My Daughters

It was the Monday before school started. I thought it would be a great day to go on a nice bike ride with my girls. I talked to them about it the night before and was very excited to get some good exercise and spend time with my girls. Monday morning Reese woke up in a mood and she started fighting with grandpa (well I am not really sure which one started it). He didn't want the lights on because he wanted to save money on the electric bill and she wanted the lights on because she likes them on. Either that or she wanted to show grandpa he couldn't tell her what to do. She even called grandpa out on the tv being left on even when he wasn't in the room. It was rough trying to be a referee between the two. Reese needed to show respect to her grandfather and yet having a light on to work on school work is nice as well.

Then I went upstairs to talk to Celia about getting ready to go bike riding. She was busy working on some school work (yeah I am one of those moms who gives school work to her kids during the summer). She had other plans and ideas of what she wanted to do and she didn't want to go on a bike ride. "Mom, why do you make things sound like a choice in the beginning and then force me to do stuff." By that time I was ready to loose it. (There was also the stress of a traveling husband and not knowing how that was going on because it can never be just one stressor.)

So I told Celia, "Fine, do whatever you want. I just thought it would be nice to do together and you've been talking about wanting to exercise. Nevermind."

Celia ended up changing her mind, probably because she felt bad for me and wanted to try to be nice. I did explain to her about the fighting duo downstairs as well.

So we finally went bike riding. Grandpa decided to come a long as well. It was at this point that Reese started to get frustrated. She had to get off the bike and walk up the hills (she does not always do that). She was tired and she was missing having music on our ride and I was too.  My phone got wet and the speaker no longer works. There was a small fall and quite a bit of whining and "I am not going to get back on my bike until I want to" comments.

I was frustrated and looking at my beautiful daughters and wondering what I was going to do with their strong personalities. The personalities they were born with. Celia was born c-section, but as soon as they had her cleaned up she let out a cry that my mother heard from the hallway. Reese was also a c-section and they put her under lights for some jaundice issues in the hospital. Reese was so mad and only a day old and she pulled up on all fours screaming. They were born with a strength that has been a lot for me to deal with.

As I was looking at them Heavenly Father allowed me to see so much more than I had ever seen. There is a purpose to them having the personalities and strength that they have. Heavenly Father inspired me with these words in poem for them. (By the way, if anyone knows how to do artistic stuff, I would love and pay for this poem to be done nicely so I can frame it by a picture of my daughters.)

My Daughters

She was born with fire in her eyes

Unrelenting, spirited and stubborn

With a scream that could wake the dead

She questions everything

Never accepting status quo

She is a fighter ready to go the rounds

The word “NO!” etched in her brain

She challenges, humbles and teaches me

She is my greatest love, worst heartache and the joy of life

Her hug and “I love you” chisel my rough spots

Refining me and making it all better

She is her own Captain

I am her first mate

She will choose

I will cry and smile with her

Helping, advising and guiding her along the way

Back home to HIM

She is mine, but she is HIS

HE fearfully made her

Knows who she is destined to be

HE gave her that strength, attitude and stamina

Made her the fighter

HE loves her ALWAYS

HE wants her back complete

She will get there, with some guidance

May she ever remember she is mine

More importantly she is HIS

HE wants her back

Line Upon Line - Pathways Rocks

https://video.byui.edu/media/Pathway+Website+Overview+%28English%29/0_ut6fwrbr

Recently I started to take college classes through a program from my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) entitled Pathways. I have always really wanted to finish my college degree and it has made me sad that for years I have not finished it. The only consolation I have had over the years is that I realized that I no longer have any desire to get a college degree in Accounting like I originally planned. So I am at least grateful that I did not get a degree in that major. Nothing against Accounting, but I started wanting that degree when I was in elementary school. In my grade school mind an accountant was a glorified secretary with a few math skills. I was pretty sure I could handle that job because I had math skills.

 This summer I felt deeply impressed that I needed to start the Pathways program this Fall semester. Which is utterly Crazy (yes with a capital C). I am getting ready to move from Georgia to Texas (with most of our stuff in a storage unit in Pennsylvania). My husband just barely got home from deployment and I want to spend time with him. Still I knew that Heavenly Father wanted me to do it and I started in the middle of September. I am so glad I followed that revelation from God to me. It has honestly filled my life with so much spiritual goodness that I can't imagine why I didn't do it earlier. It is an amazing program and if you are thinking about doing it and feel good about it, do it now.

One of our weekly assignments for class is to share what we learn with others (isn't that so cool). So this week I decided to share an experience I had recently and something I learned in my Book of Mormon class. If you aren't excited, you should be, it is awesome.

Elder David A Bednar one of the 12 apostles of our day said in his talk entitled "The Spirit of Revelation" that there are two patterns of revelation. One is like a light being turned on in a dark room, it is immediate and intense. This type of revelation is rare. The other pattern of revelation is like the sun rising in the morning. It is the more common pattern of revelation. "The gradual increase from the rising sun is like receiving a message from God 'line upon line, precept upon precept' (2 Nephi 28:30)" As soon as I read this, I realized that many of the experiences I had been having in my own life were indeed line upon line. I will share only one recent experiences to illustrate my point.

After we got our official orders to move to Texas we started looking for a house. Our immediate thought was to live on base at Fort Hood. I even submitted the paperwork to do it. Then one day while praying and after talking to my husband, we started to look in the neighboring cities by the base. We found a house we liked and applied to rent the house, but they wanted a much earlier move in date then we were comfortable with. During this time I was texting with my good friend Laura Hughes who just moved from the area. Laura puts me into contact with a friend of hers from the area who is a realtor. That friend sends me a house that is more expensive than I was looking for. The house is beautiful and I can't get my mind off of it. She looks at it for us and sends us the video and we apply for the house.When 3 or 4 days go by and we still don't even know if our application is accepted despite numerous calls on our part, I am praying to know what to do and then I call my husband. He says, well lets look at other houses and I know that is the right choice. We find another house with the first company and get everything squared away to rent that house. We both felt much better about working with this company.

I realize that this is such a small thing, finding a place to live, but I also know there is no such thing as too small to the Lord. He truly answered my prayers to know where we need to go when we move. I don't know why we need to live in this area or if that house really matters all that much. What I do know is that the Lord led us there and there is a reason. I am grateful that He led me "line upon line" because it made our family closer together as we looked together and discussed plans and prayed together. I know that the revelation I receive is more often only a little bit at a time and it slowly leads and guides me to where I need to be or what I need to learn. Now I just need to enjoy and accept when I am getting that little bit and hold on until it all comes together.