Lines from the Hymnal

Episode 1 of "Lines from the Hymnal"

"The errand of angels is given to women."

Humbling, is it not?

For more from this gem of a hymn, visit here.

Carter Man is *f*u*n*n*y*

Carter, Age 3.5, December 25, 2010

So just now, Carter brought me something he assembled upstairs. It was made of plastic sliced bread, plastic sliced tomato, and plastic bologna. He said, "Mommy, I made you a swan-wish!"
Best. Mis-pronunciation. Ever.

Yesterday, he peered into the pantry, wishing for something he saw... Said to me, "Mommy, I want a strong drink!" Turns out, he was eying Rodney's "muscle milk."
Best. Almost-right. Words. Ever.

Today, I picked him up from preschool, and asked him what he learned about. His answer, "We talked about snow-mans."
Best. Insult-to-the-english-language. Ever.

That's All. :)

Thy will be done...On Earth as it is in Heaven

Tonight I watched a youtube video of Andre Bocelli singing "The Lord's Prayer" with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. You can watch it here and now, if you'd like!



I will start by saying that it wasn't until I was about 9 or 10 that I even learned the words of The Lord's Prayer, found in the New Testament (Matthew 6: 9-13). Oddly enough, my friends and I would recit it while standing in the dughout of the Harkers Island Elementary School ballfield, of all places! We'd recite it before most every game I participated in, while in my youth. I'm no expert now on all things related to this passage of scripture, I admit... But I will say - I don't think I understood, or had a respect for, most of the words then, quite like I do today.

Might I take just a moment to express my thoughts on one small part of this text, tonight. As you can probably guess by the title of this post, I have chosen the words "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." I am particularly moved by these words tonight, as something happened only days ago that caused me to be even prouder than before of my intimate relationship with my Heavenly Father. In short, I was judged. Judged as both a Mormon, and as a Christian. You see, I feel quite strongly that what motivates me to be the best Mormon I can be, and what motivates you to be the best Catholic or Methodist you can be is exactly the same thing - Faith. Faith that what you've chosen to believe in IS the truth. I make no apologies in admitting that I wish I could share my strong testimony and convictions with anyone with ears to hear! I wish that God would place directly in my path - SOMEONE (or even better - MANY someones!) who is ready to listen to what I have to say about God's Plan of Happiness! I feel that way because IT. IS. THE. REASON. I. AM. HAPPY! It is the reason that I delight in being a wife and mother, and why I know that everything I do here on this Earth is to PREPARE me for a great reward - Eternal Life. And by Eternal Life, I mean a lot more than just "living forever!" I mean living with God as my Father, Jesus as my elder brother and friend, and my Earthly family as my Eternal Family! Yes - that's what I mean. No apologies.

The incident was brief, and to the other person, probably fairly inconsequential. I was having a conversation with this person about our congregation (known as a "ward"), and how the ward boundaries have recently changed. This means that a map of the greater Raleigh area, which had been cut into oddly shaped pieces to define a sort of district, had lines erased and redrawn, so as to accomodate a new "ward." The reply from my friend was, "You mean they TELL you where you are to go to CHURCH!?" "Yes," I said. "I am happy to do it, too - because I know that the leaders who have made such plans have done so, BECAUSE of their duty to God, to do as He would have them do. I have FAITH in the organization that is our Church. Yes." But here's what I didn't say...

I believe - that in the year 1820, with a backdrop of great religious excitement in upstate New York, Joseph Smith prayed to know which church to join. That he was visited by God and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees and was told to join none of them...

I believe that in due time, he would restore the true church as a Prophet of God. Fast forward 80 years... I know that when the Mormon Missionaries healed my great-grandmother Bertha, it was through the power of the priesthood of God, which had been restored through Joseph Smith, and then had been passed on through other worthy men, through the laying on of hands.

I know that in last 180 years, a "Marvellous work and a wonder," as spoken by the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 29:14, has come forth, and is sweeping the whole Earth... And with one solitary goal in mind - to DO on Earth - as it is DONE in Heaven. My brothers were once those missionaries knocking on doors, and I know that one day, so will be my 3 sons. No apologies.

Think of those who have died - whose bodies have expired, and whose spirits have moved on to another place. Those people are not vanished into a twilight of eternal nothingness! It is my belief that the veil between this life and the next is a great deal thinner than most of us realize!!! And those spirits are in fact STILL with us - urging us onward to always do what is right, so that we may be reunited one day.

I say all this because - when I sustain my local church leaders as men of God, I do not do so lightly. Oh, I really hate this word, just because the connotation is SO extremely offensive - but I am NOT BRAINWASHED into following people who have an ulterior motive. My Bishop, my Stake President, my Prophet - they are men of God - who serve Him - and who wish for nothing less than the salvation of souls. They do not seek for pride, riches, glory, or any other worldly fame or acknowledgment. Salvation of souls, friends.

"Thy will be done" ... In other words, "God's wishes for us"... I hope and pray that my example of a Mormon and as a Christian is forever firm and immovable, and that no one can ever say that I acted in a way that would cause my Savior any shame for my being His sister, and His servant. I wish to do God's will, and if that makes you laugh at me, then so be it. No apologies.

*~* THANK (to the) FUL *~*

so thanksgiving is only days away. this makes me happy.

i'm up way too late - caffeine to blame, i do believe.

aaaand - i apologize to anyone who is disturbed by the all-lower-case typing that i usually do when i'm feeling lazy.

this thanksgiving will be a "first," in two ways actually; the first time i'm not at harkers island on thanksgiving day... AND the first time i'll be preparing a thanksgiving dinner as the "hostess with the mostest." that's right - ma & pa & at least a couple others (hopefully) will be coming up to rolesville on wednesday, and dine with the steelman family on thanksgiving day! i'm jealous of me right now. honestly. 

so, aside from the excitement that comes along with such a not-*really*-that-big-a-deal-but-still-rather-monumentous occasion, i wanted to give a little thanks...

i'm thankful for my loving husband & my 3 absolutely-positively perfect children...

i'm thankful for my near-perfect parents, my wonderful siblings, my darling nieces, & my future-missionary nephews...

i'm thankful for my kind and loving grandparents, and the role that they played in the earlier years of my life...

i'm thankful for my siblings' dear husbands and wives...

i'm thankful for my my aunts, my uncles, & my cousins...

i'm thankful for good friends and neighbors, who treat me like family...

i'm thankful for my good health, and a body that does what i need it to do; arms that can pick up my boys to cuddle, hands that can prepare yummy dinners and apply bandages to skint up knees, eyes that can see, and more importantly- appreciate the beauties of the earth, legs that can get me where i need to be, whether it be in the other room, or on the other side of town...

i'm thankful for my imperfections, and the knowledge that we are given weaknesses, as a means for us to become humble, and rely on Jesus Christ... Ether, Chapter 12, Verse 27, From The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

 i'm thankful for my daily bread, and for having never known hunger, not even for a minute...

i'm thankful for my home, which keeps my family safe from the ills of the world...

i'm thankful for the world wide web, and i'm not even kidding...

i'm thankful for music, which excites me right down to the core in ways that i could only wish it would do for everyone on the face of the earth...

i'm thankful for God's beatiful creation - from the sweet{a}pricot tree all the way to the friendly {z}ebra, and everything in between...

i'm thankful to be born and raised a mormon, and the peace that it brings into my life, especially the knowledge that families can be together forever...

i'm thankful to be an american, and for those who, past and present, have fought for and preserved my freedom...

i'm thankful for laughter, and how my children, especially, work it out of me each and every day...

i'm thankful for for a steady income, and the blessing that is ours for rodney to have a job that he loves, and for me to have the part time work i do as a piano teacher, that i also enjoy...

i'm thankful for a heart that i can be proud of... if i ever grow cold and cynical, somebody just shoot me...

i'm thankful for the nice little getaway that rodney & i just experienced in cancun, mexico for 8 days, and how we were able to share some really special days together, especially at isla mujeres and at xcaret - memories that will last the rest of our lives...

i'm thankful for so many other blessings that are too many to add to this list...
lastly, i'm thankful for this video...

 

The countdown is ON!

No kidding. My boys have a Christmas-like anticipation in their bones for Halloween this year! Jackson keeps asking when we are going to decorate our house scary like a few of the other neighbors. He's even made it clear that "fall" decorations are not what he's talking about. Pumpkins, even jack-o-lanters are for sissies. The scarier and creepier, the better!

So today, I decided I was up for the challenge and bought a couple of neat things at Target and Walmart.  I hope they're happy when we pull back in the driveway in a few minutes, after school. Frankly there's no point in posting this, except to have the memory years down the road, of how my three boys have me wrapped around their little fingers. That's all. :)

This big blue guy is on our porch now...

...hanging on a lot of this...

...along with a couple of these littler guys...
 

and the two center headstones seen here...

Not quite this... But as good as it's going to get this year. ;)

 Happy October, y'all!

General Conference

And by General, I mean Awesome.
And by Conference, I mean even Awesomer.

Each April and October, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from all over the world stop in our tracks for a very special weekend of uplifting messages from our church leaders. You see, we believe that the heavens are indeed open; that there is a prophet on the Earth today, just as in the days of Noah or Moses. That man today, October 3rd, 2010, is President Thomas S. Monson.

I shook his hand once, President Monson. It was a little while before he became the President of the church back in February of 2008. It was when the family took a trip out to Salt Lake City, Utah back in 1998, I believe it was. We were in the main church office building, touring around like star-struck North Carolinians, and standing at an elevator, when out he walked. At the time, he was the First Counselor in the First Presidency, and was most certainly the greatest Mormon "celebrity" that I'd ever gotten that close to. Maybe if anyone in my family digs up a picture from that day, they'll post it. Ahem, Pa. :)

So this weekend, we listen to a Prophet's voice. We sustain him as the one person on the earth who is literally the mouthpiece of God. We ponder on the things that we need to do to be a more successful family unit.

We follow his charge to be better children of God. We grow in love for our fellow man. We declare, through our works, that we believe. We sing hymns that direct our hearts to our Savior, Jesus Christ. We join with over 13 million from all over the world who also love this gospel.

I am thankful to live in a land that is free to worship how I see fit, and in a time that allows me to do so. I am thankful for the Mormon Pioneers who paved a way for me. I am thankful for my Mormon heritage; that my great-grandmother Bertha invited the missionaries into her home, where she was immediately healed of her infirmities, through faith in their priesthood. I am enormously thankful for parents who raised our family, holding tight to gospel principles, and never waivering in their willingness to serve in the Lord's kingdom upon the earth. I am thankful for temples that dot the earth, especially for one in the Raleigh area. In that temple, I married my sweetheart for all eternity. I believe with everything I am, that we are entitled to such a blessing, if we but live in a manner to be worthy of His reward - Eternal Families. I'll do my part - and I know that Heavenly Father will look out for me in all I do. I ask for His blessings to be over my family each and every day - that we will be protected from the storms of life, and that I will continue to walk faithfully in His footsteps.

Mama, Pa, Mike & Shiann @ General Conference 10/2/2010

In October, 2009, I heard a conference address that I don't think I'll ever forget. If you'd like to give it a listen, or a read, you can click here. The speaker was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder David A. Bednar. In this talk, "More Diligent and Concerned at Home," I felt inspired to be a better wife and mother. I still read it on occasion when I need a little more "power" on that front. Fortunately, there are another thousand and one talks that I can study to help me when the cares of life seem too heavy of a load. Today, I know that I will be edified as a daughter of God. I am so very, very thankful. You have no idea...