This week during our video call, W spent time seeing to the comfort of his stuffed animals. Here, gives a loving gaze, face to face. This was the “love lesson” of the week:
Take time to truly see and adore your loved one.
Then Jesus beholding him loved him. -Mark 10:21
When Mark was young, he liked to set up our little carnival pieces during the first days of summer vacation from school. Now I set them up for my own delight…and for our grandson.
Since the USA celebrates its 250th birthday this year, I included more bunting than usual. 🇺🇸
I can get overwhelmed by the problems I see around me. Sometimes I will have an interaction that leaves me speechless and baffled by the things I observed. Sometimes I’m part of the problem, but at least then I can do something about it.
There are other times when my actions and attitudes have no part in the problem. The person is beyond my reach or beyond my capacity to help. At these times, I’ve seen the emancipating power of this phrase during prayer, “I trust Thee,” meaning that I trust the timing and manner of God’s miracles. For me, a frequent equivalent of offering loaves and fishes is offering prayer.
The extended Ross family had quite a month. Yesterday was a happy spot, with the wedding of our nephew Jeff. The darling couple played jazz saxophone with their band, sang, and danced at their reception. How enchanting.
Weddings are beautiful, and this one was particularly lovely, but nothing compares to the blessings from our Father in Heaven that we heard during their temple sealing. Well begun, Jeff and Paris!
It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve written anything on the blog. Picture posts tell a story, but not all. I’ve been doing my writing in a personal journal instead.
We’re meeting grief in all its faces. Some moments we feel more tender. Other moments we feel heightened frustration with inconveniences and people. There’s a need for familiar and comforting entertainment. We’ve laughed together, and moments later notice that sharing the obituary of Richard’s dad with well-intentioned friends keeps the wound fresh. I’ve cried in public and plundered our stash of candy like a kid.
Today Richard and one of his brothers are on a ride around their dad’s favorite haunt, Fish Creek. I imagine this will help them enjoy memories of their dad and carry on his good legacy. Finding solace in memory and tradition is a great idea.
When Mark became a missionary, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hug him while he was 19. What a small sacrifice in comparison to the growth and service we’ve seen from him this year. We won’t be celebrating with him, but we celebrate the good man he’s become.
This week we said goodbye to Richard’s dad who passed away on May 12. Oh, how we love and miss him.
It was senior night for Anna’s lacrosse team. She’s incredible!
I’ve tried many times to purge the children’s art from our storage room. It’s been 20 years and I still can’t throw away this rendering of a cookie factory by a very young Daniel. (And many other masterpieces by our kids.)
Other things that I find difficult to remove, but should:
high school awards and yearbooks
unused recipe books
extra mugs
books I will not read again
plates we never use
old sleeping bags
unused picture frames
power cords collected over 30 years
cast off cell phones
old pillowcases
baby blankets
extra throw pillows
We don’t keep our clutter in the open. It lurks in our storage areas and closets. Decluttering is perpetual for me, but it really ramped up when the children left home. People don’t notice a difference when I clear a closet shelf or storage bin, but I notice that my mind is a little more free.
Today we celebrated Queenie, who graduated from the University of Utah in Human Development and Family Studies with honors. Woot!
Daniel and McKenna were my buddies to ride up to campus on the train. They made the journey a delight.
I saved some extra seats in the arena just in case we needed them. I abandoned the extra places when we realized we had too many, only to see a few minutes later that my nephew Ray and his girlfriend had claimed them. They were there to cheer for a different graduate, so we were all surprised to see one another. 🥰
We are so impressed by Queenie’s many accomplishments.