Angels disguised as sweethearts in my house!

Dear people who are redoing my bathroom,

I love you.

Especially you with the dark hair who brought in my mail when you didn't EVEN have to! And you with the twinkly eyes who told me not to help wash siding.

Love, Susan

Finding Christ for Christmas day 7

Yes, I realize it is suppose to be day eight. I'll get to it...

Jesus Blessing Jairus's Daughter

Artist, Greg K. Olsen

A ruler named Jairus asked Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying daughter. On the way they learned it was too late: the little girl had died. However, Jesus told Jairus not to fear but to believe in Him. When Jesus entered the house He told the mourners not to cry. He told them the girl was not dead but asleep. They laughed because they knew she was dead. Jesus took the girl by the hand and told her to arise. She returned to life and rose from her bed. (FYI:I did not write this summary.)

For those of you who know me I have always had grandiose ideas. It is often all or none with me. I have been learning and am being taught that some is better than none. So some days my lessons are not everything I envisioned but life is busy and I can't do all I want. But a simple three minute lesson about Christ raising the dead is something, is it not? When I look into my oldest son's eyes, every time I have been talking to him about Christ this past little while, I know it is. He is listening. I think he is internalizing. I really do.

I love it that sometimes I can just do a little and it is still a great thing. I bore my testimony on Sunday. I never do that. EVER. I am terrified because of past stupid experiences. But it was very quiet at testimony meeting since our ward has been split. Since we have been "finding Christ for Christmas" I literally could not sit in my seat one moment longer if there was silence. I couldn't let time be wasted when we could be testifying of Christ. It just seems so wrong since I have been feeling of His spirit to let that time go by not proclaiming that He is our Savior.

I hope I don't sound braggy or like I am "all that" spirituality wise. I defiantly have my weaknesses (*cough,* desperate house wives,* cough*). I struggle (*cough*, not reading scriptures daily*cough) all the time. I am just trying to improve and grow my testimony and teach my children. Hope it is coming off in the right spirit.

A moment of silence please...

I am now starting a campaign to have a national holiday for indoor running water. You don't know what you have until it's gone! I think running water is on the top of my list of important things! The workers on my bathroom had to turn off the water and in the first 10 minutes I turned on the sink to wash my hands a billion times, forgetting the worker had turned it off!! It is good every now and then to be reminded of these things. It humbles us and reminds us to be prepared. Thankfully I did have some small plastic jugs in the basement full of water so I brought one up for washing my hands. We do have big containers in the garage as well but it is nice to have small ones for mini emergency's. (Save you pop liter bottles, they work great. It embarrases Corey at family functions I am always scavanging them) I love running water and I especially am thankful to be able to indulge my OCD hand washing issue.

Phew! Literally,... Phew!

Finding Christ for Christmas day 6

Jesus Washing the Apostles' Feet

He poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. John 13:5

After Jesus had eaten the Last Supper with His Apostles, He removed His outer robe and put a towel around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and, one by one, began to wash and dry the Apostles' feet. (See John 13:45.)
I find this interesting because can you imagine at the last supper how He might have been concerned with His own troubles yet He is serving others.

When Jesus finished washing the Apostles' feet, He said, "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:1415).

I showed the kid's this picture and we read I read to them about it and we discussed how dirty those feet might have been. Not clean like our feet but dirty from wearing sandals. We talked about how Christ didn't feel like, because he was the Lord, that He was better than the Apostles and how we needed to serve everyone. We discussed ways to serve, helping with siblings, shoveling walks, etc.

Then I told them we were going to go into the sink and wash each other's feet. They about died. Just a joke though. Hope that doesn't offend any one.

Finding Christ for Christmas day 5

Thank goodness for Michael McLean! Seriously! I love him! I wanted to do a lesson on the three wise men and I knew there was a great song out there, so I you tubed it and found it if you are interested. Here is how you find it, google- you tube Michael McLean "I cannot find my way". I tried to post it but apparently I don't know how. Anyway I had the kids come downstairs by the computer and I showed them a picture of three wise men. I taught them some things I researched about the wise men and then I told them to lay down on the floor or lean their heads back and pretend they were wise men out in the dessert with their camels. I had the lights turned off and I shown a flashlight on the ceiling as the star. I played this song off the computer about the wise man and I know it is cheesy to do this but I narrated through the whole song telling the kids what the song was saying. I loved the words so much I wrote them down.

"Somewhere beneath the glitter, that comes this time of winter, in many souls there is a cry. They may not clearly say it, but in their hearts they pray it, and you can see it in their eyes."

(then beautiful back ground of many voices start singing "I cannot find my way, I cannot find my way, I cannot find my way at all. There are so many different voices, so many different choices, I cannot find my way at all.")

"There were three kings who followed the star of Bethlehem. they came from afar to praise and honor Him. The light which beckoned them to see the Lord of men, it calls to you, it calls to me."

("We cannot find our way, we cannot find our way we cannot find our way at all. There are so many choices, So many different voices, we cannot find our way at all.")

"We're not alone we have a star that shines today. The love that He gave teaches how and shows the way. The light is clear to see if we have faith and believe. Three kings found the Lord and so can we."

("We cannot find our way, we cannot find our way at all. There are so many choices so many different voices.")

"And if you've lost you way that light burns bright today and that light will burn eternally. Three kings found the Lord and so can we"

(Lord help us find our way, we need to find the way .")

Music can bring the spirit so fast and this is a really neat song. After the song I talked to them about how, like the star, Christ is our light that will help us find the way. I said how there are many different "voices" in the world telling us certain things are okay when they aren't, and sometimes it can become confusing, but if we keep our eyes on Christ and the gospel and the light we can find our way.

Love means a bite of pizza!

Today Corey and I were going into Sam's club and as we were walking in we witnessed the most wonderfully sweet thing ever. There was a very, very, elderly man pushing the grocery cart next to his equally very, very, elderly wife. As most of you know it is literally frigid here. Like you could die, it is so cold. So as this man was pushing, he stopped, and his little elderly wife was reaching across his front, trying with great difficulty, to get his open jacket buttoned shut. She could barely get it done as she was elderly and struggling, and I think he was scared to let go of the cart as he was elderly and a little hunched over. She finally buttoned it and on they went without a word passing between them. Just like it was "old hat" to take care of each other in that simplest, selfless way. Corey and I passed them and both were like, "Did you see that?" It was so neat to be able to catch that glimmer of something so sacred.

So we killed some time looking at Sam's Club, waiting for some of our kids to finish ice skating (we left without buying one real thing. Pretty impressive huh! During the holidays none the less!) We were leaving and Corey wanted a piece of greasy, bacony, Sam's Club, specialty pizza. We ordered and he waited to eat it until we got in the car. I was engrossed in trying to back the van out in the crazily, nuttily, jam packed parking lot and he is trying to sweetly put a pizza in my mouth.


See the correlation?

We are making it. Baby steps. One day at a time. One moment at a time. One day it is just a bite of pizza when you're spouse can't stuff her own face, in you're golden years it might be buttoning you're spouse's coat in the deathly frigid air, and someday it could be helping the other pass on to the next life. Interesting. Marriage is a work in progress.

"Total unselfishness is sure to accomplish another factor in successful marriage. If one is forever seeking the interests, comforts, and happiness of the other, the love found in courtship and cemented in marriage will grow into mighty proportions. Many couples permit their marriages to become stale and their love to grow cold like old bread or worn-out jokes or cold gravy. Certainly the foods most vital for love are consideration, kindness, thoughtfulness, concern, expressions of affection, embraces of appreciation, admiration, pride, companionship, confidence, faith, partnership, equality, and interdependence."
-- President Spencer W. Kimball, "Oneness in Marriage," Ensign, Mar. 1977, 5

Finding Christ for Christmas day 4, which really occurred day 5 but I can't let that stop me!

I showed the kids this picture and talked with the kids about how Christ is knocking and waiting for us to let Him in. Notice no door knob on the door. The ways we let Him in are living a righteous life going to church, fasting etc.... The ways we keep Him out are watching inappropriate shows, bad music, or bad Internet, swearing etc... He is waiting to come into our lives. He is knocking. Let Him in.