This has been a perfect weekend.
We grilled hamburgers and the thrill of Hyrum knowing that I know how to use the grill was the best. He thought he was never going to get another hamburger with ketchup only at home again. The wink of his eye during dinner let me know it.
One night after the kids were in bed I was able to sneak out thanks to my sister Heather and go to dinner with a friend who had come into town for her Grandpa's funeral and visit with a bunch of people
The kids had a primary meet the teacher activity. Watching Kaden go from unsure to sitting by himself with his class was a moment in itself. He is such a different kid then he was a year ago. And having watched all the days when I prayed and wondered if everything was ok inside of him because he didn't want to speak, or he didn't want to play with other kids, or go try new things. It is amazing how well he does speak and to hear his word choices and see the way he processes things differently that my other boys, but there is nothing wrong with him at all. He is just that, different, fun and unique.
We were able to go swimming and eat a fun dinner downtown with Possible Uncle Stu. Hyrum inviting Stu to his baptism, Kaden and Quinten's fascination with the river boats and Kaden licking Stu's arm with ice cream and Stu wiping it off over and over again until he realized that if he would leave it there that Kaden would stop doing it but he would glance over and check his arm to make sure the ice cream kiss mark was still there. Watching them all 3 stand side by side and riding up and down the escalators over and over again for a good 15 minutes.
We were able to go visit with a friend out on her property and enjoy the outdoors and the broken tractor, bikes, boats, goats, ponies, chickens. And the peace of being away from the road and just watching my boys run free. Hammock-ing with Hyrum and sharing with him the details of my own baptism and planning his and the reasoning behind why he picked who he did and didn't to give talks. He cracks me up. Watching him be teased by a girl with an almost empty bag of marshmallows. He is my oldest, and a great helper and very observant and knows right from wrong.
One evening a friend and her husband took the older boys to the park so I could take a nap. Nine days of only a few hours of very interrupted sleep wears on a person who is recovering from being sick herself. It's amazing how a few hours of sleep even in the day time can give me a boost and help me make it through the day.
I was able to talk to my brother for awhile. It is neat to see him in the stage of life that he is in and be friends. I also really enjoyed church and hearing others testimonies and being able to share my own.
Having Kaden say one of my all time favorite funniest things he has ever said it goes a little something like this
Kaden: Hey mom guess what? Me: what? Kaden (as he covers his privates with his hands right before getting into the bath): my peepee is broken off and now I look just like you and can pee out my tush!
I been dealing with a wild and crazy Quinten who has learned how to open doors. The kid is a bundle of energy and afraid of basically nothing. He run and plays, giggles, falls over gets hurt, cries and then gets back up and does something even wilder all over again.
I also this weekend received a text from a friend on the west coast that I was unsure if I would ever get to talk to her again. We lost contact for awhile and hearing from her brightened my day. She is the kind of friend where even when you don't talk to for awhile you can pick right back up where you left off. Someone who loves my kids and knows the right words to say.
We were able to see fire engines up close and personal when one night we were driving home and the firefighters put out a brush fire behind a neighbor 4 houses away.
It is obvious that I have not gotten much sleep lately, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I wanted nights full of solid sleep then I wouldn't get to be a mother. I wouldn't get to experience the joys and sorrows with my kids. The tantrums, the screaming, the frustration with being forgotten about that they get so mad they kick and scream scream, the double ear infections from hell that refuse to go away, the coughing so hard they wake themselves up at night, the trips to the pediatricians office for more shots in the legs! Oh and don't forget the scratchy voices with frogs in our throats. There has been a lot of that mixed in this weekend too and that really is what has made it all the more perfect. Life is real, we have been blessed to be able to feelings and emotions and have free agency.
I really do love my life. I would not trade it for anyone else's in the world! Not even now with all I am going through. Happiness comes in the small things, being able to watch my kids and listen to them. Being able to teach them correct principles and values and to be able to help them realize that it's not what happens to us but how we react and respond to what has been done. Even with all of the uncertainties and the unknowns.
To finish out the weekend, our home teachers came by and shared this message with us that I want to include, it goes along with what my thoughts have been all weekend. I love the entire message but I would have to say that my most favorite sentence of the entire thing is, "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”"
Living the Abundant Life
At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings. Just as we learned the ABCs in school, I offer my own ABCs to help us all gain the abundant life.
Have a Positive Attitude
A in my ABCs refers to attitude. William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”1
So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment.
Charles Swindoll—author, educator, and Christian pastor—said: “Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.”2
We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.
Believe in Yourself
B is for believe—in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles.
Be honest with yourself, with others, and with your Heavenly Father. One who was not honest with God until it was too late was Cardinal Wolsey who, according to Shakespeare, spent a long life in service to three sovereigns and enjoyed wealth and power. Finally, he was shorn of his power and possessions by an impatient king. Cardinal Wolsey cried:
Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, He would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.3
Thomas Fuller, an English churchman and historian who lived in the 17th century, penned this truth: “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.”4
Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.
You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith.
Face Challenges with Courage
C is for courage. Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently.
Said the American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”5
There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!
Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.
Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
May we remember these ABCs as we begin our journey into the new year, cultivating a positive attitude, a belief that we can achieve our goals and resolutions, and the courage to face whatever challenges may come our way. Then the abundant life will be ours.
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