Some weeks are just extra special. I haven’t had time to write about this one, but I want to remember it.
Happenings
Category: Life according to Angela
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.
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
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.
Mother’s Day weekend 2025
I couldn’t visit my mom this year, but tried to write an extra good letter, which I realize now was probably inadequate with her living so far away from family. I like the concept of Mother’s Day. In practice, I understand that it can be hard to do it right.
There are some tongue in cheek remarks from me around Mother’s Day. For instance, sometime around March when the ads begin, I will ask Richard if he’s started planning gifts for the holiest day of the year, Mother’s Day. Gifts are not my love language, but I like to be with my family and I like their kind gestures. As the saying goes, my family “understood the assignment,” and made my weekend very special.
This year, I got to spend time with our 3 oldest kids. There was our trip to Alabama to see Paige and her family, then on Saturday, Daniel, Tim, and Richard washed our windows and we went to a movie together. I was able to connect with Mark and Paige on the phone on Sunday. Tim skipped his ward meeting to sit beside me in church, ensuring that I didn’t sit alone. My gifts were mostly sweets, which are perfect for me. Richard cooked dinner and we dined around a new rose bouquet.
I love our family. I love Richard. I love being a mom.
current reading and current mood
Last week, I gathered some of my books that I found in various places throughout the house. I realized that I am in the process of reading 10 books, and that’s probably a personal record. I can predict the books that I will finish first and the ones that will change me. They are not the same. š There are many purposes for reading, and my 10 books represent that.
I am in a phase of life where I can do a lot of reading, but my book count doesn’t reflect that. Even though I am reading 10 books at once, I am still finishing them at about the same rate. So, there is no magic when the children leave home. I am still the same person with the same habits. The only real change is that I’ve lost some zeal and capacity to do some things that once came easily for me.
It’s just a very quiet, baffling time of life.
And with that happy thought, I will go pull a bucket of weeds in the yard and see what the sky and earth can teach me about seasons and life and new growth. After a few more tasks, you’ll find me reading. š
Alabama
We made a trip to Alabama to visit Paige and her family. We had some outings, but the highlight was playing with W—.
Endnotes
I have needed the counsel from my patriarchal blessing all my life, especially at times of decision or challenge.
Over time, I have discovered that there are many scriptures quoted throughout my blessing. Sometimes they are indicated with quotation marks, but more often, a few words are woven into the cadences of sentences without notation. This opens a new level of discovery for me. As I find and study the quoted passages, these scriptures provide context, expand my understanding, and often give me a scripture hero with whom I can relate. As I collect these hidden references, they become valuable endnotes to my patriarchal blessing.
Every time you wonder what you should do with your life, study your patriarchal blessing. Every time you want to feel Godās love, read your patriarchal blessing. Your patriarchal blessing is your own personal revelation, and itās scripture just for you.
-Teresa Bell, The Hand of God in Your Life
Here is a link to Teresa Bell’s talk with some of the best insights and doctrine about patriarchal blessings. The segment begins at minute 17:43.
The Hand of God in Your LifeĀ