Valentine's Package

We had so much fun yesterday! We have been collecting items for the last four or five days to fill a special box just for Naomi. Her first care package from us. We wanted to go along a Valentines theme even though she won't receive it for Valentines. So here's what we did.

First we used red wrapping paper to line the inside of the box and then we covered the bottom of the box with white glitter paper just to make it look pretty. The insides of the flaps were decorated with pink and red scrapbook paper that we wrote messages of love on and decorated. Charity and Breanna did most of the box decorating. While they were doing that Myles and I, worked in the kitchen baking a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies to send along. Hopefully they stay fresh enough that she can enjoy them by the time that they get to her. While we were doing that, dad was popping popcorn and filled a great big bowl for us. As soon as the cookies were done baking we mixed up a light caramel sauce and then made caramel popcorn. By that time the box was all decorated. We filled it full of things that we hope will delight Naomi. We put in red sticky notes, red chocolate bars like Kit Kat and Crispy  Crunch, we put in some brand-new pens, and an address book so she has a place for the addresses of the special people she wants to remember. Charity made a little heart pillow, and we made half a dozen candy roses out of Hershey kisses, creating a small bouquet of flowers to go on top of everything. Last week I also crocheted a headband for her to help her keep her ears warm out there in the cold. The box also had two dozen cookies. It was well packed. Once all the items were in we put a great big layer of cellophane on top and then we dumped in as much caramel popcorn as we needed to fill all the spaces. We left a small hollow in the top to hold the bouquet of flowers. And then we folded in the flaps and added a few little springing hearts and a card for her to find as she begins to open her box. And then Dad helped us tape it all up nice and solid. We used so much tape, that we were tempted to blame the wrapping job on Brandon and Alisha… Ha ha.

Well we didn't stop there. After we had the box all taped up in the address put on, we wrote messages on the outside of the box with a marker. It was Ffamily Day, but to our surprise the post office was open so Charity, Breanna and I set out to mail our package. It weighed almost 7 pounds. We were told she will receive it next Tuesday, a week from today. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch her open that package. If she has as much fun opening it as we had packing it will have to do this often. What a great family project! It gets everyone involved!

I forgot to take pictures as we made the package so I can't even include pictures but, maybe she'll take some pictures of her opening it up - that would be cool. There is much joy in the thoughtful things that we are able to do for each other.

Serve With Honor

Serve with honor – those are the words we used to send our sweet daughter, Naomi, off into the mission field where she will share her knowledge and belief of God and his restored gospel here upon this earth with all who will listen to her. What a great challenge and what an honor for her to be entrusted by the Lord to take His message of joy and happiness to a corner of the world where it is needed. Naomi will spend two weeks in Provo, Utah in the Missionary Training Center where she will be taught a crash course in how to teach by the spirit. The material she will be teaching is nothing new to her, as she is already well acquainted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. From Utah, Naomi will travel to Halifax, Canada where she will serve for a period of up to two months. This is her visa waiting portion of her mission. From Halifax, Naomi will then travel to the Nampa, Idaho mission where she'll spend the remaining months of her mission time there.

Here is Naomi with her group in the MTC. Sister Mata, her companion, is standing to her right.

I have to admit, that as her mother I have felt a little bit of anxiety at times as we have gone through the process of letting her go. She is never far from my thoughts, but I am so excited for her and the experiences she is having. There are times when I am almost envious. When she flew from Utah to Halifax there was one connection where she only had 30 minutes to catch her next flight. I was a little bit concerned about that one. I remember looking at the clock at five minutes before her flight was to leave and offering a silent prayer that she would make it to her gate on time. As we spoke later that evening she told me that she had actually sat in the wrong gate. Moments before her plane was to leave she got up and asked someone who knew. I am certain that the Lord heard and answered my prayer and as a result she was impressed to ask for assistance, because she had just enough time to get to where she needed to be to catch her plane. What a delightful blessing it is to have the Lord watching over my missionary. I love the spirit that has come more abundantly into our home as we ponder on missionary work and as we send letter and packages to her.

Naomi has barely been gone two weeks but already we feel the blessings flowing into our lives. The Lord is so aware of us. He is so mindful of our needs. He is so generous in blessing us daily. I am so thankful for the opportunities we have to ponder His hand in our lives as well as to see His hand guiding and training Naomi in His work - that of building up His kingdom here on the earth.

A Lifetime of Accumulation

Last week I was privileged to help an older couple pack up their home in preparation for moving. They have lived there for nearly 20 years and there was a lot of stuff to go through. How do you decide what you keep and what you throw away? How do you decide if someone else would find it usable or garbage? How do you decide when to let go of the sentimental things that you have collected through your life?

This is not the first time that I have helped older couples pack up their belongings in preparation for a move. I have helped people organize rooms and spaces and the same questions are just as relevant in that time as they are in a move. In fact, I have asked myself some of these questions when I declutter in my own home.  

It is my experience that when we downsize and simplify our homes, there is a feeling of space or freedom that comes. It is a delightful! It would seem that every possession we have to keep track of in our homes causes mind clutter. We have to mentally keep track of it too. There are times when I have purchased things and completely forgotten that I even have them. But more often than not, I remember purchasing something, but I simply cannot remember where I put it away.

So taking all these things into consideration, I was talking with my husband a few nights ago and we were talking about letting things go. There are feelings we experience in life that build, accumulate, and sometimes become overwhelming. How do you decide what to let go of? How do you decide if a feeling blesses or curses you or those you love? How do you decide which feelings have been accumulated simply from habit and comfort rather than from need? How do you decide which of those comfortable feelings are harming you? And most importantly, how do you let go of them?

I have been told by some that you cannot let things go – rather you have to hang onto them, cling to them, as you work through them. But what is the sense of holding on, and clinging to things that hinder your progress. Is it not like trying to shove one more material item into a box, or a corner, or a cupboard and finding all of those things so full that you find yourself having to leave it on the floor? have you ever tripped over one of those things?

 The day will come that if we want to move on with our lives we will have to box up some of these feelings and completely eradicate them from our hearts. This is what I saw this older couple do with their possessions last week. They had so many bags and boxes that they filled full of items that were no longer useful or beneficial to them. Some of it went to the dump, and some of it went to recycle. Either way, these are things that they will never stumble over again and wonder what to do with. 

Our feelings that trip us up, need to be boxed up or bag and carried from our lives. We may decide to take them to the dump, symbolically letting them go as we recognize that they hold us back and prevent us from progressing. We may bag them up and send them to recycle symbolically handing them to our Savior where He takes those negative feelings, purifies and perfects them and then offers us the replacements in the form of love. Love for ourselves, love for our neighbors, and a love that radiates to all we meet! He is there to bless us and help us as we let go and eliminate things that should not linger permanently in our hearts. AndHhe is the only one that can do this.

I have felt Him work his miracles work in my heart. I have had an increase of joy, love, and all forms of goodness as I have given over to Him the destructive, dark feelings that have sought a place in me. I am so thankful I have not hung onto them, or found comfort in them or felt the need to cling to them for some idea of identity or purpose. I am so grateful I can purge my life of the useless feelings that do not benefit me. This is a moving job for the Savior. He comes into your heart and helps you box up those unneeded things and he takes them away for you and that makes room in your heart for love, peace, and joy everlasting.

Knowing Better

The other day as I came into the living room, there was a flutter of wings and a lot of commotion near the birdcage. Upon investigating I discovered that my cat had managed to get himself in between the house plants and the cage and it was really upsetting the birds. Now, Charlie knows better. We have gotten after him a number of times over the last year for similar incidents. In fact, he even knocked the birdcage down one Sunday shortly after we got him. It scared him so bad that he went and hid until we got home from church. Thankfully the birds had the good sense to stay in the cage because they could have gotten out. So he knows better. Stuck in a space barely big enough to turn around, he was caught and reprimanded. I firmly said, "Charlie, get out of there!" And it was enough to send him running. He literally exuded guilt. 

He is similar when it comes to scratching the furniture. He knows better, he knows that that isn't allowed. But for some reason he can't seem to resist. When I hear it happening, All I have to do is firmly call out "Charlie, stop it!" Usually he'll stop and slink away but if he doesn't, all I have to do is start walking toward him, and off he goes.

It is an interesting phenomenon. Not only do I see it in my cat, but I have witnessed it in my children quite often. I have to chuckle when I come around the kitchen corner, just in those hours before it's time to eat, and discover them they're eating something that they know they shouldn't be eating that close to supper. They always jump, or act guilty, or try to sneak away without discovery. But I know that they know better.

What is it about us, that when we know better, we still justify doing something we know we shouldn't do. I have taken the opportunity over a period of several years, for frequent self-introspection. I have always had a high guilt consciousness, or as I often fondly refer to it as my overactive conscience. However, I am thankful for my conscience. It has prevented me from doing things that I knew I should not do and as a result, I have seldom found myself stuck between houseplants and birdcages, wishing for a way to escape. I am so thankful for this blessing. I don't know what I did to deserve such a diligent conscience, but I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for it. It has never steered me wrong. Doing something you know is wrong, even when no one is around, will never relieve you of the guilt and regrets that come with it... Especially when you know better.

I will continue to remind my cat to behave. I will continue to remain my children of the blessings of obedience. And I will continue to be grateful for my own blessing of an overactive conscience. Listening to that conscience has become a source of joy that brings with it peace and happiness. I am thankful that I know better!

Congestion to Health

Happy New Year! I can say that now, because I mostly have a voice again, and I can breathe like I'm supposed to!!! Today I celebrated my return to health by doing some serious cleaning in my house. I focused my efforts on only one room. I found dust bunnies, dirty laundry, I even found a knitting pattern that I thought I had lost forever… It feels so good to have things organized and in their place where they belong.

This morning I attended a Relief Society breakfast. After the meal they gave us a message and encouraged us to set some goals specifically for ourselves. When I came home, I pondered the goals that I wanted to set. I have goals that I made last year or the year before that I want to continue to do for the rest of my life. I realized that to be at my best, and to be most effective in achieving these new goals as well as carrying on with the old ones, that having things neat and tidy and clean would help me accomplish this desire. This room being clean makes it possible to study the gospel more effectively, think clearly, pray sincerely, and feel the peace of the Savior. In fact, I think that this was the first step in accomplishing the goals I have set for myself for this year.

Now having just gotten over a bad cold, I feel much like this room being recently cleansed and organized again. There is no longer anything in my sinuses plugging me up and inhibiting me from taking a breath, my lungs are mostly clear, my eyes are no longer heavy and droopy, my skin is no longer chapped and dry, my throat is no longer itchy and sore, and I no longer have a cough that expels every drop of breath within me. Having those things gone is so much like cleaning a room. It feels great!

As a seminary teacher, I can't help but see the parallel to the atonement of Christ which both heals and cleanses our lives. I'm so grateful for the reminders of these things that I've had today. It is a joy to me to be clean and pure. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, and just like the room that I cleaned today – sometimes things get cluttered and need to be put right again, and sometimes I catch a bug and get sick, but I know that it is through the atonement of Jesus Christ and through obedience to His laws that spiritual cleansing and purification come to pass.