Brie's School Play

Brie's school play, Willy Wonka Jr., was this week and it was wonderful!! She was amazing. In two of the shows she was a candy kid and in two of the shows she was the Candy Man, with a solo. She was great! Lots of kids from our ward were in the show. It was really neat to see do many of them performing!

Week in Review

What have we been up to this week?  Well, Brienna is in the final weeks of rehearsal for her school play next week.  They are performing "Willy Wonka, Jr." and she is playing the part of the Candy Man.  She has had some very long days, leaving for school at about 8 am and not getting home until after 7 pm.  I think we'll all be happy when this is over...and then soccer will start.  It's always something!  She had an interesting day at school on Friday, passing out during PE.  We're still not sure exactly what happened and she's complained of intermittent dizziness a couple of times this week, so we may need to get that checked out.

Alyssa and two of her roommates had some much-needed fun time off campus yesterday, going out to breakfast, getting pedicures, and doing some shopping.  I'm so glad she has become good friends with these girls.  They truly are an answer to prayer.  She is doing well in her classes and got a 100 on her Linguistics midterm.  :-)

Poor Mark is having to get up early to drive me to the bus stop, and then pick me up at 6 pm.  *Sigh*  I'll be happy when we have two cars again.

As for me, it's just been a regular work week.  The furlough looks more and more certain and we're going to have to try to prepare ourselves for that the best we can.  We've been working on our taxes and those aren't looking as good as I had hoped.  But somehow we'll manage.

Is it Spring Yet?

The weather this week has been interesting.  On Wednesday we were hit by winter storm Saturn which dumped about 5-6 inches of very wet, heavy, slushy snow.  School was cancelled for the day and the federal government shut down, so we were all home together.  I teleworked and sat at our dining table all day where I could watch the snow swirling outside.  For a while in the morning it looked like we might actually get the 8-12 inches originally forecast, but by noon it had turned to rain.  Still, it was pretty while it lasted.  And then yesterday it was in the high 50s and right now it's 57 degrees with a beautiful, perfectly clear blue sky and a breeze.  Such a drastic change in weather!  I do hope spring is on the way...I'm ready for it, in more ways than one.

The last two weeks have felt wintery to me, in more than just the literal sense.  Yes, the weather has (until this weekend) been cold.  But I have also felt wintery in terms of my emotions.  The stress and uncertainty of the current economic has really been getting to me.  As I posted last week, we've had a series of bad things (shall I call them "unfortunately events"?) and the list seems to just be getting longer.  I have been trying so very hard to cling to hope and the promises of peace and comfort I have been given, trying to look for the bright side of things...but I'm having a hard time finding the bright side and I must admit to giving into my fears much more frequently in the last couple of days. 

I need spring, in more than just the physical sense.  My body craves the warm weather, the sunshine, and the feeling of soft green grass beneath my feet, the smell of fresh flowers, and the entire renewal of the earth that occurs during spring. Right now, I feel like my spirit is also yearning for spring...for the opportunity to really let go of the fear and frustration and discouragement and feel renewed, revitalized, and lifted.  It's frustrating to have days where I feel calm and peaceful and encouraged about our prospects, and then days where the world comes crashing down around me again.

We're facing a difficult decision about what to do with Mark's car.  Do we somehow try to find the money to have it fixed, knowing that we can get several more years out of it, or do we try to get financed for a loan to buy an inexpensive used car, knowing that we really don't need a loan payment right now and not knowing the history of the car?  We just know that we can't keep on as a one car family much longer.  Poor Mark is getting worn out getting up so early to drive me to the bus pick-up.  And when Alyssa comes home and gets a job we definitely can't be down to just one car.  It isn't going to work.

Last night our stake had a RS Education Night about missionary work.  I really wasn't feeling very spiritually-minded last night, or even in the mood to be spiritually-minded, but I decided that was precisely the reason I needed to go.  I'm glad I did, because it gave me a reason to get out the notebook I used to take notes during stake conference in January.  Elder Piper said that we act based on hope, and that Satan's plan destroys hope because he wants us to act based on false hope which breeds disappointment, discouragement, and loss of hope, which eventually leads to giving up and not acting at all.  This is happening all around us in the world.  I needed hear that reminder to have hope and not allow Satan to use the trial we are going through to discourage me and keep me from acting in faith.

And last night our stake president, President Hicks, said that we are not the first people in thie history of the world to live in a time of "commotion" in the world.  It helped me to be reminded of that. Perhaps in different periods of time the commotion was of a different nature, but it was there.  And God's faithful people had to struggle and live through it, just as we have to do today.  It helped to be reminded of that.

Life isn't going to be easy.  Our trials will, at times, be incredibly difficult and seem unbearable.  But I keep reminding myself to just keep swimmin.  Just. Keep. Swimming.  One more day, one more step, one more breath.  Somehow things will work out.  They just have to.

I am a Princess

I love Disney's new princess commercial.  It is how I have always imagined a true princess to be.  And, as the daughter of a king, I am a princess.  Here is the text of the commercial:

I am a Princess-
I am brave sometimes
I am scared sometimes
... Sometimes I am brave even when I am scared
I believe in loyalty and trust
I believe loyalty is built on trust
I try to be kind, I try to be generous
I try to be kind even when others are not so generous
I am a Princess
I think standing up for myself is important
I think standing up for others is more important
But standing with others is most important
I am a Princess
I believe compassion makes me strong
Kindness is Power
And family is the tightest bond of all
I have heard I am beautiful
I know I am strong
"I promise. And when I promise something I never, ever break that promise."
I am a Princess
Long may I reign

If I could figure out how to add the video clip of the commercial, I would.  :-(

Happiness Is.....A Firm Foundation

Happiness is listening to your 13-year-old daughter sing along with one of your Dad's favorite hymns....which is also one of my favorite hymns.  Happiness is realizing that she knows all of the words to the most commonly sung verses...and that if she knows them, she can call on them for strength when she needs to.  And then realizing that this very hymn is what I needed to hear in that very moment....

Today's source of strength and much-needed comfort comes courtesy of that hymn.  Only rarely do we ever sing all of the verses, which is sad because there is such power in them...particularly the third and last verses, which have been my heart's plea over the last day or so.

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

In ev'ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

E'en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov'reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

Goodness knows I feel that I'm currently in deep waters, fiery trials, and rivers of sorrow (and probably poverty, pretty soon!!).  But I know that the Lord will provide succor, grace, support, and blessings sufficient for my needs.

(Can someone teach me how to include a music file in my posts?)

Lead, Kindly Light

I'm counting yesterday's post about Brie and Mark's basketball season as my now-recurring Sunday post.  See?  I really am on a roll!

The last couple of weeks have been rather stressful for us.  As you know, I work for the federal government.  And, with sequestration now in effect, we are facing the very real prospect of me being furloughed from my job for a total of 22 days over five to six months...the equivalent of 20% of my pay for that time period.  That is a loss we simply cannot afford.  And so with that comes stress.  HUGE amounts of stress.  We are looking at cutting and cancelling what can be cut and cancelled, but still the numbers won't add up and ends won't meet.  That's the reality of our life right now.

And in this same time period, we have suffered a broken down car ($1100 to $4500 or more to fix it), a daughter who is pretty sure she needs a root canal, me being pretty sure I need some significant (read: expensive) dental work (probably including a root canal and crown), my symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis flaring up in grand form (constant pain), and now health concerns with other extended family members.  They say bad things/bad news comes in threes.  We are now up to #7.  That's got to be some kind of record.

And yet, amidst the stress and turmoil and uncertainty, there have been blessings.  I would be a very ungrateful servant indeed if I did not acknowledge them.

*Normally this amount/level of stress would cause me significant stomach issues.  That has not been the case.  I have had a few mild flare-ups but they have not been as bad as I expected.  I felt impressed to start some new natural treatment options recently and it would appear, based on anecdotal evidence gathered over the last two weeks, that these treatment options are indeed helping.  Or, at the very least, not hurting.

*My dear visiting teacher was able to drive me to the temple on Friday.  Earlier in the week we had planned to go, with me driving, but now that we're down to one car for a while that wasn't a possibility.  I desperately needed to be in the temple last week and I hate to be dependent on anyone for anything, but I'm grateful that she was able to drive so that I could be where I needed to be and get some of the peace and comfort that I desperately needed.

*The temple itself is a huge blessing.  I am grateful that it is so close (it took just under an hour to get there and about the same amount of time to get back).  I am grateful for the peace that can be found there.  I am grateful for the strong impression that I felt there that somehow we would have sufficient for our needs during this difficult time.  I don't know how that will possibly be, but I had such a strong, overpowering feeling that, somehow, we would have sufficient for our needs...I cannot deny that feeling.

*We will be able to draw on assistance from our family if needed.  I hate to do that but I am grateful it is a possibility.

*I am grateful for opportunities to serve and for my dear sisters in our new ward who have become friends who reached out to me yesterday to make sure I was ok and to see if there was anything they could do, and who are willing to just listen.  I am grateful for a dear new friend at work who provides a much needed sounding board and "safe place" for me to vent.  I am grateful for "old friends" whose examples of faith and determination are inspiring.

*I am grateful for Mark, who has such calm and steady faith.  He is the yin to my yang.  I am grateful for his steadiness and support, and that he never blames me for creating the situation we are in (especially because we both know it's my fault).

*I am grateful for music, and especially for hymns, and especially this one that has been on my mind much in the last few days...

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

*I am grateful for prayer and for the peace that I find when I pour out my heart and soul to my Heavenly Father.  I am grateful that He knows me and loves me. 

Basketball Comes to an End

Rec league basketball is now over for both Mark and Brie. They both enjoyed the season. Brie's team finished second in both the regular season and post-season tournament. She had fun, improved her skills, and made new friends. I call that a successful season. A couple of pictures...and now on to soccer...