Life Goes On!

I remember growing up writing in my journal. I also remember that a lot of entries began with this line, "MUCH has happened since I last wrote." It seems like this has ALWAYS been the case for me. Either I am too busy or not disciplined enough to write often....or a bit of both.

This week it happened to be the too busy thing....along with "nothing of great importance" happening. But....a few things I need to document:

• It is funny that women tend to think fighting between siblings happens ONLY in their home. And while I KNOW that this isn't true...it happens in most all homes...it is still very easy to think. So, we all come up with ways to minimize this fighting. This week I bought Spencer a new bike (well, new to HIM -- I was in the local bike shop one day and saw a nice used one they wanted to sell for very cheap. So I finally just went and picked it up for him). He now rides his bike ALL THE TIME!
• When I got home from purchasing Spencer's new bike, Cody decided that he could ride WITHOUT training wheels. So he practiced with Kelsey's for a good chunk of time. I finally took HIS bike's training wheels off and let him ride. He does pretty good on the grass with a slight decline...downward slope. But it didn't last long. The training wheels are back on so he can ride with his siblings. It won't be long though.
• I watched my friend's little girl one day. She is about 8 months younger than Cody but they are best buddies! I love to watch her and watch them play. Actually, to be completely honest, I watched them very little...didn't even HEAR them most of the time. I would just peak out to make sure they were safe, ok, and NOT running in the road. This is what I found.
• Spencer is LOVING flag football. I don't have any recent pictures, though I would LOVE to have some close ups of him pulling a flag. Last game I think he pulled 4-5 flags. Some were sacking the QB, others the running back. He is a rusher, though as I watch him I think he would make a GREAT linebacker. He rushes well, but usually tends to wait a bit to watch where the ball is going, follows it, and pulls the flag. I love to see brains in action in sports! It has been fun to watch him "come into" the game, improve, and sadly...become obsessed with it...hehehe. He is constantly kicking a balloon around the house as a football-since kicking a football around the house has been outlawed by ME!
• Jordan's games are still going. This weekend is his last. A couple weekends ago we drove to Decatur to watch him. Thankfully he is playing more. He even got to be on the offensive line, not just the defensive line. They lost that game. Then this past weekend, when I COULDN'T go, they totally won! I think he said the score was 38-0! He was ecstatic. I talked to him about it Sunday morning and he really noticed that no one came to watch. It broke my heart. I understand. My mom was at MOST ALL of my games and I really want to be the same. I just had too many conflicts on Saturday. But I WILL be there this next Saturday, his LAST game!
• This past weekend I taught my Responding to Emergencies class at Lake Land college. I LOVE to teach! Plain and simple...I LOVE it! This is a fun class and most are picking it up quickly. I have come to enjoy the weekend classes because the students seem to grasp it quicker and retain it longer when they aren't in class for a short time multiple times a week, but rather crammed all together. It all "fits" together better, I think.
• Also on Saturday was the General Relief Society Broadcast! I LOVE that. I love it more because the Stake Relief Society (women's group for the church) gets together. I was late, on account of teaching my class, but made it in time to welcome "some" of the ladies to my booth entitled "Under Construction." The premise being that NONE of us has arrived...we ALL are still works in progress! I went off of C.S. Lewis' quote from Mere Christianity, "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. but presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that He is building a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

  
  

  The other two quotes I used have helped me in my life. "I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; ... knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, page 304) and "The encouraging message of the gospel is that God does not require us to perform sensational or extraordinary deeds but rather to try to do better today than we did yesterday. He is mindful of our desires, our determination, and our direction as well as our deeds." (Brent L. Top, Ensign, April 2005) It was a lot of fun...and the theme was right up my construction oriented brain's alley. I missed a lot of the ladies for being late, but it was fun to chat with them as they came through. I know a lot of them and enjoy reconnecting for a moment! I think the reconnection with friends is my favorite part of the evening. Granted, the soups in a bread bowl were fabulous! The ousted salad from a different table was great (the experience memorable and fun)! The broadcast uplifting! So, it was a FABULOUS evening all around. I stayed after and talked with a friend for quite awhile.....very therapeutic. THANK YOU, FRIEND! Life gets tough sometimes, it is nice to have friends to be there to listen. One day I will learn to balance all my activities and maybe even learn to say "NO" to a few EXTRA ones too! But as for now....I haven't quite arrived there....and really, I'm so far behind that I may NEVER arrive before I die! Gratefully, I just keep on keeping on! (like we all do!)
• And now....life goes on! Piano tonight, flag football Tues, Young Women Wed, Homecoming Parade Thurs (Jordan is in it), and hopefully relax a bit on Fri....hahahahaha! But then General Conference where the Prophet and Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ speak to us from Salt Lake on Sat and Sun....MY FAVORITE WEEKEND of the year! My spiritual reservoirs will be filled! And now...I'm to to my laundry, dishes, and "such."