meekness

you know how when you go to the craft stores in september and they already have christmas stuff up and you think, "ughh, it's not even halloween.  how can you bypass halloween and thanksgiving and go straight to christmas?"  well, fair warning, my post is about to skip halloween and go straight to thanksgiving.  kind of.   

i have been married for almost 12 years (time flies).  we got married the day after thanksgiving :).   people came to our wedding, gave us gifts and helped with food and flowers and decorations.  some of the people that came i barely even knew.  they were good friends of jeff's family or good friends of my family.  i remember feeling dumbfounded and in awe of the generosity of friends and family and acquaintances, so much so that i felt inadequate to relay my gratitude.  i was almost embarrassed by such an outpouring of goodness and goodworks; as if there were no need to make such a fuss over little ole me. 
 
this past sunday we had a lesson in sunday school on the beatitudes and i felt a little enlightened by the idea of meekness.  blessed are the meek, right.  for they will inherit the earth.  but what is meekness?

 President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Meekness implies a spirit of gratitude as opposed to an attitude of self-sufficiency, an acknowledgment of a greater power beyond oneself, a recognition of God, and an acceptance of his commandments”

i don't know that i ever equated meekness with gratitude.  meekness lacks arrogance and pride.  and as the beatitudes are a lesson for me on the character of Christ, Christ is meek.  he practices gratitude and lacks arrogance, even though he is all powerful.

although my recollection to when we got married may seem unrelated to sunday's lesson, it was one of the things i thought of.  i am grateful for all those people who did so much for me, but in my naivete and youth i don't think i ever thanked them adequately.  i regret that.  i wish i could go back and thank becky again for the beautiful job she did with the flowers, and jeff's parent's for the car, and my mom for everything, and jenna and my sister for the showers, my aunt for the dress and everyone again for coming, and jeff for making it perfect. 

i hope you'll forgive me for waxing nostalgic, but i felt like i needed to start with where meekness took me (does that make sense).  my life is fairly ordinary.  it's quite routine actually, and occasionally boring (barring the craziness of my children), so i sometimes fail to find the greater meaning in each day.  sometimes there is no greater meaning in each day?  arguable.  anyway.  how do i say this without getting all sentimental and stuff... i think meekness is a way to see the meaning.  i know it is.  it's definitely the way to see god's hand in my life.  and definitely the way to show the people around me how amazing they really are...

so thanks steve, for the lesson on sunday :). 

and thank you jeff, for marrying me
    

favorite things these days

Yes, it has been a long while. I am currently working on a meaningfulness project, and part of this project is to resume the blogging. So here I am. While this specific blog deals with my family, I would like to write about some of the things I love right now about my family.

I love the way Lauren talks. "Mom, my your baby?" Yes, you are my baby. "Mom, my snuggle you just a yittle bit?" she asks, eyes and nose scrunched up, fingers pinched together. Just a yittle bit. I love watching Addie find her place amidst three sisters. She's learning what she likes and doesn't like. She's overcoming some of her timidness and has learned how to swing herself, and is quite helpful with the chores. I love watching Nicole skate. If she isn't wearing her skates, she's sleeping. The other night I ran about 2 miles around the park and she skated with me the entire time. She falls a few times, but gets right up. I'm almost tempted to buy some for myself so I can skate with her! Wouldn't that be amusing. I love watching Haley's mind mature even more. Together, we listen to books on tape. She helps me cook and likes to do any kind of craft. She's quite talented, and has far surpassed her mother's crafting ability. My favorite thing about Jeff right now is how even though he's dog-tired and annoyed that they're still awake, he lets Lauren or Addie (it's usually one of them) tackle or snuggle him. I love that he builds them a fire outside and takes them to the shop. I love that he includes me in all his grandiose ideas...