Monthly Archives: May 2009

Can’t sleep.

Posted in Diapers by

imagesIt’s four-something in the morning and I can’t sleep.  I’m also very tired.  I hate it when that happens.  I think it’s an unfortunate consequence of three things:  1.  My mind is too busy.  Ever since I got back from Women’s Conference my mind is full of things I want to do and work on and think about.  Basically, I want to save the world.  I’m wondering if I’ll have time for that.  2.  It’s raining outside.  Normally I love the sound of rain, but when it’s 4:00 a.m., I can’t seem to get past it.  3.  Apparently, my husband is having dreams that he is an acrobat in the circus.  There have been flips.

I am happy to report that despite all my traveling paranoia, I did not get swine flu on my trip.  It was a close call, though, since I was sure I had it many times.

Also, when after one day of walking  back and forth across a large campus several times, you feel like your legs will fall off,  it might be time to crank up your treadmill workout at the gym a little bit.

And is it weird that after spending a few days away from your children, even when surrounded by tens of thousands of women in a large arena, that your children seem louder than you ever remembered?

Aren’t you glad you dropped in on all this blog substance today?  I promise to come up with something more meaningful later.  I’m going to go crawl back into the Big Top now and try to give sleep another chance.

General Conference Book Club Week 4: Elder Snow

Posted in General Conference Book Club by

04_02_snow For week 4, I have selected the talk called “Get On with Our Lives” given in the Sunday morning session of conference by Elder Steven E. Snow.  He acknowledges that all of us struggle with change, and lays out some ways that we can prepare for it and progress through it when it comes.

>>Click here to read the talk “Get On with Our Lives” by Elder Steven E. Snow.<<

The GCBC pattern is:  Read.  Ponder.  Comment.  Then read everyone else’s great comments. 🙂 As in weeks past, just leave your comments here on this post.  The previous weeks’ posts will remain open indefinitely, so you can always return to catch up or revisit those great talks as well.

If this is your first visit to the General Conference Book Club, click here to learn more about it. You’re welcome to join us at any point along the way.

I just got into town and I had not yet thought through which talk to choose for this week (By the way, I learned so many great things at Women’s Conference and I can’t wait to share them with you.), so I resorted to a random number generator online to pick a talk.  This one came up.  Initially, I thought “nah, that’s not really what I had in mind,” and almost started over, but then I began to read through it.  I personally am not going through any big changes at the moment, but something stuck out to me that’s in line with a lesson I feel the Spirit has been teaching me lately.  I am learning how important our PROCESS of becoming is.  It might even be more important than the actual becoming.  I guess I’ll restrain myself and save all my input for the comments section after I’ve read more thoroughly.  Can’t wait to hear what you have to say.  Thanks so much to all of you that have been so enthusiastic about this GCBC; it’s been great for me.

(p.s.  Thanks also to those of you who commented on my Mormon Mommy Blogs guest post and made me feel so good. If you haven’t seen it  yet, hop over and check it out because I was pretty darn proud of it.  Pretend that sounded meek and humble.)

Shrink not from your duty

Posted in Divinity by

droppedimage2I don’t think my Sunday would have been any different if I had taken three pet monkeys to church instead of my own children.  That children’s song “Reverently, quietly…” was not inspired by my children– maybe for my children, but not by them.

After exchanging half-annoyed, half-shocked eye rolls with my husband several times across the pew, I was beginning to feel very discouraged.  I consciously had to reign in my angry feelings so that I could take the sacrament and not feel blasphemous about it.  I was overwhelmed by my children and my obvious failure to teach them correct behavior or at least to wrestle them into submission.  Sundays can often feel overwhelming anyway because in addition to my own offspring, I have other church responsibilities in which I feel equally as inadequate.  So in one of those almost-going-to-have-tears-well-up-in-my-eyes kind of moments, the last speaker said “Amen” and we began to sing the closing hymn.  I quote two of the four verses:

Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,

But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.

Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,

Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.


Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;

The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.

Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

I won’t go into my interpretation of demons at that moment, but it’s sufficient to say that the hymn became a poignant, personal message from my Heavenly Father.  I literally felt His encouragement and sensed that my shame was unnecessary.  I felt His love and knew I was not alone.  If it’s true for me, it must be true for all moms, even you.

I think I’ll pull up this post again next Sunday morning to help me remember that.

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(This entry was originally posted on August 24, 2008.  I’m trying to recreate my lost archives.  And I’m still out of town, but I just scheduled this one to post in my absence.)