Category: Life according to Angela

I can’t keep up, but I am trying

I find our 97-year-old prophet’s pace to be really fast. I try to keep up on all the handbook changes and policy updates. I stopped following the church Instagram account because it made me feel overwhelmed sometimes. I keep lists of President Nelson’s invitations to study this and study that. I make efforts to follow him, but the challenge he gave to young adults to study over 2,200 references about Jesus Christ felt especially daunting. Besides, I was not his target audience for this challenge, so it didn’t apply to me, right?

In my stake Primary presidency, we are each working on gaining a testimony of the Children and Youth program, where children make goals in four different areas: Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social. According to my first counselor, Anne, these areas spell “SIPS,” as in sips of living water as we work to hear the Savior’s voice guiding us. I love that idea. So, we are each working on personal goals so we can inspire others to do the same.

One of my goals is to study those 2,200 references of the Savior. So far, I have completed 1/10 of these references. It has already helped me, and this and my other goals are like SIPS of living water. I found this blog post where President Nelson talks about his experience with the 2200 scriptures. He sounds youthful and full of excitement for the gospel. I want to be like this.

What has happened since that first sunflower

The sunflowers now dominate this bed of raspberries and strawberries. Do you remember the story of my wild sunflower (the one with all the branches)?

A single sunflower that we had not planted bloomed the week that Daniel left on his mission. I considered it a gift from God, a comfort to me. A year later, on the anniversary of Daniel’s departure, a single sunflower bloomed in the same place as the year before. The third year, the sunflower had a mishap and was removed. I told Richard that a sunflower in that spot was important to me, and he planted some sunflower seeds in the area so I wouldn’t go without in 2021. But my friends, the wild sunflower, the one that comforted me all those years ago, the one that was removed last year, has come back again this year in its boldest array so far. The other sunflowers delight me, but this wild sunflower bush is special because I believe God makes it blossom just for me, one little missionary mom.

Refrigerator Gallery

I look at the current collection of photos on the refrigerator and think how much has happened since the last time I replenished this casual little photo gallery. 2021 has been a big year. A milestone year. And now the summer of 2021 is gone. I have so many photos that are refrigerator-worthy this year and it’s a little daunting to decide how to use them all.

Beyond the refrigerator gallery and a few framed photos around the house, I make a photo album each year. In the early days my albums were scrapbooks, but eventually I embraced professionally printed photo books, which are a much better choice for us. I try to label everything with dates and places and people because these are the details of our lives that I don’t want to forget. I have learned to include photos of the mundane things, not just milestones in our photo books.

This Labor Day weekend, I plan to refresh the photos on the refrigerator to embrace the new season, our last season with Tim for a long time. And in a few months, we’ll have photos of scenes from the South Pacific to brighten the space. My refrigerator photo gallery is a reminder of where we have been, and as I update the photos, it reminds me that there are always exciting things ahead to take the place of our current milestones. We are not meant to stay in place.

Supper

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and I will sup with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20, KJV

I read this today in a list of scriptures about the Lord making appearances to people. What stood out to me is what the Lord chooses to do with those who hear him and invite him into their lives: He sups with them. The meal represents the great blessing of having companionship with God and receiving his loving support. I think it conveys feelings of comfort, rest, and fulfillment.

I have been thinking of what the pandemic has brought to us. One blessing is that we have had more time with all of our children. Did I always use the time well? No, I have regrets, but I don’t regret that I elevated Sunday dinners and other meals. Early in the pandemic, I prayed to know how to face the challenge, and one thing that came to my mind was to make the most of family time, and to create celebrations with our meals together.

I have used fine dishes for our Sunday dinners, with cloth napkins, goblets, chargers, good tablecloths, and our best recipes. I started a written record of which children came and what we talked about. I can’t think of a more bonding experience than these meals have been during this challenging time.

We said goodbye to Daniel last weekend as he headed back to college. He doesn’t live far away, but it’s far enough that we won’t see him every day, every week, and maybe miss a month now and then. Knowing there is one less person at the table is one of the hardest parts of saying goodbye each fall.

Tim will leave us soon to begin his mission, and these meals with him mean more and more to me, as I know they are numbered. Tim received the Melchizedek priesthood on Sunday, and I was invited to share my thoughts at the conclusion of his ordination and blessing. I didn’t have to think of something profound, I just reminded him of something we had talked about at last Sunday’s dinner table. This table has become a truly sacred place for our family.

UFOs

Here are some sound effects to play in the background as we take a scroll through some of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

page 667/798
This is really hard to read on the Kindle. I think I will get a physical copy to finish it.
and some more books
This will be a quilt someday.
I need someone to hold my hand on this next step of family history research. I need to find the right person, and hopefully they can read Finnish.
It has been too tender a year to work on this.
The front porch flower container broke, so I need to transplant some flowers to a new pot.
This is a project for my embroidery machine for my mom’s craft room.
This is my souvenir from Oregon. I am getting close.

not pictured:

Tim’s missionary list

It doesn’t bother me to have some unfinished things. It just means that good times are ahead as I finish them. The priority is all of the mission stuff for a while.

Shell art

We have shell collections at our house, and this week I decided to use some as a canvas for art. Shells are beautiful on their own, but I think the extra pearl shine, decoupage, and gold accents make them something extraordinary. (The birds and leaves were printed on a napkin.) When I work with my hands, I am still enough in my mind to learn from the Spirit. This is one reason I think it’s so good to take time to create. Painting shells is how we celebrated Paige’s birthday. She also made some beautiful designs.

25 years old

I cannot believe 25 years have passed, and I knew the day she was born that it was not her first moment of existence. Paige carried a distinct presence, bright and thoughtful, that continues to grow. It is a joy and privilege to be her mother.

I testify that your own personal journey as a child of God did not begin for you as the first flow of earth’s air came rushing into your lungs, and it will not end when you take your last breath of mortality. May we always remember that each spirit child of God is coming to earth on his or her own personal journey. May we welcome them, safeguard them, and always love them. As you receive these precious children in the Savior’s name and help them in their eternal journey, I promise you that the Lord will bless you and shower His love and approval upon you.

Elder Neil L. Andersen, “The Personal Journey of a Child of God,” Liahona, May 2021.

And then there was one

10th grade

One son in high school means that I am going to be driving him to school most of the year. Lucky me, I really like doing that. Mark seems fine to be off to school again. He likes his time with friends and his excited energy made for a companionable and talkative Mark last night after dinner. We all gathered (Richard, Angela, Paige, Michael, Daniel, McKenna, Timothy, and Mark) for a meal and to view the photos and videos of our trip. We saw around 15 waterfalls, but based on the number of photos, it probably seemed more like 300 to those who weren’t on the trip, but politely listened to us talk about our adventures. Our dinner question was, “What did you learn last week?” The answers were really good.

With travel, a camp, and a family reunion during the last month, I am counting it a win that we are just one (long) section behind in the Come Follow Me study schedule. School forces a routine, so better days are ahead for focused effort on spiritual things.

Tim’s mission shopping list is so much shorter than Daniel’s. He won’t even need a suit, and certainly not winter gear. I told myself I wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made with Daniel when I was shopping for mission gear. Since the list is different, I will certainly make new mistakes this time. I am not really firm in the reality of this mission yet. This time of year I tend to go through the mechanics of school prep and season change in a fog. Change is challenging, and I react by retreating into my thoughts that have nothing to do with the life that is calling me to action. Only writing seems to bring me back to reality.

This week is about reading less news and doing more family history work instead. I will print the mission to-do list so I can make a schedule for getting it accomplished, and I will prepare for training two groups of Primary leaders and teachers. Here we go.