Some weeks are just extra special. I haven’t had time to write about this one, but I want to remember it.
Happenings
Author: Angela
I write so my family will always have letters from home.
Movie marathon
Mark loves the Mission Impossible movies, and we took his advice and watched several of them together to prepare for our viewing of The Final Reckoning. These movies are long, so we had to split the marathon into several days.
I don’t normally watch action movies, but it gave me time with family and it was a reminder of Mark. We are resolved not to give him any spoilers and I’m sure there will be another movie marathon after he gets home.
June
June is my favorite month in Utah. I spend more time outdoors and the evenings echo with children at play. The neighbors come out of the house and chat in the street, and the canyon where we walk is still green and the creek is flowing. We work and I read in the yard. Summer isn’t familiar yet, and the sunsets are still a surprise. The cool grass in the shade refreshes the busy worker, and the flowers bow themselves over with their own weight. It’s an extravagant display and time slows down just a bit. And June is just the beginning.
Helpful.
If you do the work to follow the author’s thought journey, this book will give to you some validation for your views and give you a framework to understand your neighbor’s views. Daniel recommended this one and I am so glad that I read it.
What if?
School is getting out this week in my neighborhood, and this season of graduations makes me reflect on how much has changed since our youngest left home. During most of this school year, I have wondered why all the years of dedication and effort in raising my family needed to end with these hollow feelings. Recently, I decided to challenge my negative thoughts about the “empty nest.”
For instance, what if my current situation isn’t a sign that I did something wrong?
What if the quiet things I am doing now are essential, and not just filler?
What if this season is actually a gift?
What if I look at this time of transition less like an airport and more like a plane in flight?
What if my small achievements are actually big?
What if I choose to trust the process?
I begin to understand that I’m exactly where I should be. As summer arrives, I’m ready to graduate to a new kind of thinking, and move away from the hollow spaces I’ve inhabited so long.
Memorial Day
Collect the stories
I love this song.
I think we should all collect family stories, share them, display old family pictures, and do some temple work.♥️ Everyone needs this kind of connection and belonging. In each family tree there is someone who will inspire you.
My class
I learn many things as a teacher of this Sunday School class. I have been a student of the scriptures throughout my life, and I have experience in receiving personal revelation about passages of scripture, but there is a new level of insight that has come with this calling.
Clear ideas flood my mind when I prepare to teach this group of adults.
My takeaway is that these adults are as precious to the Lord as the children and youth of the church. What happens in our Sunday School class matters to Him because He loves them and wants to help them.
Connect
After three years of pretty steady effort, I still enjoy making these little cross stitch pieces. This is the second time I have made this one because I gave away the first and I was lonely without it. I really love its composition, colors, and meaning.
I read something interesting about this detail from Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting. God’s hand is on the right, Adam’s is on the left. The attitude of God’s finger is extended, reaching, while man’s is relaxed. Man must choose to reach out to God, who is anxious and ready to connect.
Connection is the goal. We can do this.
19 today
He’s entered the year of his life that I won’t be able to hug him because he is serving so far away, but I am thrilled that he is a missionary. I am so proud of him.