Dear Loved Ones,
Well, this busy week pulled us right out of our winter doldrums! Last Monday
night we had a crazy FHE. Everyone was being so weird, I even took photos. It
wasn’t the most edifying night, but I sure love my little weirdos. Tuesday was a cleaning and errands day
for me. It was Grandma Lyn’s 87th
birthday and I thought about her all day. I got to touch base with two of my
girlfriends, Jessi and Naomi, which is always a good thing. They remind me that
I am not alone in my mama battles. Wednesday
was a laundry day, and in the evening I helped Rich get ready for the
awesome “Very Merry Unbirthday” party he and the deacons planned for the
combined youth activity Wednesday night. He and Addie went to set up at around
6:15. I went to pick up Heidi from rehearsal at 6:45, and then dropped her and
James off at the church. I had promised the little boys ice cream cones, but by
the time we dropped off the big kids, they were asleep in their carseats! I
came home and put them to bed and had some time to just read and relax before
bed. The party seemed to be a big hit. Thursday
after school Heidi had rehearsal and Addie had Running Club, but Rich met
me and the little boys at Niles’ school for “Math Night.” We went to his
classroom and he showed us how to play some fun math and reasoning games.
Afterward, Daddy treated everybody to dinner at our brand new Taco Bell
restaurant. I went to the Parent Support group for our community suicide impact
group, which is always kind of harrowing but also edifying. If nothing else, it
is a reminder to me of the silent suffering happening all around us, and that
these are the places where the Lord’s work is truly being done. Friday Rich and James got all packed up
and headed out with the scouts to the Winter Camporee. That night the girls and
me and the little boys got Chinese food and watched the Fantastic Mr. Fox. It
was so nice to have a quiet night at home. Saturday,
though—wow. I got up at 7:30am and fed the boys. Heidi and I went to Bozeman to
go shopping at 8:30am. Addie watched the boys while we got some new clothes and
necessities for Heidi at Target and groceries at Costco. We hurried home so she
could be at the Shane Center at 12:30 for her 2pm and 5pm performances of “The
Wizard of Oz.” I went home and picked up the little boys and took them to the
Johnson’s to play while I did Addie’s hair and she and I went to the 2pm show.
After the show, Addie hurried home and got ready for the Winter Formal while I
cleaned out the van and put most of the groceries away. Rich got home from
Camporee around 4:15pm, and I left to start picking up kids to go to the dance
at 4:30pm. Rich and James hopped in the shower and met Grandpa and Grandma
Melin at the 5pm show of “The Wizard of Oz.” Rich said everyone loved the show
and Grandpa Melin laughed all the way through it. Our ward friend Sidney
Denniston starred as Dorothy and did a great job! Heidi played a sassy crow who picked on the
scare crow, then a poppy who put the main characters to sleep, then a jitterbug
who danced Dorothy to sleep. She has great comedic timing and stage presence. I
wish we had more options for her to do workshops and auditions, but it’s nice
that we at least have these two little theaters in town. Rich brought Heidi and
the boys home after the show. They ate camping leftovers and watched the
classic movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” Meanwhile, I drove a vanload of kids over to
the stake dinner/dance. Last week it sounded like only 4 kids were coming, but
we ended up with 14! I am grateful for all the work that goes into providing these
fun activities—they all had a ball.
When
I was watching the Wizard of Oz and noticing all the allegories, I was thinking
about this talk I listened to last week, given by Neal A. Maxwell in 1971. In
it he said, “We need to understand in a more
special way than we already do the weight that God puts on EXPERIENCE while we
are in mortality …Our father is a loving father who wants us to have the happiness that results not from mere innocence, but from proven
righteousness.” God does not, and probably cannot, just magically give us
the gifts we seek. When we pray for patience or faith or charity, he doesn’t
wave his Godly wand and grant us these qualities. Instead, He gives us
experiences—trials, challenges, tests—that will, if we approach them with the right
attitude, help us develop the gifts we seek. Likewise, the Wizard does not,
cannot, bestow gifts upon Dorothy and her companions. Rather, he recognizes
they have developed those gifts on their own through their experiences. And Dorothy
had the power within herself to grant her own wish, all along. THAT reminded me
of Jacob 4:6: “…and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh
unshaken, insomuch that WE TRULY CAN command in the name of Jesus and
the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.” It
is kind of beautiful to have lived a few years (ahem! ;)) and to see the
pattern of experience, repentance, and forgiveness working daily in our lives
to make us who we are meant to be, working together for our good. It really
does strengthen my faith to see the Lord taking things that once seemed like
insurmountable roadblocks to me and turning them into my greatest life lessons
and refining experiences. Obstacles just aren’t so intimidating once you see
what the Lord can do with them.
We love you all! We are getting excited for “Love Day” and hope
you feel an abundance of it this week.
Love, Jamie and Rich and Family
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