Unexpected Friend

This week I have been very intentional about getting everything ready for Kindred Hearts. Part of that was going to Staples to get some color copies made for one of the 5-minute gift ideas I will be teaching the ladies.

As I entered the store I noticed that it was quite busy at the printing desk. I noticed a lady standing back from the line and asked if she was in line. She told me that she was but that she just needed help with knowing how to do the self-serve copy service. “It’s a lot cheaper,” she said.

I thought about that a moment, and then said to her, “You’re right, I’m going to go see if I can figure it out!” So I headed over there and found that it wasn’t at all complicated to do. As I was finishing up, I noticed her come over and work on her copies as well. I finished paying, and then approached and asked her if she figured it out.

She turned and thanked me for giving her the courage to come over and try. She said that when she saw me go over and start my copies without any apparent frustration or problem, it gave her the courage to do the same. As she expressed gratitude to me, I realized that I felt as much gratitude for her. I really needed it pointed out that I COULD go do it myself! I really appreciated the reminder.

As she finished up, we walked out of the store together visiting. As we parted wishing each other a good afternoon, it was like I had found a friend – even if for just a moment, but it felt so GOOD! I have had other experiences with people in the stores this week, and it’s pretty fun!

Conference Gatherings

 This weekend we had General Conference, and at our house, we combined it with our Thanksgiving celebrations. That means lots of good food and family all together in the same place. It was a great weekend! We got to be taught about spiritual things and enjoy associating with one another in family things. We had a pizza smorgasbord, there were giant conference rolls slathered with cream cheese icing and caramel sauce. There were large muffins, a ham dinner, and even a hot dog roast! It was all so good. 

One of my favorite parts of course was my grandchildren. My goodness, they are so precious to me. I love them all so very much! Odin and Ellen both told me the cutest things throughout the weekend. Everlee snuggled in and fell asleep on my lap and Lena smiled and giggled to the delight of all who were around her. We visited, played games, and shared food. It was all so good, and the effort of preparation was rewarded a hundredfold! 

Not long ago it was suggested to me to make General Conference a celebration... and what a celebration we had! I remember years ago when my children were little and their dad was working shift work. Depending on his shift, he wasn't always able to attend the sessions of conference with me. During those times I would pack up all my little ones, and drive out to Grassy Lake where we watched conference with my mom and younger siblings. That was probably our first conference tradition, but the spirit of conference has been alive in our family from the beginning, and no matter how we celebrate that outpouring of the Spirit, I feel so blessed to do it with my family.

What Food Tells me about Life

This week were blessed to be able to attend a preparedness fireside where we learned about food safety and general preparedness for emergencies of every nature. One of the things that we learned was the essential nature of taking proper care of our food as it is an ideal place for bacteria to grow if given the chance. One interesting fact that was shared was that the food-born bacteria will double every twenty minutes… let’s put that into perspective…

If a genie appeared and gave you a choice, what you would choose: would you rather have a penny today, that doubled every day for a month, or $1 million today?

A million dollars sounds pretty good, but if you do the math… If you took a single penny and doubled it every day, by day 30, you would have $5,368,709.12.

Apply that to bacteria, and it is crazy what would happen in just a few hours. So why does our food have to have properties that make it go bad so quickly? Answer… I don’t know, but what lessons can we learn from our foods' susceptibility to spoilage?

If you compare sin to the penny or the bacteria in the food, you can see that a tiny bit of sin, introduced to the proper conditions will grow to an astronomical volume very quickly. In other words, it can get out of hand fast!!! A little sin can open the door to a LOT of sorrow! From our food, we also learn that while contaminated food can make us sick, our bodies can fight it off most of the time, and we can heal. The same is true for our spirits. Because Jesus atoned for our sins, we can repent and our spirits can heal. We will remember the sin, and the difficulty, but when we fully repent the feelings of guilt and remorse will be wiped clean – it will be as though we never gave in to temptation. We become to God as though we had never sinned. Similarly, we will still enjoy the good foods God has given us to eat, but we will be wary of foods that haven’t been handled properly every bit as much as spiritually, we will be wary of sin.

The Measure of a Season

 Gardens are funny things... you never quite know what will do well. We have lived in this location for 25 years and I have never grown an overly flourishing garden. Potatoes the size of apples were as big as they ever got, onions the size of golf balls, corn and squash - never! But this year, we put a lot of effort into preparing our garden boxes and planted them in faith. The yields have been amazing in some areas!

I have potatoes coming out of the garden this year that are 8-10 inches long! There haven't been any that are hollow either!

There is nothing as good as a garden fresh carrot, and we got a super sweet variety this year that we almost crave! They are so good and we have so many!

The tomatoes did amazingly well too, yielding 13-20 quarts thus far from about 12 plants! To date, there are still more growing in the greenhouse.

Corn has been unheard of in this little space, but this year we got some small cobs. not quite as sweet a variety as the Taber corn, but still so good.

The squash makes me smile. I planted 4 hills of buttercup squash and those vines have literally taken over! They climbed up the trellis and up into the Saskatoon bushes. I have squashes hanging over my head out there!!! It is like a treasure hunt, trying to find them all! But we brought in a good-sized box full so far with lots more still growing.

The onions did well, but the beans did not. The watermelon got shaded out by the potato plants and the cantaloup took forever to set fruit so they are small, to say the least. the beets never really grew, and for some reason, the cucumbers which are usually crazy were really tame this year. They provided some cukes, but nothing like usual.

I love to garden, but it seems that the yields are a little bit different each season. I wonder if that is how it is for us in the seasons of our lives. Some seasons will do great in some areas, and other areas may seem to struggle, and yet, the overall important factor is that we are producing, even if it is only one fruit that we bring forth, we are growing, stretching, blooming, and striving. 

We will fulfill all things in the measure of our season, and this year was the year for potatoes and squash at our house! I hope I can keep the perspective, that if something is struggling it doesn't diminish its value, it just needs time, patience, and effort so that it may thrive in its season... 

It's All About People!!!

 Have you ever considered the commandments in terms of people? It occurred to me this week that we actually can’t live the commandments without relationships! Relationships with God and relationships with others are at the heart of keeping the commandments. Each commandment we live by guides us in our interactions. To walk the covenant path we need people in much the same way!

Seeking to become Christlike is much the same! In order to develop Christlike qualities, we need people! You can’t be forgiving without people to forgive. You can’t be kind, merciful, loving or even humble without people to interact with! 

To truly grow and learn as God intends we need people to connect with!!!