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.

My class

Posing for a picture to send to Mark on his birthday

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.

He, Only One

Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him–

Saying: Father, behold the death and sufferings of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of the Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5

Today I noticed that Jesus Christ refers to himself as the advocate, meaning he’s the only way any of us is returning home. And what a tender, omniscient advocate he is!

What seemingly invisible efforts does he notice you are making to improve?

What unspoken wound does he know you are carrying that would designate your efforts as courageous?

What answers are you seeking that he can help you realize?

What noble, internal battle are you facing that he is helping you overcome?

What personal victory is he celebrating with you?

Let’s try this. Tonight, before you pray, imagine Jesus Christ close by. He is your Advocate with the Father. Ask yourself, “What would my Savior say to the Father about me?”

And then become silent.

Listen for that voice that says good things about you—the voice of the Savior, your finest friend, and your Father in Heaven, who is really there. Remember, Their love and your worth are always great, no matter what!

–Tamara W. Runia, “Your Repentance Doesn’t Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy,” April 2025

See also Hymn #129, Where Can I Turn for Peace?

Mother’s Day weekend 2025

Oh, my heart.
Echoes of their childhood building Legos
This is my new wallpaper for my phone. I boop his nose with my finger to unlock it.

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.