up and coming

• what week 30/52 looked like--there will be pictures
• fulfilling a request: a discussion on what the message of jesus christ is

i had a commenter who asked me to talk about the second bullet point and i'm so grateful and excited to write more about it. please know that if anyone who ever stumbles across this blog has any questions, please please ask them, even anonymously. i will respond. and i love it!

i delight in 29/52.

well another week has happened. its amazing watching the year pass by week by week how time just passes almost imperceptibly in a certain sense. in another sense, i'm just overwhelmed by the things i just don't seem to get to but i try not to let some of that bother my tendencies toward perfectionism. otherwise i'd never delight in anything!

highlights of the week...

• reading pocahontas with christin complete with renditions of just around the riverbend, colors of the wind and the gold song i don't remember what its title is
• finding a treasured disney cd
• discovering that my dad knows the lyrics to a lot of random songs. for example, the siamese cat song from lady and the tramp and the words to all the mr. ed song (as in the old television show) a horse is a horse of course of course...that's all i know, he sang the whole thing. note the irony that all this comes from someone who is fairly tone deaf. it makes the whole experience even better! 
• crazy evening storms almost every night!
• a lovely evening including delicious dinner by the river, a talented musician and a walk to the up and coming ogden temple with my dearest friend carly
• hearing my family talk about carly's sweet babies ALL weekend after they got to enjoy them for an evening
• early morning temple trips and visiting grandparents in brigham including searching for socks and mascara
• my new favorite quote: me: "grandpa, you are so wise." grandpa: "oh granddaughter, you've confused the word wise with wacky, i'm so wild." at 92, he doesn't skip a beat!
• helping make my stake's float for the 24th of july parade--snowing styrofoam, sawing styrofoam, sanding styrofoam, gluing and glittering letters, painting styrofoam,  spray painting styrofoam. i have a new appreciation for parade floats
• adventuring in salt lake with heather: trying bruges waffles and frites for the first time (and definitely not the last), exploring the farmers market at pioneer park (also for the first time), wandering the church history museum (always my favorite), deseret book, dinner at sixth and pine, venturing up to the tutoring toy and giving heather the tour of sl/the aves. it always makes me miss my time in salt lake. i'm so glad it happened though!
• crossing things off the summer bucket list
• buying new gym shoes (finally)
• seeing family i don't get to see as often as i'd like
• watching christin's face as cousin jonny gives her the biggest hug, he makes her feel like a million bucks and i love that! it reminds me that there are people out there who just get what a difference they can make and who just do what should always be done...loving others. 
• hearing someone pray in french, it made me miss my mission
• finishing the book "visions of glory" by john pontius

i know there are things i've left off this list that i truly delighted in. i always delight in so many aspects of my job. there is something about the million tiny moments that happen in a day when it comes to working with kids that just make my heart swell with gratitude and enthusiasm for what i get the privilege of doing. i've been delighting in the flowers a lot lately. caring for them for a week as their sole water provider made me have a new appreciation and outlook on the importance of inspecting them daily to make sure they're doing well. what a parallel for how we can care for others. if they're needing water, we certainly ought to give it to them. if people are needing refreshment or physical or spiritual nourishment, shouldn't we do something sooner rather than later?

what have you delighted in this week?

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visions of glory

to the single adult sisters of the church

my quote board

know this that every soul is free

I delight in week 28/52.

Don't worry about the 10 weeks I just skipped. It's just time. It has been great time, but writing week synopses here has not been a priority.

This week marked a week back at work since my "week of vacation from my life to my Mom's life." Going back to my life wore me out just as much as living my Mom's life for a week. There is always so much to be done and seemingly not enough hours in the day to do it all. But somehow, it all fits in in the end.

the most joyous moments of the week: came from some victories some of my patients had. just trust me...they were big ones!
the most heart breaking moment of the week: came from moments of compassion and love i had the opportunity to witness
the most frustrating moments of the week: came from my own inability to see beyond the surface and to be reluctant to forgive and let things go
the most rewarding moments of the week: came oddly enough from the most unexpected source
the most relaxing moment of the week: was during some quality time with my mom
the most musical time of the week: was during a reading of Peter Pan for LB's bedtime story
the most reunion-like and celebratory moments: came from having a virtual baby shower for Nat
the most tiresome moment is probably right now

what i lived on this week: freezer meals and dirty diet cokes
the buy of the week i might regret: signing up to do the quilt block of the month for a second year
***please hold me to the fact that i will not do it a third year...i will not. i cannot.***
a collection of my pockets: toy cars, mr. mouth flies, pronoun cards and pecs pictures

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inspirations of the week
quote of the week: "not shrinking is more important than surviving"-neal a maxwell
scripture of the week: moroni 7:45-48
mormon message: enduring love *warning, do not watch without tissues or if you have makeup you don't want to get all over the place, or maybe its just me

I delight in a Savior who searches.

source

During His ministry, Christ healed a blind man. The leaders of the Jews called the man before them and demanded he renounce Christ. When he refused, they cast him out.

When Jesus heard what the leaders had done, He immediately went looking for this man (John 9:35). I could see the determination on Christ’s face as He made His way through the crowd. I draw comfort from knowing that if He will search after him, He will search after me.

The above picture and print is from the same source sited below the picture. This picture is called The Prince of Peace and is by artist, Liz Lemon Swindle. For me, the story behind the picture is what makes the picture so special.  

The Savior is depicted in so many different ways. While I definitely have my favorite picture of Christ which is rarely circulated and which I found almost by accident one day in a bookstore in Logan, this picture above became a close second the moment I heard the story behind it. 

The look in his eyes penetrates my soul. I think it's because it's a look I can identify with. I've always had a silly fear of being left behind and of being lost. I was the worried child who always kept her eye on her mother in the store, who never strayed too far and who when I didn't see my mother in an instant began to search for her. As the years have gone on, I've had the look of searching many a time for my sister when she wanders off in a store to look at something of interest to her or when my brother was younger and would get lost. Needless to say, I am all too familiar with the look of searching. 

I love that when Jesus heard what had been done he immediately went looking, and dare I say, looking intently for the man. He knew he had to find him, to comfort him and likely to bless him. As I think about the times my heart wanders, I can all too quickly imagine the Savior with set eyes, diligently searching for me, little ole me.

It brings comfort to my heart and delight to my soul that the Lord searches after us, each of us. That he knows our eternal identities as his brothers and sisters and searches for us in our times of hurting hearts, despair,  being cast off, feeling forsaken, and being prone to wander.

my blogging break

not that anyone has noticed, but i haven't been posting much here, or anywhere for that matter.

When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be.

One of the characteristics of modern life seems to be that we are moving at an ever-increasing rate, regardless of turbulence or obstacles.

Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.

It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks.

-President Dieter F. Uctdorf, Of Things that Matter Most, October 2010

Its been one of those times where priorities have had to be made. Honestly at the end of the day, I'd rather spend half an hour reading a Disney book with LB (Christin) and spontaneously breaking out into song than spending time with my computer. At the end of the day, family, the gospel, my health and people are what matters the most.

With that being said, I just have to say that while life has been crazy, as seems normal for my life, it has been so good. I am grateful to be able to see the blessings. I'm grateful to be able to see the Lord's hand in my life. I'm also just grateful for the experiences of life. As things happen in life that seem compel people to make comments that just don't help (but are certainly well intended and I get that), I'm just grateful. Grateful for glimpses of the bigger picture.