Pathway Lesson 1: Nephi 1-5

I am so excited to be going back to school!  I started the Pathway program through BYU-I last week and so far it has changed my thoughts about “church” schools 100 percent!  I am so excited to really read the Book Of Mormon this year.  To actually study it and learn from it. 

This week our reading topic was Nephi 1-5.  Its amazing…I’ve read this these chapters the most out of any scriptures and I got so much insight from them!  Things I hadn’t noticed before.  Amazing how that works, right?

A few things I wanted to share from my readings:

What do I do? 

Do I murmur because its hard or do it because it’s a commandment?  (Nephi 3:5-7)

When Laman and Lemuel were asked to do things they murmured.  They murmured all the time.  Jeffery R Holland said in a talk, that Laman and Lemuel murmured so much that when they were smiting Nephi with a rod he might say, hit me again, I can still hear you murmuring.  While that is funny, its true.  People don’t want to hear you complaining all the time.  Sometimes I think its so easy complain things aren’t going our way.  But the true test of the trial is how we react to the trial. 

On the other hand, Nephi did not complain, even though he wasn’t 100% on board.  He went to pray to find out for himself.  What a great example.  He went to know for himself and got his own testimony.   I think I went a large portion of my life relying on my parent’s testimony.   It wasn’t until I was older than I had to do what Nephi did and find out on my own.  It’s a game changer. 

Give up or continue to try? (Nephi 3:14-15)

The sons of Lehi tried 3 times to get the Brass Plates.  Laman and Lemuel wanted to give up.   They wanted to go back to the wilderness.  But Nephi, who I’m sure, was discouraged continued to try.  He says “But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth and as we live, we will not go down unto the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.” (Nephi 3:14)  It's so easy to give up.  It's easy to throw in the towel and ignore problems.  But to actually stick with something until you succeed, no matter how hard or impossible it may seem is quite an accomplishment.  Because of his faith, the Lord delivered Laban to Nephi. 

In these few chapters, The Lord shows Lehi’s family many Tender Mercies.  (Nephi 1:20)  These do not appear because of coincidence.  David A Bednar said “One of the ways whereby the Savior comes to each of us is through His abundant and tender mercies.  …the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of tender mercies of the Lord.  And the persistence and the fortified that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord.”  Our foster baby Leah, who we have had since birth is going back to her mom.  This is heartbreaking for me.  We have raised her, we are her home, we are her family, yet she’s going to go back to another home.  But I know that we are being given tender mercies from the Lord through this trial.  We are able to “press forward with cheerfulness” and we have faith that she will be taken care of.  We are very grateful for these tender mercies in our life. 

Basically, my reading reminded me that I want to grow up and be just like Nephi.  He’s a great example of continued faith in the Lord.  The Lord is always there to help us; sometimes we just have to ask.

 

Our Bigger Plan

We've been doing Foster Care almost a year now.  Every step of the way we've been blessed through foster care.  I believe we had to go through what we went through to be where we are now.  I truly feel like the end game was for Johnny and Taylie to be our children.  It was meant to be.  And its been happening so quickly.  We couldn't be happier or more excited for our future.
Big things are on the horizon and its so hard for me to wait, but here we are...me learning patience...again!!

Johnny is going to be THREE next month!  Three!  To think how far he's come in 8 months is amazing.  He acted like a baby when he came to us, now he's a full blown boy!  He is such a sweet, tenderhearted little boy.  He loves his sister and LOVES being the big brother and helping however he can.  We love this boy!!!

From the moment I met Taylie I was in love.  And boy, does she love her momma.   She sometimes will only eat for me, she sometimes only wants me to hold her, especially when her teeth are bothering her.  It means that dad gets to do the dishes (or whatever), and I get to comfort my baby.  I just couldn't be more in heaven.  She is quite opinionated and gets her point across, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  We love this little girl and are so blessed to have her in our life!!  She is now rolling over and even pulled herself up yesterday.  Pretty soon, we'll have a mobile baby...watch out! 

 

I can't begin to tell you how lucky we are to have these two.  They have taught us so much about love, and we couldn't be happier.  

The Wait is Almost Over

We found out we were certified yesterday.  We had been waiting for this day a long time...and now that its here, I'm actually a little scared!

Are we really ready?
Do we have everything?
How will I be able to get to work by 8am?
How will I do without sleep?
How do you keep a toddler in their bed?
Will I get too attached and then they will leave??

Just a few questions going through my mind since we found out we were certified.

We've been praying for years for us to have children.  Lately, our prayers have been that everything will go quickly and smoothly for us to be certified.  My prayers changed last night to praying for this poor sweet child who will come into our home.  I can't help but to be excited for them to come into our home, but the reason they have to come into our home is breaking my heart.  I am now praying that Heavenly Father will protect them until they can come to us.

I am also being a bit selfish and praying that we'll be able to get a long term placement.  We're so ready for our forever family. With that being said...we are having to prepare for these short term placements as well.

Tomorrow night our case worker is going to come over and we'll go over all last minute things and then Thursday we will be put on the list.  Keep us in your prayers...we're going to need the help! :)

Conference Craft

Love finding ideas on Pinterest and then actually doing them!!
 Balloon Wreath

Waiting...

Yes...we're still doing foster care.  We finished our classes in February and are now just waiting for our certification to be ready.  Its been a long process!

Waiting is tough.  We've been waiting a looooong time for children.  But now when we think of children coming into our home now, its a reality!  But truthfully...it can be a scary, overwhelming reality. 

What we're doing isn't the normal way to have children.  One night, we're going to get a call, we'll find out (if we're lucky) the name, age and gender.  And we'll more than likely say we can take them.  This is crazy to really think about.  We'll go from going to our carefree life to, overnight, adding someone into the mix! 

We're preparing the best we can. We have their room set up.  A bed, for an older child and a crib if its a baby.  We have some clothes and some toys.  But its hard to be prepared for a baby or a toddler.  There's alot of differences!!

We've told them we'd like a 0-3 year old.  We don't care about gender or race.  We just want a child. :) Don't get us wrong...we're very excited...but also nervous! :)

The past couple weeks we've been thinking about our daily routines that will be changing with bringing a child(ren) into our home.  We know LOTS will be changing!  We won't have our care free get up and go attitudes.  We've become accustom to being able to do what we want...we've had 8 years of it!  Its going to be a transition for sure!  So...that's what's new in our lives...nothing quite yet...but we're prepping for what's to come!

Disneyland

Last weekend we went with my parents and my brother's family.  We all had a great time and enjoyed being with eachother at the Happiest Place on Earth!

I had to add this picture...this is my highest score...ever!  I have to document it, because I think it was pure luck!! 

The whole gang

She hated Toad's Wild Ride...but didn't want to get off the car in the front.

My mom's visit was complete when she was able to meet her favorite princess, Cinderella

By the end of the trip, we had had fun, but were tired!

2012

How is it 2012 already??  I swear time is flying by...

We hope everyone had a very Happy New Years!  We're looking forward to 2012.  We're hoping 2012 will bring some changes and we are excited for what's in store.

For New Years, Howard and I did a quick California trip.  We had fun, just the two of us!  We went to Hollywood Blvd.  Yep, lots of crazies were out.

We looked around Mann's Chinese Theater. 



Marilyn Monroe



Hollywood sign is behind us...

  Later, we went to see The Muppet's at the El Capitan Theater. It was such a cute movie!!  Jason Segal was hilarious...I loved how 'into' his character he was!  Loved it!

There was an organist playing Disney songs before the show started..so fun!

And a huge plus by seeing it at the El Capitan Theater, we got to do a sing along with Kermit and Miss Piggy live!! 

Then it snowed!

It was way fun and a total surprise.  We had no idea we'd get all that for a price of a movie ticket.  We could get used to see movies this way! ;)