In our Family the past 2 months...
* RUGBY: Rugby was pretty much a full time job/commitment for all of September and October (for Aubrie, Lexi, dad AND mom!) We had multiple games each week, Team dinners, Captains meetings, Team Bonding, Rugby Board Meetings, and lots of hours taking/going through game pictures and film! A few highlights to remember (taken from the 4 of us):
* BEATING ROCKY for the first time since joining the Meridian team!! We played them on Sept 10th and won (17-12)!!
* Going up against Rocky again in Districts. We had already played 3 matches (including Eagle just 20 minutes prior!) that same evening - so to say that the girls were BEAT is an understatement. Rocky was up as we headed into "full time" where we came back to win!!! It was an amazing victory!
* Being Captains!
* Having the Team's End of Season Party at Fly High (a trampoline park)
* Senior Night! The girls had info-sheets read about them over the loud speaker (which Aubrie and Lexi's were sprinkled with lots of humor!!) and being honored each individually. The Team mom (who also owns a cookie company) made customized cookies with each of their pictures on them - too fun!
* Being able to spend a few hours each day with my own girls! (dad)
* Taking 2nd in the State Playoffs - It was the familiar match up of us vs Eagle.
* Birthdays! We celebrated both Dad (51) and Nathan's (19) birthdays. For Nathan, we had a BBQ and invited the Henkel and Hatch families along with a few other friends to help celebrate. It's really nice having a friends here on earth! And then for dad's birthday, we had signed up to host the Ward Walk About that day (where 1 Sunday each month a family (or 2) signs up to host the Ward members in the yard. We set up in the driveway and had balloons, cake, popcorn, popsicles and water for refreshments and then had a bunch of Rugby gear/equipment set up for kids to play around on/with. The weather was perfect and we had a nice time visiting with all of our friends from the Ward.
* Halloween: The Tuesday before Halloween, the Ward (mainly the Youth) put on a "Carnival" of sorts for the Primary kids. The 16-18 YW Class (that I'm an Advisor over and obviously Aubrie and Lexi are a part of) we did face painting and a Cupcake Walk. Each Class and Quorum were in charge of a station and we had things from eating donuts off a string to all sorts of carnival games. We don't have a very big Primary and I'd say most of the kids came. The highlight was having August, McKendra and the little boys coming. Then on the actual night of Halloween, Aubrie, Lexi and Lauren all went down to "Harrison Blvd" for some good ol' Trick or Treating (this is the street in downtown Boise that looks like it's straight out of a Halloween movie and apparently it did NOT disappoint according to the girls!)
* McCall Trip: Dad has been trying to be more intentional on seeing "more of the beauty of Idaho!" and so the beginning of October he took Aubrie, Lexi and Mom on a Surprise Day Trip! It turned out to be up to McCall to see the Fall Colors! We took a break to romp around the river on the way up to McCall and then ate lunch at a little hold in the wall outside of Cascade before making it to our final destination. We went to Ponderosa State Park where we hiked up to a lookout and enjoyed the views. We then walked around the McCall lake (and of course taking lots of pictures!) before hitting a little ice cream shop. It was really a nice break from the normal day-to-day grind and being able to see the beauty of the earth was refreshing!
* Seth's Surgery: About a year ago, Seth woke up one day with back pain! He didn't know what had caused it and couldn't think of anything he'd done to aggravate it. Over the next 9 months he spent THOUSANDS on Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy - of which none of it alleviated his pain. It was so bad that he (literally!) couldn't be on his feet for more than about 10 minutes at a time. The pain was intense and debilitating and impeding his day to day life. He was also very concerned about his upcoming trip (in November) to Japan where he knew he'd be doing 8-10 miles of walking each day (and he couldn't even do a 1/2 mile!). He decided that surgery would be his only option so met with a surgeon and had his back operated on in September. I'm happy to report that this was a great decision as his recovery was very smooth and he was up and walking several miles within the first 2 weeks! Impressive! While it was super scary to have this surgery (at least for me!) I'm so glad and thankful that the results have given him his quality of life back!
* Heartache and Homecoming: After 2.5 years of dating and being a couple, Aubrie and Charlie Hatch broke up. It was a rough transition to being single for Aubrie but with both her and Lexi being single at the same time (which hasn't ever happened since they've been old enough to date!) they decided to embrace the single life and go to the MHS Homecoming dance with friends from the Rugby team (Ali F. and Blaire N.) Before letting them loose to hit dinner and the dance, we headed to the park next to our house (Fuller Park) and did a quick photoshoot.
* Additional pictures and memories from September and October
Spiritually Speaking...
D&C 85:6
“The Spirit speaks with a “still small voice.”
In what sense is the Spirit’s voice “still” and “small”?
For me, if I’m not quiet and still myself, it’s harder to hear the spirits’ nudging and promptings. I can be easily distracted and not
“hear”. I think its designed like this so that we are more intentional with our efforts to hear what the Lord wants to tell us.
The Doctrine And Covenants give a lot of insight (and descriptions) about the Holy Ghost. Here are a few examples:
D&C 6:22-24:
* speaks peace to our hearts
* Reveals things to us that no one knows
* These verses have very special meaning to me as they played a part in a very impactful experience that taught me how the Lord
uses Scriptures to answer our prayers! This experience happened back in 1998 so like 27 years ago! I think it is important to have
it for my posterity so I think I’ll make an additional entry and include it.
8:2–3
tells us in our hearts and minds
Dwells in our hearts
9:7–9
we have to put in the effort (we can’t just ask what we want/need)
We have to study the situation out in our own mind and THEN ask
The Spirit will burn within our bosom if what we’ve decided to do is correct
If it’s not correct, we won’t have that feeling but will have a “stupor of thought” and be confused on what to do
11:12–13
leads us to do good
To walk justly
To walk humbly
To judge righteously
128:1
will give us knowledge
Will impress upon our minds things that the Lord wants us to focus on
How does the Spirit speak to you?
I know that the Holy Ghost speaks differently to each one of us. I know it is an individual thing, and we have been told that being
able to discern how the spirit speaks to us is the most important thing we can learn in this life! For me, there are several different
ways (some of which are listed above in those scriptures) but to reiterate, here’s how the Spirit speaks to me:
* A peaceful feeling where I just feel good about it
* A lot of times I will get a burning in my chest. I like this one the best since it’s just an added confirmation that the decision
I have made to go forward with is the correct one!
* Words will come into my mind. Actually, I think I like this one best! It can even be conversations, where I can ask additional
questions, and I will have further knowledge revealed. Not always, but sometimes! When the words are straightforward, I like
how that leaves no room for wrong interpretations! LoL
* And sometimes it’s a combination of all three! These are the top three ways the spirit speaks to me 💕
No comments:
Post a Comment