hit counter

Real Life Real Joy

Decorating the Tree

by Leave a Comment

The instagram version of decorating the tree:

Christmas music in the background, Josh ignoring his friends and diligently helping me put up the tree, kids searching for “their” ornaments and lovingly hanging them, hot chocolate, good conversation, laughter, uplifting talk about service, and a finished, beautiful, although obviously kid decorated, tree.

And the real story:

Our tree is a beautiful 9 ft unlit wonder that requires you to work hard to not only get the pole straight, but then carefully sort, assemble and “fluff” the branches before adding lights. I was grumpy about it. Josh was joyful and helped me carry, sort and fluff. More than half our lights were burnt out. The replacement option Justin brought home from work was a different color, so I quickly ran to the store and grabbed the last three boxes of lights at Smiths. Also a different color. We decided to embrace the “ombre look”. The kids searched for their ornaments, and also fought about whose was whose until Anna decided to write the owner’s name on the ones that were in dispute.

Justin decided to set up our new Google home while the kids and I worked on the tree. It played beautiful Christmas music which was interrupted every two seconds by Max saying “Okay Google, How does a TV work?” or “Okay Google, how much does a dinosaur bone weigh?” It got even better when Justin taught them that if they said, “Okay Google I’m bored.” that Google would play games with them. There was laughter. Justin did make some pretty awesome hot chocolate, and in the end there was a beautiful tree, some Light the World discussion, and a destroyed house that I’m still trying to put back in order.

*The kids new ornaments: sharks for the boys, a dolphin for Anna, and a tiger that “roars” for AJ (not pictured)

The first story seems magical. So does the second story.

The first story captures the essential elements, beauty, love, family.

The second story goes deeper. It makes me laugh and reminds me of my family’s quirks, and the joys, and irritations of living with five other completely unique human beings.

Both stories have their purpose.

Everyone has a story. Every person that I come in contact with has a deep personal story that brought them to the place they are at. I never know the whole story. Not even with the people that I love most. Sometimes I know the instagram version, sometimes I know more, but not all of it. Never all of it.  There is only One who knows it all.

Even the second story I wrote is superficial. I could talk about each participants personality, how much it meant to me that Josh helped me, or how much Justin hates decorating the tree, but is there anyway.

My gift to Christ this Christmas season is to try to remember there is always more to everyone’s story, and grant them grace.

 

 

You Might Also Like

What I Learned From Being a Mom to 6 On Social Media, Friendship, and Reality A Birth Story: involving the NICU a failed epidural and under 2 hours of labor Mom Guilt

Five Thoughts on a Sunday (2)

by Leave a Comment

  1. I recently came across the idea of “spiritually creating” your day before you physically do it. I love this concept. The scriptures teach us that all things were created spiritually before they were physically created, so to me spiritually creating my day means turning it over to God. Making sure that I’m in a place that I can listen and be directed by him if my plans don’t align with his. Although, I’m not above asking for his help in accomplishing some of my plans either. I put this quote by C.S. Lewis in my calendar, so I can see it daily as a reminder. “The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them back; in listening to the other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in and out of the wind”. – Mere Christianity
  2. I love symbolism. Especially when it’s not overt. When it’s something that we discover for ourselves or even make up for ourselves as a way to remind us of a deeper meaning. Sometimes our routines can get mundane boring even. Food prep, consumption, and clean up is an especially hard one for me. Make breakfast, clean it up, an hour later, make lunch, clean it up (Ok i don’t always clean it up). After school snacks, Dinner repeat. So many hours in the kitchen.  Preparing physical healthy food for my family helps them not only be strong and have energy to do all that they need to, but can remind me of the importance of providing spiritual food as well. The constant cleaning up can remind me of the need to constantly evaluate, turn to the Savior, and clean up our own lives – and to do it with a good attitude. Procrastinating this process makes it less fun, but it still always feels good when it’s complete. Waking up really early with a baby (damn you daylight savings) can remind me to always be ready to serve (okay maybe that ones a stretch).. I’m still working on a deeper meaning for changing diapers.
  3. I’ve been noticing lately with my kids and with others that I love that every attribute has a positive and negative aspect. Which has made me think about the concept of turning weaknesses into strengths. I have one child who feels things really deeply. When he was four he got up to share his testimony in church and said with all conviction, “I know Jesus is real.” This same child has gotten hurt very easily by insensitive comments of others among many other things. Another child is incredibly determined -he may or may not have also been described as relentless. Great if he is reaching for a goal. Not fantastic if he is trying to convince his Mom he needs more candy/screen time/anything. The trick is to see how the attribute can be positive.
  4. Growing up my parents talked a lot about “the law of the middle”.  I’ve been pondering what that means lately and how to apply it to my own family because I think it’s an essential concept. Especially in my current and ongoing battle against sugar and screens (every parent battles this right?)    It doesn’t mean doing things half-way or not being fully committed to the Gospel, to a cause, to each other, to health. I think it means what’s in your heart is more important than what you do. It looks like teaching your children to love the scriptures so they want to be in them as often as possible, not to spend a specific amount of time in them every day. It looks like teaching your children that sugar is not good for you, not that you should never touch it again.  It looks like finding joy in the Sabbath day and drawing closer as a family and to Christ through it – not a specific list of dos and don’ts.  It looks like adding in grace. I was reading Letters to a Young Muslim the other day and came across this quote. “intensity distorts reality”. I loved it. I think that nails an aspect of it.  My Mom mentioned that there’s a talk about it – I couldn’t find it. Sent it please Mom/Dad. It’s one of those things that I feel like I almost understand, but I’m not quite there.
  5. I love getting to know my kids better as they get older. Yesterday Josh rode his bike by me as I ran and we talked about everything from Pokemon (an abbreviation for pocket monsters – who knew?! I feel like that tidbit is going to win me a trivial pursuit game someday) to what the world would be like if countries didn’t exist. Each one of them is so incredibly different – to the point I don’t know if they would be friends if they weren’t thrown together in a family. But also so incredibly cool and unique and sometimes I just feel a bubble of joy that I get to hang out with them and get a glimpse of their hearts.

You Might Also Like

To My Oldest A Month After His Birthday (Because that’s how we roll sometimes) Mom Guilt Things I didn’t think to tell them…. Family Valentine Traditions

Fall Break: Our Journey to the Middle of Nowhere

by Leave a Comment

I have wanted to go to Great Basin National Park and Ely Nevada for a long time, but beach trips keep getting in the way of my best laid plans. I know it’s not a terrible problem to have, I just like some variety in my life. But I decided Fall Break it was going to happen, whether or not anyone else wanted to come with me. Originally it was just going to be me and the kids. Justin was supposed to be on a boys trip in Memphis. But a back injury kept him home with us, and he decided that the short drive might be bearable if we stopped every hour or so. We’re so glad he came.We got up early and headed straight for Leihman Caves in Great Basin National Park. They were pretty magnificent.A highlight: standing in complete blackness. When the lights came back on max had his arms wrapped around Anna in a death grip.
After seeing all the stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, pounding on the cave door to simulate an earthquake, and looking for bats, we headed outside for a picnic.
I loved all the Fall colors. It’s still fairly summery where I’m at. AJ wasn’t too keen on letting Justin rest.Anna taught us how to play “Will you Marry Me?” Then we drove up 7500 more feet. Justin and AJ napped in the car, while the kids and I hiked up to the Bristlecone pine trees. We weren’t very prepared for the icy trail, and got a few sideways looks from hikers, but we made it. Unfortunately my phone died in route so I have no pictures, but the trees were worth every step. Most of them were thousands of years old. It always awes me a little to be near something that ancient, to wonder what it’s born witness to in its life. Josh and went a little farther to see the glacier, and then we all headed down to our hotel.Hidden Canyon Retreat. Was between two tiny towns 7 miles off a dirt road, and it was the best part of our trip. These guys were hanging out while we drove to our room.  We were some of the only guests and had the outdoor hot tub all to ourselves that night. We soaked and looked at thousands of stars.Anna got some whittling done.And my family is now all convinced that we need a ping pong table.     The property was beautiful.“On the way home” which turned out to not be quite as on the way as I’d planned. We hit up the Northern Nevada Railway for a ride on a steam engine. FYI when engines run on coal it rains down from the sky on you while you ride.AJ thought it was too cool to take a nap.

Your train ticket includes a walking tour of the yard, which we only made it through half of, because of a baby that hadn’t napped. But the kids loved it. It’s a working yard, meaning that there were guys in there working on engines, they got to see all the tools and I may or may not have been worried that someone was going to fall into one of the pits and die. An authentic experience:) I love random trips.

You Might Also Like

Traveling With Kids… Ghost Town- Grafton Utah What I Learned From Being a Mom to 6 Cedar Breaks

A Culture of Service

by Leave a Comment

Hurricanes, earthquakes, refugees, genocide, prejudice, and now a mass shooting in my backyard. There is so much to do, so much we can do, and yet often I don’t know where to start. I see the devastation spinning through my social media channels and in the news, it hurts my heart. We’ve discussed as a family what we can and should do to help, and yet, as of right now I am doing and have done very little. But I want my kids to know.

You always can, and always should, do something.

A couple weeks ago, circumstances sent me to both the public health department, and the local family clinic – which cater to the uninsured and underinsured. I live in a fairly homogenous small town. It’s easy to believe that everyone is doing fine. There is no poverty, no hurt, no hunger. False. The waiting room was full of people that would rather go somewhere else but had no other option. Some had obvious health conditions, some had obviously had better days, some were pleasant, some were cranky. The receptionist smiled at everyone. I left, but the smile of the receptionist stayed with me. She brightened what could have been a miserable place.

She did something.

 

Throughout my career as a mother I have had many grand service schemes. A service project once a month. Deliver cookies every Sunday, volunteer weekly at a nursing home. We have yet to find a tradition that sticks – or in some cases, one that has gotten beyond the talking stage.Continue Reading

You Might Also Like

Does a “simple life” make us selfish? Five Thoughts on a Friday (now a Sunday) The And Motherhood is for Me.