Storms May Rage

I had a moment this morning when I was driving home from the temple. It was snowing, and I was listening to the 2022 Youth Theme: "Though fires may burn And storms may rage, When darkness comes, We’ll find our way back home. We will trust in the Lord." And I looked out at the cars in front of me, all going forward, in a dark snowstorm, yet pressing on, not stopping - all confident that we'd make it to our destination despite the storm around us. 

The music fit the scenery around me and I just had a feeling to keep on keeping on, Trust in God, there may be be mountains on my way, but I chose faith, not fear. Actually, it's not "may" - it's a sure thing that there will be mountains and storm. Corey shared a scripture with all of us from Doctrine and Covenants 24:8 - "Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days." WE SHALL HAVE MANY. So yikes, buckle up, make sure the kids are all in their carseats, and if we're prepared we'll make it through. I also like the covid "bumpy road" line that President Nelson said in 2020, which has new meaning to us since we've started biking. With biking we've come to enjoy the climb up the hill, the trail over the obstacles. Work work work. It's a bumpy ride, but we can do it. We've got good bikes, gloves, helmets, and happy tunes to get us through. “The road ahead will always be bumpy, but the destination will be serene and secure. So, fasten your seat belt, hang on through the bumps, and do what’s right, and your rewards will be eternal.” - President Nelson. I'm sure there will also be beautiful picturesque moments along the way, and we've come to think the bumps are mostly fun too!

Another little spiritual thought. So on Tuesday mornings, I got to the temple to participate in 5 am initiatories. I wake up around 4:15 and get dressed and go. On way to temple this morning, I happened to look at the clock at 4:28 and I remembered this little game - I heard somewhere this past year that when the clock says 11:11, it means that God is trying to get your attention or say he loves you. That's fine for the internet, but I felt like if God was trying to get ME and have ME pause and notice Him, it would be more personal, like it would be my birthday. So for me, April 28, would be 4/28, aka 4:28. And I've been starting to notice it more. And usually when I'm not thinking of it, but I'll just happen to look at the clock at 4:28 and I'm like "Hey! Happy birthday to me!" God loves me and let me come to this beautiful world, and I'm grateful for life. Then, this morning after I got home, I sometimes go to the gym to climb, but today I came home cause it was snowy and bad weather a bit, so I just headed home while I could, and I pulled in at 6:15! And that number is for Corey! So then I pause for a moment and remember this little game and I said a prayer of gratitude for Corey. 2:19 is for us too (anniversary). Also once I was entering something for a credit card and the expiration was 04/28 and the 3 digit code was 615, ha! So that made me smile too thinking that it was fun to have Me and Corey together on the card! Yesterday I was doing whatever after the kids got home from school, then I did go grab my phone for something and again, 4:28. So it's kinda fun. So there's just a little silly thing you can try and see if you notice it. If you do, it can be little reminder that God notices YOU too. 

Took Daniel down to Lindon where we met up with Ethan and Bella, they are taking him today. D almost didn't get to go, cause last night he wouldn't practice music, so Corey told him to go to bed and that he wouldn't be able to go. Then D said he was not going to go to bed until he WAS allowed to practice, but now it was way too late. Daniel threatened if Corey didn't let him practice, he was going to stay awake all night. But last night, he didn't practice, did fall asleep, and this morning I told him if he practiced right after he got home, I would take him down. He did, and he practiced for an hour, so I said that was good. We left at 5:30. Oh, that's what I looked at my phone for - to see what time Daniel was starting to practice. :) We I met up with them for the drop off, then K and I headed back home. Bella said Ethan wasn't sure about this outing...

We always say that Daniel is a little version of Ethan, and Ethan seems to take that personally. He took a video of Daniel singing in their car, and said "There is NO WAY I was this annoying..."

Hopefully it will go ok! (I think Daniel is a bit of a performer...)