Family

It's been a while since I posted anything on here, not because I haven't had anything to say, but because I have such a hard time putting things into words. I really have so much to be grateful for and I truly can find blessings in so much around me, especially lately. I wish we could see them when we were having good times as well as hard ones. I know that is one of the things we need to learn. I promise I will, honest.

At the beginning of the month we were able to go down to Myrtle Beach with my parents to enjoy their annual "time share" trip that they and some of my siblings and their families take each year. Erin and Emmett were also able to join us. The weather was beautiful, although a little chilly for the beach. We relaxed and played, took walks on the beach and looked for sea shells.

The picture above is the view of the beach right outside our condo. There was a little inlet right next to it where you could find some great shells depending on whether it was high or low tide. The pictures below are of Emmett playing on the beach. He loves everything about being at the ocean - the sand, the water, the waves.

Blessings That Are Hard to Find Sometimes

Last week was a really tough week for me, both physically and emotionally. I've been having some problems with my digestive system on and off for the last few weeks and it was especially bad this week. It isn't the usual stuff that I generally deal with when it comes to that part of my life so it has caught me off guard. It has also gone on long enough now that I'm beginning to be concerned. I tried to call the specialist last Thursday when I ended up having to leave work but they couldn't give me an appointment for ten days. I took it but asked to be placed on a cancellation list also. The next morning I was in quite a bit of distress and got an impression that I should contact my old boss, Kristen Teagle, because she is friends with this doctor. So I sent her an email explaining the situation and asked her if she would do me a favor and contact him for me. She said she would because she thought my problem needed a more immediate response. Several emails later it turns out he was going out of town but would make sure his staff got me an appointment this next week - meaning this week. In the meanwhile he gave me instructions on what to do to try and help the situation. Later that afternoon his office called with an appointment for Tuesday, tomorrow.

I am so grateful that I was prompted to contact Kristen, not only because I was able to get the earlier appointment but because I was also able to get some help for the time leading up to the appointment. I know it isn't a permanent fix but it is helping the situation be manageable. I was able to go to work today and we desperately need me to work as much as possible these days.

I am also grateful for my husband and for the blessing of the Priesthood in my life. David called Robert Jones Thursday so they could give me a Priesthood blessing. Knowing that my husband has the priesthood and lives his life in such a way so that he can give me a blessing any time I may need it brings me such comfort and peace.

So, while I am in the midst of this medical situation I will do my best to remember the blessings in my life...having the priesthood available to me and living my life in such a way to be worthy of the Holy Ghost so that I can receive the inspiration I need to lead and guide me in the direction that I need to go. I truly am blessed, even through my struggles.

Wonderful Robert

The last several months have been very difficult for us, to say the least. David has said on a number of occasions that I was not cut out to be the wife of a consultant. I would have to agree with him. He has even ventured to say that he probably isn't cut out for it either, yet that has been his life for more than 20 years off and on. Anyway, back to me - I like order and balance in my life - you know where you can create a budget and figure out what bills are due when and exactly which paychecks will pay for those bills. In order to do that you have to know how much you are going to be making and when those paychecks are coming in. You can do that with a regular paying job. Not so much when you are a consultant and you are constantly looking for new work. Not so much when the work dries up or when the people you are working for are late with their payments. The budget and your pretty little spreadsheet doesn't work out in quite the same way. You do your best, pay your tithing and fast offerings, do a lot of praying, and try to have faith that when those bills come due the money will be there. So far the Lord has blessed us, most often than not waiting until the very last possible moment, but He has blessed us and we have been able to pay the vital bills. We have a place to live, we have health insurance, we have clothes, we have gas for the car and we aren't starving. We are blessed.

This brings me to the reason for today's entry. A few weeks ago David received a new calling in our Ward - that of High Priest Group Leader. This will entail more hands on work with members of the ward and more service opportunities, which we are all in favor of. A concern of ours, and obvious a thought of a dear friend of ours, was the fact that David's car - his suburban - was dead in the driveway and it had been that way for quite some time. It needed some work and we were not in a position to get it fixed any time soon. This dear friend, Robert, decided that David needed a reliable car in order to perform his calling, so he took it upon himself to take the truck home with him and get it back into working order for us as he had time when he was off of work.

This is some of the work that he did to the truck - He disengaged the security alarm so it would stop short-circuiting and actually allow David to use the driver's side door again. He replaced the battery, as he said the old one was bad and causing a drain on the system. He fixed a bad tire. He even added something to the oil to help with an oil pressure problem that we were having. Then, before he brought the truck back he filled it up with gas, had the thing cleaned inside and out and had it inspected for us (the inspection had expired while it was sitting in the driveway). He even fixed a light that was out somewhere in the truck that caused the truck to fail the first inspection and then took it to get reinspected before he brought it home.

Today when Robert pulled up with the Suburban and showed David all that had been done I couldn't help but cry at the love and kindness that he has shown to us in the last several months. He has even mowed our lawn or had his sons mowed it this summer because David wasn't well enough or strong enough to do it himself, and that included the weeks before and after his own father passed away. The example of the pure love of Christ emanates from this man and I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing us the blessing of having him in our lives. I only hope that we can have the opportunity to be of some kind of service to him and his family also.

Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us with Robert and his family and thank you Robert for all that you have done and continue to do for us. It will never be forgotten.

David

I met my husband about 17 months ago, but really we've probably known "of" each other in some way or other for a lot longer than that. For instance, we lived in the same Stake in Northern VA back in the late 80s. I worked in my brother's Church bookstore for a little while back in the late 90s and David used to come in to said bookstore on occasion. And then there is the 1997 McLean Stake Christmas Program "program" that I found while I was unpacking this past November that had us all listed - David was the Narrator, his late wife, Lydia, was the Chorister for the entire program, and I was the Director for the Bella Vista Ward Choir. Small world...

Okay, so you are wondering "How did we meet officially?" It was totally a blessing from Heavenly Father. You know the type...when you are at a spot in your life when you aren't expecting it, or when you think you least deserve it - the blessing that is. That is when it happens. Heavenly Father did that to me with David.

This is the picture David used online

David "found me" online...yup...sometimes it does work. His sweet 90+ year old mother-in-law, Virginia, told him it was time to meet someone (it had been almost two years since his late wife had died) so Virginia gave him the web address to this online site. Can you imagine? Your 90+ year old mother-in-law is tuned into the internet and knows about online dating. How funny is that? Anyway, he did as he was told and signed up with the site. He says that I was the first person he saw and the only one he contacted. Isn't that sweet?

This is the picture I used online

Reader's digest version to the rest of the story - once I received his message and saw where he was from I wrote him to find out which Stake he was in (there were two in that area) so I could figure out if he was in the same one with my family and if he knew them (and them him). Once we figured out that he did indeed know my family and once I called my Dad and he gave the thumbs up to my writing David things moved right along. We were married May 16, 2009 and David moved down to Williamsburg so I wouldn't have to relocate. That is just one of the many signs that he was truly a blessing in my life.

Wedding day - May 16, 2009

During the past 14 months now I can't even begin to list the many ways that David blesses my life. Some would say he "spoils" me and actually I'm the first one that would say it. For instance, he cooks me dinner "every" night. That's right ladies, he cooks. He never gets angry with me. Oh, he may get disappointed or something may not sit well with him, but he never shows it to me or never yells. He says it isn't worth getting upset over - our relationship is more important.

Now I can tell you that it hasn't rubbed off on me, but I'm trying. What it has done is caused me to have to repent when I do get upset because it makes me realize how dumb I'm being. Usually the stuff I'm getting upset about really is stuff that doesn't matter - like the dishes didn't get cleaned up when I thought they should have. But you know what? He always makes sure the dishes are cleaned up before he comes to bed and makes sure the dishwasher runs. SPOILED!!!!!!!!

I'm not saying David is perfect because he's not (thank goodness). He wouldn't still be here if he was. We are all working on our own issues in this life, our own challenges, in order to return to our Heavenly Father. We all have to struggle a little to make it back home. Do we get our scriptures read every day? Do we say our prayers? Do we try to live like the Savior and help our fellow man? The important thing is that we are trying and that as we try we are loving one another along the way.

September 2009

I was reading a friends blog right before I started writing this and she mentioned another blog that she read recently, so I followed that link as well. As I read that one I found something there that really did touch me that I thought I would share. It is written by a guy by the name of Gary Jackson who just lost his wife to cancer. He actually wrote this before she had passed. You can read his tribute to his wife at: Kisses for Amy. This is the part that caught my attention.

"Now I know that I am far from a perfect husband and I don't presume to be an expert on relationships but as I have reflected on my own marriage and what has worked and what has not, I have found that our greatest happiness in our marriage came not when my wife was doing all the things that I wanted her to, but when I was doing all the things that I felt she wanted me to. Some how it seems that those efforts were always met with an eventual equal effort on her part to do the same. When we are more concerned about the wants and needs of our spouse than we are with our own wants and needs, we become less self centered and really contribute to the success of our marriages."

It isn't a new concept - I've heard it before - but here is a man who actually put it to work in his own marriage and he's leaving a written testimonial that it actually worked for him. I'm going to really try harder to do more things for David, although I'm sure if you asked him he would say that I do. He's like that. He is a good man, a God fearing man, a man that I love with all my heart. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for blessing me... even when I didn't think I deserved it.

Angels Round About Me...Bearing Me Up

I've been thinking a lot about my blog since i first wrote and what I should write about next. I even had several different topics in mind but never seemed to make the time to actually sit down to type. Sometimes I have a hard time putting my thoughts down in a way that make sense to others.

I have spent a lot of time reading other people's blogs and catching up on the lives of some old friends who have moved away from Williamsburg. It is fun finding out what they have been up to since they left us and how much their families have grown. We sure do miss them though.

I've also been spending some time reading and watching some inspirational messages both on our church website www.lds.org and others related to it. A recent one linked back to a blog that I had been following for a while but hadn't read for some time - The NieNie Dialogues. The Church site had a new video that was an interview with Stephanie Nielson entitled "My New Life" and I found it very inspiring. I recommend everyone watch it. Towards the end of the video there is a quote from a talk that Elder Holland gave that I really liked so I took the time to write it down so I could share it here.

"When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God then we have ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple. Regarding our earthly journey, the Lord has promised: 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left. My spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up.' That is an everlasting declaration of God's love and care for us, including and perhaps especially in times of trouble."

It reminded me how much we need to remember that our Heavenly Father sees all and how He knows what we are going through every moment of every day. If we can remember to put ourselves in His hands and just try our best on a daily basis it will be enough. There have been too many incidents in my life where I may not have known it at the time or in the moment that it was happening, but looking back I can definitely tell you that His spirit was in my heart and His angels were round about me to bear me up. Whether I was laying in a hospital bed fighting for my life or sitting on a couch in a room by myself searching for answers, He was there with me, helping me, blessing me, loving me.

This life is a time for us to prepare to meet our Heavenly Father. A time to work out our own salvation. We will have moments that are difficult but it is how we handle those moments that will help us become the people we ultimately want to be. Let us work at being happy no matter what life brings...being Christlike in every way...and we will find the joy that is spoken of in the scriptures. That is what I'm going to try to do at least. Find joy in every moment and be happy for there truly are blessings all around me every day.

Blessings of Being a Grandma

One of the sweetest joys in my life came the day I became a Grandma. That joy only multiplied each time another grandchild was born. I now am the very proud Grandma of two boys and one precious little girl.

At this time Daniel III is just shy of 20 months old. He is the sweetest little boy who loves reading books, which means he loves to be read to, and loves watching music videos.



His little sister, Emlyn, is now just shy of 4 months old and is as cute as can be. She is going to give him a run for his money sooner then he thinks, I fear, as she is already in a hurry to get moving. They both live in UT with my oldest son, Daniel II, and their wonderful mom, Alice. That means I don't get to see them nearlier enough and have to rely on FB posts and Alice's blogs to keep me up-to-date on their latest antics.



Emmett just turned 10 months old and lives here in VA with my daughter, Erin, and her husband, Kevin. That means I get to see him a lot more often and enjoy him as he grows and develops during each new stage. He is so close to walking now and is constantly on the move. He definite knows how to light up a room with just a smile.



It has been wonderful fun and I must admit I just can't get enough of this Grandma gig. That is why I have to say my grandchildren are definitely some of the choicest blessings that have been showered down on me along the way.