CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRISTINE AND CAMERON FOR THE SAFE ARRIVAL OF BABY EMILIE! We're so happy for them all, and it's exciting for us to have a new cousin and niece. They also deserve a huge thanks for finishing up the Provo house and running the Parade of Homes events there. We've had good traffic, but no purchase offers... yet...?
After all the fun birthday celebrations last Friday, we were a little drained, so we didn't get too crazy with the anniversary celebrations on Saturday. I think it's ok to celebrate 14 years of marital bliss by walking around a few sports stores, buying much-needed running clothes, and then having burgers at In-N-Out with Dan & Hailey. It was heaven to be able to leave the kids with Micah and her friend, and not have to worry about them.
This week is crazy in many ways. Since I'm leaving for Zion's Camp this Saturday morning, this is my last week to prepare for our move after I get back in town. Luckily we have the whole last week of June to move, but still, there's a TON to get done. So we're packing up boxes, sorting through things we haven't seen since our last move three years ago, and generally getting ready.
It's also crazy because I have a lot to do to get ready for the camp. To explain, it's a young men's high adventure camp with a spiritual theme. I'm a team captain of 12 YM (none of whom I know), and there's a bunch of stuff I have to prepare for, like contacting all the boys and their parents, daily devotionals, a Sunday School lesson, and just gathering all my own gear. It's going to get down to freezing at night up there, so I'm preparing to be cold. Not sure what possessed me to commit to doing that for a whole week. Kind of wish I could take that one back (especially having to use a full week of vacation!). But it will be fun and hopefully I don't break a leg or have a heart attack in the 50 degree water (think scout camp swim check...uggh!).
Work is really heavy this week as well. I have two big projects going full steam right now, and it's tough to juggle them. Pretty exciting though, and I guess it's better than being bored...
And then the kids get out of school on Wednesday. They're already going to swim team workouts, and now they have parties and carnivals, and they generally want to stay up a lot later than they should. All of this would be much more fun if we didn't have to lug Brig around everywhere one of us goes - he still can't walk because of the darn foot injury, and it's driving us crazy. Unfortunately he's also become a bit whiny as he relies on us for a lot.
We're also in the middle of trying to get home owner's insurance for our Provo home, and then we'll hopefully be able to close on a mortgage this week. It takes time to get all this done, especially when we're in a different state.
We're good though...
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Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”
f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”
In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”
Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”
Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”10 May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."
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