Forgiveness is a matter of faith

Events around the nation, and some close to home, have caused me to reflect on forgiveness. I have listened to several amazing general conference talks about the Atonement, repentance and forgiveness and have felt, as the title of my post says, that forgiveness is a matter of faith.

I feel that when we choose to forgive, no matter the offense against us we show our faith in our Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ. I feel as if we are saying to the Lord:
- I have trust that You, knowing all, are the perfect judge.
- I have faith in your plan and in your timing, even if I don't understand it all. (Similarly, I think forgiveness also shows our humility as we say, "Thy will be done.")
- I know that through the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all that is unfair about this life can be made right.

I am grateful for my Heavenly Father's patience with and mercy towards me. I am far from perfect, but I am grateful that through the gift of his Son, I can overcome my faults and receive forgiveness. It takes time and work, but it is possible. I am grateful to know that likewise, He is merciful to all those who are willing to follow Him. As I see people I love going through hard things I am grateful to know that Heavenly Father loves and cares for them and that he is willing to help them, just as I know he is willing to help me.

I have thought often about this statement from The Family: A Proclamation to the World.
"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."
I know that forgiveness starts in our homes and in our families. It is interesting to teach this principle to a child who feels hurt because their sibling took something, or broke something or said something hurtful. But will learning to forgive now help them as they encounter different and "bigger" things as they grow? I think it will. Watching them forgive quickly has reminded me that this is another way that we need to become as little children.

I am grateful for the example of others who seem to forgive so quickly, even offenses that are so big and life altering. It makes me reflect on what I can do to be more forgiving in my life. I know that as we choose to forgive we open our hearts to the peace that is offered by our Savior, Jesus Christ.


This is another reason I am so grateful for this Christmas season.
Luke 2
 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Yesterday was our ward party. After a nice dinner and a little musical program we had some special visitors from up North. I was so excited and so grateful that Brian's parents were willing to come so far to be Santa and Mrs. Claus for our ward, and we decided to keep it a secret from the kids. 

Mike said he figured out who was behind the beard when Santa started talking to him. 

 Nathan and Liz figured it out too.

 Megan on the other hand was not so thrilled about the Santa thing. Don't get me wrong, she knows "the Santa Secret" (as she calls it) and she is completely OK with the fact that Mom and Dad are Santa, but she has always been nervous with guys dressed up like Santa, unless she knows who it is. So when she got out of line and came to me in tears I whispered in her ear that it was Grandma and Grandpa.  She didn't believe me so I took her to Brian and he told her the same thing. She was still unsure, asking how they got here, so he showed her their truck in the parking lot. But, it wasn't until he snuck her around the side to the front and she made eye contact with Mrs. Claus that she started to smile. She went back and waited with the other kids in line, then climbed right up on Santa's lap when it was her turn.

 This picture was taken after her turn with Santa, when she was finally able to give Mrs. Claus a hug.

  Even as she looks at the pictures she will not call them Santa and Mrs. Claus, she calls them Grandma and Grandpa.It reminds me of how she used to say, "I'm not scared of the real Santa, just the fake ones." I am so grateful it was them, because it made the night special for her.

We got a fun family photo too.

 After Santa and Mrs. Claus were done visiting with all of the kids at the party, they came to our house for a few more photos. I kind of wondered what a kid would think if they saw them on the doorstep. :-)

Megan was much more relaxed. We love these pictures.

It was sure a magical evening. I couldn't stop smiling. It was so special for all of the kids.

I love this time of year

I love Christmas! Not only do I love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but I love this whole month leading up to these wonderful days. I love the music (my Christmas music playlist is playing almost constantly), the sparkling lights that make me smile, the decorations, Christmas movies that make me feel good (even if they are a little cheesy), picking out the perfect gifts and gatherings with family and friends. But mostly I just love the feeling of this season. We strive each day, all year long, to remember Jesus Christ and follow him, but there is something tender about remembering him coming to earth as a little baby. Somehow the Christmas story combines simplicity and splendor and feels so miraculous. I wish that I was better at expressing my awe, my gratitude and my love.

I am so grateful that I get to spend this season with these four. They add the perfect amount of childlike wonder and joy to the rest of the feelings of the season. Because of them I get to understand a different side of the Christmas story, that of a mother's love for her child.

And while I know Christmas is not about presents, I do enjoy the spirit of giving as I plan little surprises for them and Brian.  I can't wait to share in their excitement.

Last night Brian and I went to a Christmas dinner hosted by his division at work. It was held in a beautiful building with simple, yet elegant decorations. The food was delicious. There was wonderful entertainment (Christmas music never gets old and the performers were very engaging). And I enjoyed sitting with some of the people that work in Brian's office. It was wonderful to meet a few new people and get to know others better. And we got to bring home a Christmas CD. My playlist just got a little longer. Mostly I loved sharing this evening with the person I love the most (although we didn't get a picture of the two of us together.)

And I love stuff like this to help me remember what is most important.

Family Adventure Coupon Book

So we have officially used all of the coupons from the Adventure Coupon Book that Santa brought the kids last year.  I also got a great deal on a photo book and thought that the perfect way to use it would be to create a photo book of all of our adventures. It has been fun to look back at the adventures, big and small, that we have had this year. This one is for me, but I just might get one for each of the kids too.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.

Temple Trip

We try to take the kids to see temples often. We aren't in any hurry to set a record or anything, but we want the temple to be important to them, even when they are little. We have seen the Provo Temple a lot as we have driven by, but we have never taken the chance to let the kids walk around this beautiful place. Last Saturday we changed that.

It was a beautiful fall day. The kids loved the many fountains. Much of this has been added since we moved from Provo nine years ago.

We showed the kids the fountain where dad proposed to mom. The girls thought this was really cool, the boys didn't care quite as much.

We did our traditional temple touching pictures.

Nathan really liked this part on the back side of the temple where it says "The House of the Lord Holiness to the Lord."

It was so fun to watch the kids. What a great way to enjoy this fall day!

Hope

I am using this video at the end of my lesson for the young women tomorrow. I am so grateful for the hope that we have through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through Christ I can be better tomorrow than I am today.
Mormon Messages - Lifting Burdens

Crafting

I have done a ton of crafting over the last few weeks, mostly sewing but I also did some fun stuff with vinyl and tiles.  I wish I could take pictures and post them all, but most of the crafts are for gifts, so I don't want to give anything away. Here is what I have done.

I made Michael a red vest for his scouting patches for part of his Christmas. He has been saying he needs one like Nathan's, and so he will be thrilled. This is the greatest project because it is so simple; three pieces of fabric and four short seams. I made Nathan a wooden plaque with the scout law on it in vinyl. It turned out so well and I know he will love it too.

I made tiles with vinyl lettering and pictures. All of the words come from the Young Women's theme and I also did one with a torch and with a temple. Gold vinyl on white tile for all of them. I love how they turned out. This is for a YW Evening of Excellence next month.

I made little gifts for a young niece and nephew. They are the same project, but one is definitely for a little boy and the other is quite girly. I think that they will be enjoyed. (My even younger nephew gets a little store bought present. I don't think he will mind either.)

I made three similar gifts for other nieces on the other side of our family. (I also have an older nephew on this side of the family. I will be making him a scout vest like Mike's so it will be very easy.)

I made gifts for my mother-in-law and a good friend who both celebrate birthdays next month.

I made Liz a Halloween costume; a pleated red, white and blue skirt and a (store bought) blue leotard to which I added stripes and a star. To be honest, this was one I kind of dreaded, but it all worked out well in the end.

I made a small quilt for Liz as part of her Christmas. It is about 20 inches square but it made up of lots of little squares so it took a long time. I still have one left to make for Megan. I like these because the fabrics are from the same line and so the patterns I chose are the same for each quilt, they just use different color combinations. Like the boys, I think the girls will be thrilled with these.

I helped Liz make a quilt with a rocket on it for a school project. She was thrilled with the idea of doing a quilt. We found some cute blue fabric with starts and cut out the shapes of the rocket. Then she stitched around the shapes to attach them to the quilt. I stitched her name on the rocket and once the batting and backing were pinned to the quilt top she added swirls around the rocket. It turned out really cute.

I LOVE crafting, but I think it is about time to put my machine away for a little while.

Camping

We used another of our Adventure coupons and went camping. We ended up going with Brian's family and it was fun to spend time with them. WE began by setting up the tent. All of the kids helped. 

Then we played lots and lots of games. 

We roasted hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert.

And we roasted Starburst too. If you have never had them you need to try it. Yum!

Then we settled won for the night. The kids were so excited to sleep in the tent.

The next morning we were the first ones awake. Brian got the fire going and we stayed warm around it. Then we wanted to make hot cocoa but didn't have a pot to heat water. So Brian rinsed out some soda cans, filled them and put them in the fire.

When the water was warm he carefully poured the water into the cups using a roasting stick and our fire poking stick.

And we enjoyed our cocoa with giant marshmallows. It warmed us from the inside out.

We had a lot of fun, and enjoyed this final grand adventure of summer.

Ensign Peak

So Friday we were up in Salt Lake for eye appointments and we took advantage of being in that area to use one more coupon from our Adventure coupon book from Santa. We hiked Ensign Peak. It was the middle of the day and quite hot and dry, but the hike was not bad at all. 

 The kids are great hikers and had no trouble at all/ It was wonderful to get tot he top. The only problem was there was so much smoke in the air that we couldn't see too far into the valley. We could barely make out Temple Square thanks to the shining tabernacle roof.

 I hadn't realized there was a monument up there. I should have known. There was also a plaque describing when Brigham Young and a few others hiked this peak days after entering the valley.

It has been a great year, going new places and trying new things with the kids, and we still have a few couons left in our book!