Unpredictable Weather

The weather has caused me some grief lately. Don't get me wrong. I love the weather here. I love how the seasons change. I love seeing the sun and I even love the rain. I love that we get snow once in a while, too.

What I don't love is when the weather somehow cancels Seminary, especially when we find out later that it didn't NEED to cancel Seminary.

February is always unpredictable. The first part of the month we had beautiful, spring like weather and had high hopes that winter was almost over. By the end of the month we are experiencing ice and snow. Sunday night they were predicting temperatures below freezing after a fairly wet day, so naturally we expected a sheet of ice on the roads and unsafe conditions. With the hills and turns around here it can be a bit tricky if the roads are slippery. The call was made Sunday night to cancel Seminary. Well, Monday morning the roads were dry. Yes, it was cold, but we could have held Seminary safely. We are already behind several days because of snow days a while ago. Tuesday was good and I figured I could still get caught up by the middle of March.

Yesterday they predicted a winter storm; however the temperatures were warmer so they didn't think the snow would stick. I got up this morning and looked out to see clear roads. I got all ready for Seminary and left the house by 5:15 AM. It was snowing, but all was still good. It was a very wet snow and nothing was sticking. About half way to Church I received a text message so I pulled over to view it. School was 2 hours late and Seminary was cancelled! After about 15 or 20 minutes of texting back and forth between some students to make sure all kids were notified I headed back home. Not happy! I wanted to have Seminary! I have something very fun planned for the rest of the week and I want to make sure we will still be able to do it. Now I may not catch up until the END of March.

It has continued to snow all morning and I see now that the roads are covered. It probably isn't as safe anymore so I guess it was a good call for the schools. If I hope to get out of here and not get stuck, I had better leave for work now. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, MyLiege!

Yesterday was MyLiege's birthday. I reflected on her most of the day. I remembered her as my little girl. I see a lot of her in her own two little girls, both in looks and actions. I got to spend a couple of days babysitting those two little ones last week and it was a delight.

I had to laugh when I read her blog she posted a week or so ago about "one of those days". I remember a lot of those days when all the kids were little and I felt so very overwhelmed. She began her post with one of her girls peeing on the floor and said it was the one who should know better. Oh, did that bring back memories as she was that very girl so many years ago. Way back when Primary was during the week I was rushing around trying to get all four kids ready to go and grab all my lesson stuff because I was a primary teacher too. The rule in the house was everyone had to use the bathroom before we left the house. MyLiege refused and said she didn't have to go. Then, after I got the baby in the car and came back to get the rest of the kids out the door, she stood right in front of me and wet on the floor. Needless to say I did not handle it very well. We were also late to primary, and from then on I insisted they ALL use the bathroom before we went anywhere. NO EXCUSES.

Although I don't remember it, I suppose I probably did the same thing when I was a kid too. My mom always said you will get a kid just like yourself. So if MyLiege is just like I was then. I'm delighted we had her and I'm sorry for any and all the bad things she may have inherited from me; but, I think I must have been pretty fun too, because we enjoyed her so very much. (That was one big run on.)

We wanted to do something special for MyLiege for her birthday. We are headed over to her house for dinner this afternoon, so I probably won't post this until tonight so she can't read it before we get there. Steve suggested we make her something special (I can't say what it is because we may do it next year). I thought that was a great idea, but wish he had mentioned it a week or so before so I would have time to make it. Then I remembered something else she wanted. About a month ago, Steve found a beautiful sewing chest for me to replace an old, dilapidated one I had from my mother. I loved the one I had but it was falling apart and looked pretty beat up. MyLiege has loved that sewing chest and even tried to take it when she redecorated my house a few years ago. So we decided to fix it up. I transferred everything into my "new" sewing chest and then we went to work fixing and cleaning up the old one. Steve did a GREAT job and now it looks brand new. He replaced all the hardware. He re-stained the wood. He made a replacement brace for one that was broken. He painted all the trim pieces. It looks and feels brand new. I told him if he had done that before he wouldn't have had to buy me a new (used) one. It is hard to give away, but I know it is going to a good home and I can visit it whenever I want.

Happy Birthday, MyLiege!!!

The Old Testament

I have discovered a greater love for the Old Testament that I never knew I could have. We are studying The Old Testament in Seminary this year. We are all familiar with many of the Old Testament stories we have learned since we were children. Adam and Eve; Cain and Able; the City of Enoch; Abraham, Issac and Jacob; Joseph and his coat of many colors; Moses and Manna from Heaven; David and Goliath and so many others.

We are on a treasure hunt this year to see how the Savior is in each of these stories. They are all a type and a shadow foretelling the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It has been exciting to discover the hidden clues that unlock the secrets of the universe (wait, wasn't that a bubble gum wrapper in Superman?) No, it really is in the scriptures.

One of the things I do with each lesson is to "bring it back home". How do the stories, clues, and lessons apply to us today. I mean, we don't really have to meet a 9 foot giant with nothing but a sling shot, do we? But who or what are our Goliath's? What are the things we struggle with everyday? The kids named off some of the "expected" answers like drugs and immorality. And yes, I want them to be aware of those giants out there. But at least right now, those are not necessarily giants in their lives now.

What kinds of things do they struggle with; do I struggle with; do you struggle with? Perhaps our giants may seem small when compared to someone who really is struggling with a drug addiction, but maybe we have our own addictions. My addictions are sweets, staying up to late, procrastination, general laziness, being cumbered about with non-important things...and the list goes on. I need to conquer each one with the same "stones" David used to conquer Goliath; Courage, Virtue, Faith, Humility and Loyalty.

David was victorious because he had "tried" and "proved" his weapons. He could not use Saul's armor because he had not proved it in battle. But he knew his slingshot. He knew the kinds of smooth stones to use. He had used them to slay a lion and a bear. We have to prove our weapons as well. Have we tried and proved the scriptures? Have we put our faith in the Lord and tried and proved Him? Have we humbled ourselves to call upon the Lord to fight our battles? We can't just magically pick up a stone and use a sling shot we have never used before and get lucky and slay a giant. We have to have practiced long and hard everyday and then with skill and courage and faith we can slay each of our Goliath s one by one, no matter how big they may be.

Aren't we lucky to have the scriptures to show us the way?