying my own way. I had to decide if I wanted to pay tithing on the gross amount or the net amount of my paychecks. I thought about it a lot and talked with a member of my bishopric. He wisely did not tell me what to do, but pointed out that some of the taxes taken from my paycheck go to pay police and military men and women who fight for my protection, which is a benefit to me. I finally decided that both choices are good and it was up to me how much I wanted to be blessed.
Because God is just he will hold us accountable for our actions. “One day each of us will stand before the Lord in judgment. We will each have a personal interview with Jesus Christ. We will account for decisions that we made about our bodies, our spiritual attributes, and how we honored God’s pattern for marriage and family” (Elder Nelson, Decisions for Eternity). I know that I will have to stand before God and that my actions, inaction, thoughts, words and deeds will be judged.
Because God is merciful He has given us his Son so we can repent and qualify for Eternal Life. “Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace, our failures to live the celestial law perfectly and consistently in mortality can be erased and we are enabled to develop a Christlike character. Justice demands, however, that none of this happen without our willing agreement and participation” (Elder Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves). I know that Savior has already paid the price for my sins. I hope I will allow Him to erase them by repenting and living the celestial law. If I do not repent I know that I will have to suffer for them, even as He did. That would be a waste. “Acting to repent is a self-willed change” (Elder Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves). No one can repent for me and I cannot repent for them or force them repent. God will not force others to repent or to come to Him either.
I love this quote Elder Christofferson that explains that God will help us all along the way. “We do not need to achieve some minimum level of capacity or goodness before God will help—divine aid can be ours every hour of every day, no matter where we are in the path of obedience. But I know that beyond desiring His help, we must exert ourselves, repent, and choose God for Him to be able to act in our lives consistent with justice and moral agency. My plea is simply to take responsibility and go to work so that there is something for God to help us with.”
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