Of Peas and Palates

One of my sisters and I were talking about how to deal with challenges. I was given permission to share the following:

A friend talked to the bishop about a problem. He told her that her problem is that she's focusing too much on the peas. She has a wide variety of food available, but she's only putting peas on her plate. It doesn't matter how much you like peas; if that's all you're eating, you're going to get sick of peas! He told her to broaden her palate and try some chicken and some pasta and some fruit, and then the peas will be in their proper perspective again.

This is brilliant, astounding wisdom!

I need to scoot my peas over so I have room on my plate for the variety of food I really desire.

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Noteworthy: This is my 400th post! Wow. I guess it's safe to say that I like to write! In many ways, my first post seems like a long time ago. What a fun two years... actually 26 months, but who's counting? (besides me; lol) Thanks to Ray, for introducing me to blogging, and to Leslie, for the motivation to start my own blog!

[I just broke down what this means... approximately 200 posts per year, averaging about 15 per month, which averages to nearly 4 per week... Yeah, I guess it *is* safe to say I like to write!]

Publishing Peace

Today in seminary we talked about the things Abinadi taught King Noah and his priests. They had asked Abinadi if he could explain some verses from Isaiah.

It starts: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace... that publisheth salvation..." (Mosiah 12:20-24)

Abinadi reiterates the Ten Commandments and explains that salvation does not come through the Law of Moses alone. He then quotes Isaiah speaking Messianically, and testifies of Christ's intercession and atonement. Finally, he answers their question as to what these verses mean.

Abinadi teaches that when Christ has "made an offering for sin he shall see his seed." (Mosiah 15:10) He explains that Christ's seed are those who hearken and believe, and the prophets, and those who publish peace and bring good tidings of good. This last group of people refers to missionary work. Abinadi also later includes those who have died in ignorance and little children. (Mosiah 15:24-25)

Because I am teaching seminary, I am even more apt than I was previously to think of how to apply scriptures in my own life. With an insight I had while preparing my lesson, these verses right now become extremely personal:

"And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet! And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace! And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace..." (Mosiah 15:15-17; italics added)

I have a margin note from 2006 that simply says: "past, present, future missionary work"

And it hit me that this is talking about my family. Ray was a missionary. Ryan currently is a missionary. Jeffrey someday will be a missionary (or the girls someday may be missionaries). Past, present, future... one eternal round.

"O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yeah, him who has granted salvation unto his people." (Mosiah 15:18)

"Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Mosiah 14:4-5; Isaiah 53:4-5)

The atonement is a doctrine of grace and healing. Christ is the good news; He is the peace we are publishing.

Loaded Blessings!

This has been a week with many blessings! I will try to be brief. (Hahaha. I know - 'me' and 'brief' are not synonymous...)

* Sarah had her bishop's interview for her BYU application. I'm grateful for fee waivers, so Sarah can apply to the 7 schools she has narrowed down as her top choices! [I know some of you will ask, so here's her list: U of U, USC, BYU, Embry-Riddle in FL, Utah State, U of MO, and Monmouth in IL.]

* We hosted a cottage meeting in our home for LDS church members in this area. It was sparsely attended as far as those who were invited, but we expected that. It went well, and we enjoyed the time with those who did come! Ray and Andy [who isn't LDS but came with a friend] had a long, good conversation, and Kathryn was one of the first to welcome us to Canton with open arms. Her kids and our kids get along well. We will have these gatherings on a regular basis. It's neat to see the Lord's hand in preparing us, when we served in the Harrison Branch, for this type of thing...

* It's a blessing to have kids who overall enjoy school and do well. It makes parent-teacher conferences much more enjoyable! lol

* I am grateful for RS and the Quincy Ward. Our RS meeting was called Death by Chocolate. Friends, chocolate, conversation, "free time" - what could be better?! Someone even brought Buckeyes (small balls of peanut butter dipped in chocolate), and of course I immediately thought of Ohio! [Emma, I brought the famous Bowers choc chip cookies. Thanks for sharing the recipe back in our YW days. They are a hit here, too!]

* I received the most unexpected and wonderful phone call this week. My RS Pres called and invited me to go to lunch the next day - her treat, here in Canton! She just wanted to spend time with me and get to know me better. She is an amazing and inspiring woman. On our first Sunday here, she was the very first person who said hi to me and gave me a hug. She has tremendous enthusiasm and love. It was fantastic spending time with her. What a fun blessing!

* Another blessing this week was having lots of time with Ray. The Admissions Office has staggered start times on a scheduled basis, so some days Ray works 8-5, another day 10-7, etc. On one of his later days this week, we made breakfast and ate together. (We don't usually get to share this meal.) We also ate lunch together in the Culver cafeteria on Fri. And we had a long date Wed night when we took Jessica to Quincy for the YW to attend the QHS play. [Sarah had other things planned.] We've played board/card games with the kids. I enjoy spending time with my Hubby and my family!

* We were able to check off a number of items on our to-do list: fix the headlight on the van [whew, won't get pulled over for that again!], switch our auto insurance, get the van inspected, take Sarah to get her instruction permit, register the van, and transfer my driver license from OH to MO. I also registered to vote. It's always nice when things like this cost less than expected! Laura had fun helping Ray put the MO license plates on the van. And Sarah has been out to practice driving with Ray. She's excited!

* We went to the play at the high school, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Sarah and Jessica were in the stage crew, helping with lights, sounds, and curtain. A lot of their friends were involved in the play, including Ally who attends seminary with them. Everyone did a really good job!! Jeff came with us, and got a backstage tour afterward. There's a reason he is majoring in technical theatre - he practically breathes tech stuff!

* One of the best blessings this week: Katasha was invited to a friend's birthday party in Quincy. (We are friends with the whole family.) We'd talked about meeting in West Quincy (half-way...ish), but this morning Amber called and said they had some bags of clothes to bring for the girls so they'd come to Canton. When they arrived, she told me she had something to show me and took me outside to their truck. They also brought a couch, loveseat, and ottoman for us!!! The furniture is used but in good condition. (She had talked to Ray, so he knew about this - but I was totally taken by surprise!)

When we moved, we ran out of room on the truck for a lot of things. We also had decided to give away some furniture. What that means is we chose bedroom and other furniture over a torn-up couch, and we had to give away our glider/ottoman, Ray's recliner, etc. So we have had one comfy easy chair, bean bag chairs, kitchen chairs, and beds [or the floor] as "sitting furniture." You do what you gotta do, and it's amazing what you can learn to live without - but wow! What a blessing this is!

I almost started to cry when I realized what Amber and Trey had done for us. I am tearing up again as I type this. It is easy to notice that someone doesn't have a couch when you are in their home. It is more difficult to decide to do something to alleviate the situation. They didn't go out and buy something new for us, but they paid attention when someone had something available and they thought of us. And then they did something even better, they DID something about it - they cared enough to get the furniture for us. That is the kind of service Christ would perform.

And we are the grateful recipients of it. W-o-w.

I am humbled at the goodness and grace of my Savior and those who strive to follow Him. I want to be this kind of disciple. I want to serve others in such personal, meaningful ways.

This was a week loaded with blessings.

Momentous: Am I or Am I Not Yet?

Today was a momentous day! After many delays, Sarah finally has what Missouri calls an Instruction Permit - what some states call a temp or learner's driver license. Sarah is relieved and excited!

[Random trivia: Did you know that technically it is driver license, not driver's license?]

Here are some major positives to living here in a small town... or in this county... or in this state... or in all of the above:

Sarah's permit cost $3.50 - about the only way to beat that is free! Eligible age is 15. [Yeah, she's way past that, but you do what you can do...] There is no required driver's ed beyond 40 hours (including 10 nighttime driving hours) with your parent, legal guardian, or certified trainer over a minimum of 6 months. The other requirements and restrictions are similar to other states in which we've lived (number of passengers, restricted hours, etc).

[Missouri has a Graduated Driver License Law, which is a three step process from an instruction permit (eligible age 15) to a restricted intermediate license (age 16, after passing the driving test) to a full license for a minor (age 18).]

The biggest reason it has taken our older kids so long to get their licenses is no longer an issue - there is no $300+ required driver's ed!! Wahoo!

Today was also momentous because while we were at the licensing office in the county seat [gotta take advantage of that 15 minute drive when you're counting gas pennies!] I switched my driver license, registered Missouri license plates for the van, and registered to vote.

This, unfortunately, made up for the minuscule fee for Sarah's permit. However, $20 buys one a valid driver license for 6 years in Missouri! (In comparison, Ohio licenses are valid for 4 years.) The registration was about twice that, though inspection/registration is every two years here. (This I don't recall, but it seems that previously we had to register the van yearly. Ohio friends? Is it 1 or 2 years there?)

So legally and officially, I am considered a Missourian now. At least according to my new driver license, license plates, and voter registration...

The question is: How do I feel about that? Am I, or am I not yet, a Missourian??

We are creeping up on 4 months here. Wow! During the first few months, the distinction of our Ohio plates on the van made me happy for they reminded me of home. [Yes, I am from Ohio and proud of it!] But since my huge meltdown, I have had a craving to fit in, to blend in, to be here.

I really am ready to "blend in" - but I don't completely feel like a Missourian yet. Will I ever? Will others ever see me as a real Missourian? Only time will tell! But at least I am ready to dive in and immerse myself here. I am ready to internalize Missouri and give it a chance.

Flip Side Blessings

This has been a week of having a flip side to everything! There were many frustrations, but also many blessings.

Ray had his final week of fall travel - 5 travel weeks over the past 7 weeks. It was wonderful that his last college fair on Thurs was early enough and close enough that he arrived home at 6:30 PM instead of the usual midnight! The flip side was that he wasn't here when Katasha was sick and needed a priesthood blessing, nor for half the time that our furnace was out when it would have been nice to receive his hugs and borrow his body warmth!

The school nurse called on Mon afternoon and I picked up Laura early from school. We haven't been hit too hard with all the flu/cold bugs going around, but I couldn't help thinking, 'Another round of illness, here we come...' The flip side was that Laura's stomach ache and slight temperature eased quickly, and it turned out that she felt much better after eating. She's been fine since then.

Katasha came home from school on Monday not feeling well. She had a rough night and stayed home from school Tues and Wed. Her temp never went above 100.6, but on Tues she slept nearly all day and the few times she did get up, she was dizzy and sore. On Wed she was no longer dizzy and felt somewhat better - but she was hoarse and could hardly talk. We had fun watching a movie together. The flip side was that Ray was traveling, so I called our home teachers Tues evening. They unhesitatingly and graciously drove from Quincy (about an hour round-trip) to give a 5 minute priesthood blessing and make sure she was all right. I was in tears with the giving of such Christ-like service!! What a phenomenal blessing!

That sounds so minimal and succinct... I cannot adequately describe the gratitude I felt for these two men coming to help my family in such a time of need! I expressed my thanks to them, but they were so humble and didn't think anything of their simple act of kindness. It was a little thing that, at the same time, was HUGE. I was in tears... Truly, they exemplify the love and service of our Savior.

The other flip side is that Thurs Katasha felt great and went to school. She came home laughing and singing. It was wonderful to hear that again after 3 days of virtual silence from her! However, she lost her voice and her stomach started to hurt on Fri, so she only made it through 1 hour of school and then she was home again... Poor girl! At least she felt well enough to work on a social studies project and read. (She also was here to see the progress of the furnace installation first-hand.)

A related blessing this week was Jeffrey coming home to stay with Katasha Wed evening, so I could take the girls to church activities and lead Activity Days. It's neat that he is going to college close enough to do that - and that he was willing to give up his evening. The only flip side (from my perspective) was Jeff giving up his usual activities.

I was pulled over Wed night for a burned out headlight... not once, but twice. (Canton police and highway patrol... going to and from church activities) I was already feeling irritable about the way the week was going, including the non-delivery of our promised furnace that day, so this was not good news for me. The flip side is that both times I only received warnings. I could have been ticketed, and they would have been justified. So I count that as a big blessing!

Sarah and Jessica are doing tech crew for the school play, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. They are enjoying it. The play goes on this weekend. I'm grateful that my kids are making friends and getting involved. The flip side is that it takes time. Luckily, they haven't had any trouble keeping up with their homework.

Sarah is also in the process of applying to colleges, and the counselor sent out her transcript and ACT scores. This week she also ordered graduation announcements/cap and gown. She is excited and counting down the months! I am proud of her! The flip side is considering how this affects me as Mama. It's a little strange to think that in 10 months, half of my kids will be out of our home... Eek!!

Then there is the situation with our furnace... This was a l-o-n-g 12 days. Do you know how tense your body gets when you are cold for an extended period of time?!? The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual stamina required to endure this state of affairs was profound. The flip side is that now the furnace is replaced, the release of tension is so intense I can literally feel the difference - in my body, in my mind, in my attitude!! Heat is amazing. I will never take it for granted again!

I have also realized that being cold inhibits your ability to think clearly and positively, and it's easy to get frustrated and only see your own perspective with narrow blinders. The flip side is that when you gain insight into the bigger picture, it is easier to be charitable and understand the delays that happened in this circumstance. Neither we nor our landlord had complete control over this situation. The best outcome is that we have a brand new beautiful furnace that works wonderfully! I have to say that this is one of the week's best blessings of all!

Ahhhh... HEAT!!

Ahhhh... So this is what heat feels like! We had forgotten for a while...

Furnaces are one of those things that we become so accustomed to having available that we often end up taking them for granted.

NOT ANY MORE. NOT IN THIS HOUSE!

I first noticed the furnace wasn't warming the house as it should (and had been) on Monday night, Oct 26. Yes, you read that right: Oct 26 - 12 days ago. At first I thought I was just being my typically paranoid self about stuff like this, and that it would improve during the next day. It didn't.

Hoping for a simple solution, on Tues we bought new furnace filters and replaced the filter, and also replaced the batteries in the thermostat. No change. 68 was feeling chilly to me. I'm a self-proclaimed wimp. I like my thermostat set at 70-72.

We called our landlord the next morning (Wed, Oct 28), and he and his son came out and looked at it. They are general contractors and have been in business in this area for 20 years. His son replaced a wire that had burned out. When he turned the furnace back on, he found a hole in the heat exchanger. He said it's easier to replace the furnace than the heat exchanger, though the heat exchanger had a lifetime warranty on it. The landlord decided to replace the furnace because of its age.

The problem is that because Canton is rural, they have large appliances like this shipped from Columbia, 2.5 hours away... and they are delivered on Wed. We'd obviously missed the order deadline, and would have to wait a week for delivery. Our landlord said if the temp dropped significantly he would drive to Columbia and pick it up himself. He also said he had some old space heaters if we wanted to use them.

The indoor temp had held steady at 68, even overnight, so we thought we'd leave things alone and see what happened. The house was cool, but manageable with long sleeves and sweatshirts and blankets. By Mon, Nov 2, the temp was 65/64 - but still not really fluctuating, even overnight. We decided we could make it through another 36 hours, and would forego borrowing the space heaters.

By Tues, the girls and I decided we had had more than enough. Our fingers were cold; our toes were cold; we were shivering. We were layering sweaters and hoodies and coats and blankets. Ray was traveling with his final fall college fair week. I missed his hugs which would allow me to take advantage of his body heat! We were looking forward to the next day which would bring an end to this "fun" experience.

Or so we thought. Wed, Nov 4, was a no-show. No furnace, no landlord, no call as to why. I was getting mad! The temp inside had dropped to 59-ish. Katasha had been home sick Tues-Wed. With the flu going around, I'm sure she would have gotten sick anyway, but the cold house didn't help! I felt that if this had happened in the house our landlord is living in now [or if it had happened here in this house when they were raising their kids], his wife would have sent him packing to Columbia to pick up the furnace long before now!

Throughout the week, we had called our landlord. We didn't want to be jerks, but we needed to get this issue resolved! So before placing another call to him on Thurs, we decided to call the realtor who had helped us find and rent this house. She is his friend, as well as his realtor.

Here is the benefit of living in a small town - she said she would call him or drive around and find out where he was working that day and talk with him. She showed up on our doorstep within 20 minutes. She had talked with him, and he would bring the space heaters over that evening and the furnace would be installed Fri. She also told us about a situation with which he was dealing, which helped clarify his difficulties and helped explain why things had been delayed.

It's easier to be charitable when you understand more of the big picture!! It's also easier to be charitable when space heaters raise the temp to 67 within a few hours!! [I know! I know! Next time we face a situation like this, we will borrow the space heaters immediately! ... But please! Let there never be a 'next time!']

When our landlord brought the space heaters yesterday evening, he said they'd be there to install the furnace at 9 AM. This morning when Ally came for seminary, she asked if we'd had a delivery - sitting in our front yard was a brand new, still wrapped from delivery, furnace! Yippee!! (Only in a place like Canton could they drop it off before 7 AM and leave it sitting in our yard, near the road!)

9 AM came and went. But that was all right because the school nurse called at 9:30 and I went to pick up Katasha early. (She really did feel better yesterday!) The son came at 11:35 to charge his power tools, and said he'd be back about 1:30 after lunch. He came at 12:30.

And as I type, he is nearly done with the installation. Ahhh, heaven. Heat is wonderful!! I will never take it for granted again!

What a long 12 days this turned out to be. However, our new furnace will wait for its inaugural use. The temps this weekend are supposed to be in the 70s!! Ah, the irony...

Halloween 2009

We had fun this Halloween. We had some costume changes between Trunk-or-Treat on Wed and Trick-or-Treating on Sat. The girls decided I should share only the Sat pictures.

Laura was an angel on Wed. We hadn't been at the church very long before she came over to us and said, "I really wanted to be an angel. But now I don't want to be an angel. I have to be good." I think she wanted to run around the church with the other kids and felt that wasn't a very angelic thing to do... lol. On Sat she was a hippie. Laura ended up going trick-or-treating with her friend, Taylor, and Taylor's parents. She had fun.

On Wed Katasha was Poppy, a character from one of her favorite book series, Night World. But then she changed to a vampire for trick-or-treating. (It wasn't such a drastic change, since Poppy is a vampire in the book.) Katasha and Jessica went out trick-or-treating for a while, and then I drove them to a few more places on the way to drop off Jessica and Sarah for a party. Katasha had a hard year. She is the one who most missed Halloween in Ohio! (It was hard for me, knowing how much she was hurting...)

Jessica just dressed in orange and black Halloween-y stuff on Wed, and was Glinda from Wicked on Sat. She looked wonderful - despite people thinking she was a beauty pageant contestant or a princess. hehe

Sarah was Elphaba from Wicked - no face paint on Wed and green face paint on Sat. Katasha and Jessica helped Sarah with her face paint. It took a long time, but she looked awesome! However, she said it itched and started peeling, especially in the cracks along her jaw line. She ended up washing it off at a friend's house before they even went to another friend's Halloween party!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but I do enjoy my kids' sharing their chocolate... Enjoy the pictures! Happy Halloween!

[If you click on "view all images" you can see the full picture of Sarah, Katasha, and Jessica - the "stuck in the Land of Oz" one. It's picture #10. Jessica's facial expression is easier to see this way, and it's worth a look!]

Fun and Unique Blessings

I am not sure how a week can seem to pass so slowly and so quickly at the same time. But that is the way my week went. We've had some fun and... um, unique... blessings this week.

Sunday the missionaries came over for dinner. Elder DeGraw asks us every so often if we are feeding the missionaries. I figure if we hope the members in Washington are feeding him, we should be feeding them here! lol. What a blessing to have the missionaries in our home!

Our home teachers also came to see us. It was really nice to have a visit from someone in the ward. Shortly after we moved the RS Pres had major surgery and has been recuperating, so I'm not worried yet about not knowing who my VT'ers are. But I do have to admit that the distance makes it easy to feel isolated, so having our HT'ers come was neat! I know things will work out, for this is a good ward.

On Tues we received notice that due to illness the school would be closed the rest of the week. The girls have really enjoyed their unexpected 5 day weekend! We have held seminary later in the day. (Woot!) Ray worked in the office this week. The girls and I have had fun playing games, watching movies, making cookies, and hanging out. It's been a very relaxed and fun week!

We've also tried to stay warm, as our furnace gave out on us. It seemed to be an easy fix, with a wire burned out - but when they fixed that, they realized there is a hole in the heat exchanger. Because of the age of the furnace, our landlord decided to replace the furnace rather than just the heat exchanger. However, their large appliances are ordered from Columbia, MO, and are delivered on Wed. So we might be without heat until Wed. Luckily, it hasn't been too cold and the heat is holding steady at 65-ish. But still... 65-ish in Oct with lots of rain feels really cold!

We're cold but not overly frustrated. There are still blessings. First, of course, is that we are renting and therefore the cost to replace the furnace is not our responsibility! (Whew... That would have been difficult for us right now.) Second is that the heat in the house is holding steady and the overnight temps are not yet freezing. Third is that there have been no slightly-possible carbon monoxide repercussions. Fourth is that we have sweatshirts, fleece blankets, and quilts to use to help keep us warm. It could be worse!

Our ward had trunk-or-treat on Wed. There were ice cream sundaes, a costume competition based on ages, the YM hosted a haunted house, and of course trunk-or-treating. The kids had fun. It was nice to visit with new friends.

We splurged and went to the theater in Canton to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The theater here has one screen, shows movies that have been out for a while, and has great low prices. (Like going to the cheapy theater.) HP 6 came out on the day we moved, so we have waited a long time to see this movie! (We are HP fans, and have seen most of these movies the day they were released, so missing this was a sacrifice!) However... bingo! you got it! blessings anyway!... We have now seen it. We really enjoyed it. And it was fun to spend time together.

Jessica, Sarah, and Ray went on the youth temple trip today. Ray enjoys helping, and the girls were able to do some family file names that my dad had sent. We love Nauvoo - but from the first weekend we were here (when the teens went for the pageant and baptisms with Michael Wriston... remember, he helped us move) Jessica has felt a special affinity for Nauvoo and the temple. It just seems to "speak" to her in a way that she hasn't experienced before. It is really neat to see her enthusiasm for the temple and Nauvoo! Sarah feels it, too, just not as overtly.

The final blessing this week is that another Halloween is behind us. The kids enjoy it, but it has never been my favorite holiday. (I do, however, like it when my kids share their chocolate!) I am not creative and talented enough to come up with great costumes. I love having kids old enough to figure out what they want to be! I will share more details and pictures later, hopefully tomorrow. [Side benefit: I'm not in Primary on Sundays, so I won't be dealing with sugar-hyped kids tomorrow in church... beyond my own kids, of course!]

I am grateful for my blessings. There are ups and downs (like difficulty typing when your fingers are really cold) but life is good. I love viewing my circumstances through the prism of optimism!