Savior & Redeemer

‘We are indebted to the prophet Alma for our knowledge of the full measure of his suffering: “He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:11–12).

Think of it! When his body was taken from the cross and hastily placed in a borrowed tomb, he, the sinless Son of God, had already taken upon him not only the sins and temptations of every human soul who will repent, but all of our sickness and grief and pain of every kind. He suffered these afflictions as we suffer them, according to the flesh. He suffered them all. He did this to perfect his mercy and his ability to lift us above every earthly trial.’ -Howard W. Hunter, 1988

(Dead lawn with blue skies…never give up hope for new life!) #IKnowThatMyRedeemerLives

The Most Masculine Roles: Husband & Father

If you do NOTHING else worthwhile today, take 15 minutes and watch this talk from an apostle of my church.  In a world that constantly demeans both men & women in their divine roles of motherhood & fatherhood, THIS is a pillar of light in the dark.

And as I side note, I can never say enough how much joy my husband brings me.  The love he shows me, the love he gives to our children, the sacrifices he makes in our behalf, make me in awe every day that he is a part of my life.  I’m a pretty lucky gal. #11YearsAndCounting #HeresTo100More

Silver Linings

At a time when I’ve been thinking what a failure homeschooling has been and how “organized chaos” would be a generous description of my kids’ learning, I had a tender mercy that helped me breathe a little easier.  We’ve been doing a Botany unit with another homeschooling family in our neighborhood and a few days after our last co-op my 8YO daughter came in breathless from playing outside with two leaves in her hands.

“Look, mom!” she said excitedly.  “I found an example of a monocot and a dicot.  And they were growing right in our yard!”

Yes, she was actually paying attention!  And she actually learned something– AND– made a real-world application of what she’d learned!  I was floored.  And overjoyed.  And full of gratitude.  It was such a small thing but it meant the world to me.

 

Pray For Our Enemies

Like many others I am consumed with the news of the terrorist attacks in Brussels today.  I gathered my children together to pray for the victims and families of those affected.  In trying to explain to them the situation I found myself unable to express it except to say that “there are bad people in the world.”  It seems so trite and simple but it is the only true way to explain such horrendous acts.

However, as I spoke to them and prayed with them, another thought occurred to me.  I began praying for the light of Christ to spread to the world.  I realized that the only way to overcome this kind of darkness is to have the Light of the World obliterate that darkness.  I know this will not be a popular opinion, there is so much hatred and vitriol thrown around after Islamist terrorist attacks, and rightly so.  But as I’ve prayed and thought this morning my mind has gone to Saul who was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” but whom the Lord saw fit to intervene and bring him to know the Lord.  (Acts 9)

I prayed fervently this morning that these men, these wayward, wicked men, would be brought to the light of Christ.  Their own false faith blinds them to the truth of eternity, which is that God loves ALL of His children and that through Christ has made a way for all of us to return to Him.  It seems impossible, it seems overwhelming, it seems dangerous.  But our own attempts will be frail and futile.  Only through the light of the gospel can this evil be stopped.

So please pray.  Pray with me that good will overcome evil.  Pray with me that even these wicked people, these vile perpetrators of death and destruction…that they will be reduced to humility and know that the Son of God who came to earth is the Savior of the world.  I also know, no matter the darkness of their hearts now, even they have to opportunity to repent and come unto Him, as we all do.  So pray for the victims.  Pray for the families.  But pray for the perpetrators, that their souls will not have to endure an endless torment but that they may, as Saul who became Paul, “receive [their] sight” and be baptized and made to preach Christ that He is the Son of God.

Uprooted

I just finished “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik and am eternally grateful to whomever gave it to me as recommended reading.  After The Goblin Emporer, I thought I would give another fantasy novel a try.  If you’re a fan of fantasy, please run out and get this immediately.  If you’re not I recommend cutting your teeth on this one.  I have read other fantasy novels (or parts of them, I generally give up before I’m half-way through) and they read like bad junk mail, or like their authors have spent too much time at Renaissance Faires and not enough time in the real world: either the characters are flat or unconvincing or the language is flat and unconvincing, or both.  Uprooted has none of these things.  It is enticing, the characters are rounded and alive, the language is flowing and beautiful and spell-binding.  There is magic in the land of this novel and it is alive in the author’s words, even in the way the characters think.

I love her allusions to casting magic as a work of art, a song, a poem, and the language feels real enough that you can imagine anyone could cast magic into the world with the simplicity of it.  One caveat: I admit, I’m much more prudish than the average person and sex scenes bother me.  I always wish there was a way to artfully allude to one without actually describing it.  This novel has an intense, albeit short, sex scene so– consider that my version of an “advanced reader” label.

I’ve given this 5-stars in my Goodreads list, a rating I don’t give out lightly.  Please give it a try, I’d love to know what someone else thought.  Or, if you have ideas for a similar read that you love, feel free to comment below!  I’m always on the lookout for a good read.

or click here for Uprooted Kindle Version

Motivation

I need a club.  I need an exercise club.  I don’t want to join a gym, they’re incredibly overpriced and over-hyped.  I don’t need classes, I don’t need equipment.  I’d be happy lifting sacks of flour at home instead of shiny weights.  Actually I’d rather run than anything and running in a gym is boring, like a fish in a bowl with nowhere to go.

So I’d like an exercise club, just like my book club.  We agree on a book meet once a month to talk about what we read what we thought of it.  An exercise club could work the same: we agree on a certain goal, like number of miles run, or number of minutes with elevated heart rate, or working up to a certain number of pull-ups.  Then we meet (either online or in person) to talk about how we did, what went well or what failed miserably, then we encourage each other by making a new goal!  In the meantime we have exterior motivation because we’re accountable to others and we’re making friends as well!  It’s a win-win, really.

So, who’s with me?  Until the end of March (so for the next 2 weeks) I’m going to work on getting 3 days a week with 30 min. of elevated heart rate.  My exercise of choice will be running but it could be anything you want!  What’s going to get you outside?

Ready to Run #ExerciseClub

#MarathonGoals #GettingOldishButNotMoldish

Snapshot #2

March in Utah, revisited.  The colors of life.

#VSCO #suburbanlife

Snapshot

March in Utah.

#VSCO #suburbanlife

The Goblin Emperor

The Goblin Emporer, by Katherine Addison

I am not generally a fantasy reader, although The Hobbit was one of my favorite books growing up.  I also read the Lord of the Rings series in high school and fell in love with them.  But I don’t think I’ve read any fantasy since then.  I wouldn’t say this is my favorite but it was extremely clever and very readable.  The author’s created names, places and words were easy to read, although somewhat difficult to keep track of.  There wasn’t a great deal of plot, the story mostly centered around a young, naive emperor and his education about intrigues at court.  I would love to have other non-fantasy readers check this out and tell me what they think!

A Day in the Life

3 sick kids, 1 sick momma.

Half the family at church, half at home.

Easter videos about Jesus.  Remember.

Letter from Grandma & Grandpa.  Love them.

Husband making bread.

A game of monopoly, Netflix, making BBQ chicken pizza.

Watching America’s Funniest Videos together.

Daylight Savings, in Springtime…it’s FINALLY bedtime.

Quiet time is for reading.