“Read the Gospel of Mark aloud,” I have been told several times in my life. “That’s the way it was meant to be experienced, aloud and during one sitting. It will take you a couple of hours.”
Well, today I did it, using Julie Smith’s rendition. It took less than two hours to finish. The King James Version is still awesome, but a modern language translation helped me see things I did not see before.
Her rendition is free on the Kindle. (LINK) If you have two hours alone, I recommend you read it aloud (or any way you like) and enjoy the good news.
We had a nice text exchange with our missionary for the first time today.
With a home centered focus at church, it makes sense that home and missionary work should mingle more often. Home and family are central to God’s plan. They can add strength. If they don’t, we can trust the missionaries and mission presidents and families to figure things out.
A few weeks ago, Daniel wrote to me, expressing that he wished he had talked to me more. What a blessing it is that we can now. Who else is excited in our house about this? His two brothers. This will bless their lives. Amen.
I have a sous chef in the house who likes to get creative with the spices. Lately, I have not been able to find anything in the cupboard because someone else has been using it. It was time to get organized.
I can find everything easily now, and Mark’s go-to spices have their own container. Why does this thrill me so much?
I did it to the medicine cabinet, too.
These are from Target. They are clear so you can see everything in them, they are as deep as my cabinets, and pull out easily. I bought every one from two Targets. I also bought some other sizes and they were a highlight from my week until I learned that missionaries can call home every week now.
I smile when I think of my violin students. I am just so lucky. They are doing really hard things in their violin study and I am proud of them.We had another recital and Timothy played a dissonant piece with a rhythm not unlike chopsticks. Paige played the same piece years ago, so we really know it at our house. Only a good pianist can play it, so good job, Tim. A lot of the song is played with one hand on top of the other.Mark played a couple of sonatinas really well.
Throwback Thursday time: “The Mamas” and me from Fiddler on the Roof. I am accompanying on the violin one of these women as she sings this weekend. Unfortunately, it isn’t a song from Fiddler, but it is a good one. I cannot believe this photo was taken six years ago. Many of these women have become good friends to me.
You know how it goes. You think you’re set for the next little while, life is predictable or at least monotonous, and one little thing shifts and zap, everything that was fine is no longer manageable. Maybe you don’t know. But that was me this morning. I figured I would face the day only if I could be late to my class so I wouldn’t have to talk to anybody. Fragile: Handle with Care, my label would read. I listened to uplifting music and took great care to keep myself still. Around 8:30 I noticed my friend’s newly published book was sitting in the entry in its packaging. I cried as I read her acknowledgements and introduction. Her book is amazing and absolutely beautiful. Someone then knocked on my door, returned a dish, and was extra kind in her words to me. She didn’t mention the smudged mascara under my eyes. But I think she saw a happy person at the door, because I was by then. I needed a boost, and Heavenly Father was quick to deliver today. He has been extra close all day. I felt Him in the words of scripture, in the kindness of my friend at the door so early in the morning, in a message of gratitude, in an accomplishment of a friend, in the wave from my neighbor as she got her paper, and in being able to figure out a solution to a problem. He made it possible to manage today. He always does.
The evening light began in a shade of eerie steel blue and then turned gray with snow. We switched on the four wheel drive and made our way in the blizzard to the airport. We had the wrong time for the flight, so we sat in the park and wait lot for an hour and a half, watching snow rush past in horizontal sheets. We conserved our resources and kept the truck off until it got too cold and I asked Richard to turn on the heat for a few minutes. No keys. Anywhere. We hadn’t left the truck, but they were simply not there. We got out of our seats, opened a door and searched every crevice with flashlights. Finally, after several minutes going through pockets outside, and just as I began my prayer, Richard was back. The keys had fallen down one leg of his snow pants. Salvation in wool socks up against the heating vents. We read our books in silence, every now and then one of us calling our traveler but not getting through.
Our precious traveler retrieved, we made it back to our house, but now 7 inches of snow covered our driveway. Richard cleared the driveway until past 11 pm. Courage in snow pants and an old parka. As I drifted off to sleep, the smoke alarm sounded. Dead battery. Dead tired parents. I got a few hours of sleep before waking at 4 to write to Daniel. It’s a small part of valor, but I claim it.
Today the demon storm shows its effects in the sunlight. Glittery diamonds in a shocking field of blue-white cast their reflection, brightening dim corners in the house and in my mind. Winter has worked its magic and we are friends again.
Tonight we ate cake to celebrate Daniel’s first six months on his mission.
My sister Sarah sent me a book for a surprise, along with a kind note. I got it on the snowy day when we were stranded at home because the plows couldn’t get to our street until early evening.
Paige is in New York this weekend for an illustration conference. Her boyfriend came to dinner on Sunday. We like him.
5 new feet of snow fell at Alta ski resort.
My week has been punctuated by time with friends, and wow, it has been so fun.
Begin by answering the primary questions. There are primary questions and there are secondary questions. Answer the primary questions first. Not all questions are equal and not all truths are equal. The primary questions are the most important. Everything else is subordinate. There are only a few primary questions. I will mention four of them. 1. Is there a God who is our Father? 2. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of the world? 3. Was Joseph Smith a prophet? 4. Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on the earth? By contrast, the secondary questions are unending. They include questions about Church history, polygamy, people of African descent and the priesthood, women and the priesthood, how the Book of Mormon was translated, the Pearl of Great Price, DNA and the Book of Mormon, gay marriage, the different accounts of the First Vision, and on and on. If you answer the primary questions, the secondary questions get answered too, or they pale in significance and you can deal with things you understand and things you don’t and things you agree with and things you don’t without jumping ship altogether.
… the best of all human conditions in this life is not wealth, fame, prestige, good health, the honors of men, security, or even—dare I say it—good grades. As wonderful as some of those things are, the best of all human conditions is to be endowed with heavenly power; it is to be born again, to have the gift and companionship of the Holy Ghost, which is the source of knowledge, revelation, strength, clarity, love, joy, peace, hope, confidence, faith, and almost every other good thing. Jesus said, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, . . . shall teach you all things.” It is the power by which we “may know the truth of all things.” “It will show . . . [us] all things . . . [we] should do.” It is the fountain of “living water” that springs up unto eternal life.
…Answers to the primary questions do not come by answering the secondary questions. There are answers to the secondary questions, but you cannot prove a positive by disproving every negative. You cannot prove the Church is true by disproving every claim made against it. That will never work. It is a flawed strategy. Ultimately there has to be affirmative proof, and with the things of God, affirmative proof finally and surely comes by revelation through the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost.
I heard someone say recently, “It is okay to have doubts.” I wonder about that. The Lord said, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” I have a lot of questions; I don’t have any doubts.
Lawrence E Corbridge, “Stand Forever,” BYU Devotional, January 22, 2019
This talk was good and I have been waiting for the transcript to become available so I could share it with you. The ideas were well developed and new. He spoke with power. I loved it.
It’s wilderness week for our family’s study of the New Testament. Our goal is to spend time in our own wilderness each day to learn from Heavenly Father…before we look at our devices and screens. Wish us luck. Here’s the journal sheet.
On Monday I warmed up leftovers for dinner: two bowls of Chinese food, smoked chicken, vegetables, fried potatoes, and more. It was a varied and impressive sight, but we ended up running to McDonalds for some cheeseburgers when the boys were still hungry.
The next day, I cooked for hours: my best soup, a favorite sausage dish, colorful spinach salad with fresh strawberries, and homemade chocolate chip bar cookies. Tim walked in and asked, “What’s wrong?” (Has someone died?) The boys had a dentist appointment and came home with instructions not to drink hot liquids. So, this was another dinner fail for the boys and they didn’t eat my masterpiece.
Wednesday I threw a homemade quiche in the oven as I raced out the door to a parent meeting for Frisbee and a family history class. I was gone for four hours and by the look of the leftovers, I don’t think this meal was a hit, either.
Tonight I went for the tried and true spaghetti. Mark and I didn’t finish because by the time we were all home together to eat, we had to go to piano lessons.
They were lovely meals for those who could eat them.
I just looked through my last few posts and I want you to know I am not sad. I have arrived at some understanding and wrote it out. When I am not writing serious posts, I am dancing in the kitchen, chuckling at James Herriott stories, eating lemon bars, and drinking in the sunlight.
