Category: Adventurous kids

A tender day

Today I have some tender feelings about Tim leaving home again. This morning I helped him carry out a couple of boxes and a duffel bag he is taking to his new apartment and we said goodbye in the dark street before he left for work. I’ve had some tears throughout the day, but I’ve also felt gratitude for the tender mercies that led to this moment.

We’ve loved reconnecting with Tim these past 3 months since he returned from his mission. He is delightful company, so funny and musical and capable, so we will miss him. But hello, since we live close to Provo we will see him soon.

For the first couple of months after his mission he worked some odd jobs, including raking leaves, moving furniture, building shelves, building and selling Christmas trees, and shoveling snow. Since early January he has worked full-time in a cabinetry shop in Provo. He builds custom cabinet doors. This move to an apartment in Provo is more progress in his search for the next right step after his mission.

Tim will attend BYU in the fall, but since he would like a career in cabinetry, he is taking time to explore that career before he launches into college. Tim thinks through decisions thoroughly and chooses his own sequence and pace. This has been his pattern since he was a little boy, and he is a remarkable person because of it.

I am so proud of our Tim.

Together

Paige and Mike arrived in town on Wednesday, and Daniel and McKenna dropped by last night. As soon as they walked in, I realized that we had all of our kids together in our home. It’s been two years and several weeks since we have enjoyed time together like this.

It was a busy evening, with a friend visiting and preparations for my parents’ anniversary party. Daniel played through a Christmas songbook on the piano, and eventually several of us sang along. Paige and Mike played a game, Tim and Richard watched a movie together, and I moved from room to room, enjoying the sight.

Tree Makers

Tim and Josh are always up to something interesting. One thing they have been doing lately is building these wooden Christmas trees to sell. These are the ones I chose for our house. I am pretty sure I got a custom paint job because the colors I selected were already sold out, yet they delivered just the colors I wanted.

Sterling Scholar

We attended an awards assembly this week for Mark, who was selected as the Skilled and Technical Sciences Education Sterling Scholar. The Sterling Scholar award is for the top student in each field of high school study, and it is a scholarship contest run by Deseret News and KSL. This award is in recognition of Mark’s fine woodworking skills, scholarship, leadership, and community service. He is a great son, and it is fun to cheer for him.

Mark’s Medal

Mark has been preparing a piece for a piano competition since June. After his performance before the judges, we received a phonecall that he was invited to perform at the awards recital. Friends, we knew his effort, and we knew that his piece was amazing, but hadn’t considered that we would be coming back to see him receive an award. I don’t know, something about the musical community is just so intimidating. We were thrilled that he received recognition among really great musicians. Mark knows the first place winner through piano lessons, so it was so fun to celebrate both of them as they received their medals.

Lessons from a mission

We listened to Tim speak in church, and here are a few lessons that I wrote down from his talk.

Righteous examples are important.

Prophets are important guides to help us find joy.

And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy,

Mosiah 3:13

Joy comes from inviting people to Christ.

Focus on the rulegiver, Jesus Christ.

Remembering personal and family spiritual experiences can help us during trials.

Spiritual preparation helps during physical trials. He saw people who lost everything in a typhoon, yet they trusted in God and remained strong.

The temple is a beacon of hope.

The Church is more than a building or a unit, it is the people. One one island where he served, there were 3,000 people, and only 5 members, and the Lord was with this tiny gathering of Saints, working miracles in their lives.

The Lord blesses us as we turn our lives to him.

As we give more of ourselves to the Lord, we will have joy.