Sunday morning just before going to church I decided to check email real quick. I found this nice little one from my friend in Utah: "Just wanted to wish you guys a happy anniversary!...I hope you enjoy your day 😍" I'm sure I said out loud to myself, "What?? What's today? The 16th?? What? I forgot??" I looked around the house. No card propped up against a vase of flowers. Nothing. No signs of anyone having an anniversary. We both forgot?? Both of us? Dennis had already been to church for nearly 2 hours. He probably remembered after he got there, and feels terrible right about now. So I get to church just before it begins and find Dennis saving a chair for me as usual. I keep trying to decide how to approach this. He turns to look at me and compliments me on my skirt. "It's new, isn't it?" I said no, I've had this a long time. He really doesn't know does he? So then I sit there staring at him and smiling. Trying to figure me out, he looks right into my eyes, and that's when I say to him, "Happy Anniversary." I take the church bulletin and point to the date at the top: "Oct 16, 2016." He looks like he's going to be sick.
I feel sorry for him. For the panic look on his face. Remembering specials dates is HUGE to him. He prides himself on being a good husband. Good husbands, according to him in the past, never forget these things. So I say back to him, "It's okay! I forgot too! We don't even have calendars up in our house yet. We basically haven't known what day it's been since we moved in!" "Oh you forgot too?" "Yes! Yes I did. I love it. We forgot together." By now it's the opening song. We start to sing. He takes my hand and kisses it and tells me it's been the best 17 years of his life. Some of those imperfect moments of life are my favorite.
Not always. But sometimes. Like a week or so ago when 3 of my niecescame to visit. (Robin and Dave's girls) I forgot to take even one picture of them, so I had to snag a few off Facebook.
Brooke and Lauren, and McKenzie below them.
Lauren was visiting from Ohio, Brooke just came for the weekend from Provo, and McKenzie is still in high school here.
So it happened like this. As we were just sitting around chatting I happened to mention that we were having someone come out to fix our stove since the 2 front burners don't work. The sellers of our house graciously bought us a year warranty on the house.... so any repair is just $65.
So my nieces started checking out my stove.
Not that I asked them to or anything. But there they were all hovered over it. Then suddenly one of them said, "There I fixed it." Apparently I just had the burner plates upside down!
All fixed, and saved me $65.
Then I started talking about the dishwasher....I showed them how Dennis does not like the silver ware container on the door.
That's when one of girls reached her arm in, removed the container, and then put it in the dishwasher like this:
Really? You mean I could have done that 7 weeks ago when we moved in here?
And wait there's more. As I walked them to their car, I was showing the girls how I was upset the gardner wacked off too much of this bush I like.
So McKenzie gets close to the bush and tells me it's a Rosemary bush! Really, I had no idea. I LOVE rosemary.
She said I could just come out and get some when I'm making dinner. Thanks girls! Here's all their siblings together plus Ashley's 2 children. Sarah, McKenzie, Lauren, Brooke, Ashley, Ben, Davy
They have all grown up so nicely.
I need to have them over more often.
More like, I need to beg them to come over more often.
So the latest election debate Sunday evening, while entertaining, was horrible.
It felt like a dark cloud over our lives.
Two days later I woke up (I had woken up before that, but you know what I mean)
and didn't think much of it as I sang these words Tuesday morning: "Fear not though the enemy deride It takes courage for the Lord is on our side We will heed not what the wicked may say For the Lord, the Lord we will obey."
They may not be the exact words of the hymn but they were the words I was singing.
It's how I remember it...this song I've known since childhood.
It was odd to me, that I wasn't even thinking about this song. Like it wasn't even in my head, I just
started singing the words. And at first I wasn't paying attention to what the words were saying.
Suddenly after several times going over these words while vacuuming and doing laundry, I stopped
and thought....where is this coming from? And what hymn is this?
Then another verse came to me:
"If we do what's right we have no need to fear For the Lord our helper will ever be near In the days of trial his Saints he will cheer And prosper the cause of truth."
So I then went down the hall where Den was working and sang a few lines to him. "What is the name
of this hymn? Do you know? I can't place it."
He didn't know at first but then he began singing another verse: "Let us all press on in the work of the Lord....."
"That's it. Let Us All Press On."!!
So then I went looking for it on youtube. And played it over and over while I did more chores. It
brings me such comfort. The words. In a way I'd never really heard them quite like this before.
To me, it's like it was written for this very election. But actually, I discovered both the text and music
were written by Even Stephens, and he died in 1930!
Then my mind started wandering to my Mom and the things she use to tell me. I thought back to that
one particular evening when I was a young teenager. We were having some sort of crisis in the world
at the time, and my little brother Scott was crying about it and afraid to go to bed. I was in the other
room but I heard Mom say to him, "Our greatest protection in this life is keeping the commandments. If we do that we will be just fine."
I don't know...but maybe my Mom put this hymn in my head Tuesday morning. Whatever, I need it.
I was listening to a podcast by a Dr Leonard Sax last week
and I've been pondering 2 of his sentences since then: "The problem with a lot of good parents today is they don't preach what they practice. So the parents believe in virtue and honesty and decency, but they don't talk about it."
I had to wonder, why don't they talk about it? Too busy? Kids too distracted by their phones? The
parents beliefs aren't politically correct anymore? Not sure what it is exactly.
Then yesterday morning while watching General Conference, that podcast was brought back again to
me, when Robert D Hales said,
"Parents and grandparents, we tend to bemoan the state of the world...that schools are not teaching moral character, but there is much we can do. We can take advantage of the teaching moments in our own families. That means now. Don't them slip by. When an opportunity comes to share your thoughts about the gospel and the lessons of life, stop everything, sit down, and talk to your children and grandchildren."