Perspective

I was praying this evening when I had one of those "oh I get it" moments and I thought I should share it with you. Often over the course of my life when I have been praying for help in something or for an answer to a question I have gotten the answer "Be still and know that I am God". Being a rather impatient person, I really hate it when I get that answer, sort of equating it to the parent who tells the child "I'll be with you in a moment, just wait". But tonight when I got that answer I got something more, kind of like an understanding of that answer in a way that I had never thought of before. It isn't Heavenly Father telling me "just wait" it is more of a "Stand back and see the miracles I am working constantly in your life." I want you to know that there are many times in my life when things have been really overwhelming, sort of like now. But I know beyond any doubt that my Heavenly Father loves me and that he pours out blessings to me and my family every day. I have seen many miracles and continue to see them, not just once in a while, but each day of my life. I have huge testimony of the Plan of Salvation, Gods plan for me and my family and my place in that plan. If it takes going through these hardships to have that knowledge than it is a price that I will pay, because I can't imagine life without knowing that He loves me. I don't know a time when I didn't know that. Elder Neil A. Maxwell (I think) once said that part of having faith in God is having faith in His timetable. I forgot that for a bit today. I guess what I am saying, is that I will do whatever the Lord asks of me, because I know that He will make it possible for me to do whatever that is. I have seen in again and again in my life. I have been richly blessed. I understand the concept of blessings coming as from the windows of Heaven and know that my life has shown this to be a true promise from God. What a blessing it is to be able to talk things out with our Heavenly Father!

Jessica's First Parade

Jessica stressed about it. She worried that she wouldn't be able to march the 5K parade route. Finding out that her cousin Sophie had run 5K helped relieve her mind on that score. She practiced. She stressed some more--what if she forgot the music?! Finally the day has arrived. It is the day of her first parade and she is going into the day with mixed feelings.

The Band is gathered at the staging point 1 1/2 hours before the begining of the parade. Now they wait. . .

Meanwhile our family has found a good spot to see the parade. We live just 2 blocks from the traditional St Joseph parade route. Annette and 4 of her children are stranded here in St Joseph while work is being done on thier car. A parade is a good thing to pass the time. So we wait. . .

The Band continues to wait. . .

The wait can drive you crazy. . .crazy. . .finally you just have to blow off some steam as you wait. . . and wait. . . and wait. . .

Boredom has set in on the curb. Books, knitting, and crocheting fill the time. Will the parade ever start??? Aunt Cheryl are they coming yet?? As we wait. . . and wait. . .

Then we hear the drum line. It is the cadance of our school. Jessica marches by playing her Melephone, smiling all the while. We cheer. She is practacally dancing down the street. Jessica is the second from the right in the below picture.

We all know that there are spoils of parades. In our family we find it amusing that Josh, our diabetic seems to have tons of candy quite literally thrown into his lap. No matter where he moved to, he was still the favorite target. It is alright. The haul is for all, and Mom will give most of it away in the next couple of weeks.