Category: Family Time

Discipleship in the days following Easter

Holy Week teaching tools

Each year during Holy Week, we repeat our tradition of reading scriptures and setting out objects to remind us of Jesus Christ’s last week.

This year, my thoughts kept returning to Peter’s three denials of Christ. He really messed up here!

On Easter evening, we listened to the words of John 21:15-17 in a song,

15 ΒΆ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

In perfect mercy, Jesus allows a great reversal, offering Peter the opportunity to affirm his love for him three times.

With each “Yea, Lord,” and, “Thou knowest that I love thee,” the denials are overcome, one by one.

In the days following Easter, I want to remember Peter’s story of denial, and his story of reverting to fishing when Jesus left. Most of all, I want to remember the reversal that Jesus made possible for him. Peter’s story could be anyone’s story. No one is perfectly loyal to Jesus. Everyone can accept Christ’s mercy, repent, and get (back) to work feeding the sheep. That is just what disciples do.

Dinner party before the women’s session of conference

So much of my heart went into this night that it feels strange to write about it here. I’ll fill some pages in my journal about it.

Please enjoy the pretty pictures of my family and homemade petit fours. (Mark helped me with the fondant glaze and Paige made the rosettes.)

Missionary update

Tim is stretching as a Tagalog language missionary in North Shore Vancouver. His companion is fluent in Tagalog, as he was born in the Philippines, but moved to Canada many years ago. Tim is using his piano and organ skills in choir, sacrament meeting, and Primary. He lives in a basement apartment in the stake president’s home. I try to keep track of those who take good care of the missionaries, and in this area, the Oro family really stands out. I am thankful for them! He goes into the city often because that is where they can find Filipinos, and there is a lot of driving involved. Also, they are trying to get to know the members, as both elders are new in the area. They teach a weekly English class which they are trying to get more people to attend. On Preparation Days, he visits gorgeous places, plays volleyball, does laundry, and calls home.

There is a missionary mom on Tim’s mission Facebook page who sends out a reminder message every Monday, “Mamas, charge up your phones!” because that is the day we get to talk. Lately, we talk for a long time.

Some things that I admire about Elder Ross as a missionary:

  • He speaks positively about his companions.
  • He shows his humor superpowers when things don’t go as planned.
  • He seems to find things to like in everyone he meets.
  • He uses exclamation points in his emails to us, and this just lifts my day!
  • He took up social media even though that is not his jam.
  • He freely expresses gratitude.

Spring Cleanup

I want to remember this day of health, warmth, light, work, and family. It was a long winter for me, and a worrisome season. There are moments in life that you can’t predict or arrange, whose simple power is that they can soften stings and weariness. These few hours of work with my parents, Richard, and Mark are Spring Lake made me almost laugh at my burdens of the past few months. “Was THAT all you were carrying?” the sunlight and snowdrops* helped me to see. “Look around and feel better!” I stayed in the light and felt warm after months of battling the shivers.

*Snowdrop flowers rightfully symbolize empathy and consolation.

missing them

On Saturday, I found this photo in a little album. Timothy was three, and the dog was a new puppy, not yet house trained. We had just moved into our new house in Sahuarita, Arizona. Mark would be born in a few days. Paige was dancing ballet almost every night, and Daniel would soon begin piano lessons. I miss those little faces.

I keep “hearing” the dog’s step, and expecting him to follow me around the kitchen, or to greet me at the door. Today, I saw Richard out of the corner of my eye and my mind registered that he was holding our dog. It will take some time to get used to living without the pup.

I am lucky to be able to see our children pretty often, but having a missionary is definitely a heart-stretching time. We were six plus a dog when we moved to Utah, and now we are three in this house.

16 Years Old

UPDATE: Sparky passed away on March 14 at our home. We are so sad.

Sparky

March 10, 2006 – March 14, 2022

What a loyal friend and little companion! He’s old and tired now. As we come to his 16th birthday, I don’t think it’s possible to express or measure what he has meant to our family.

Video chats

some recent video calls

I take a screenshot of each video call with our missionary, but I don’t let on that I am doing it. So, these are regular, unposed expressions. With Daniel, we experienced missionary life without phonecalls and texts, and it was in the last part of his mission that the rules changed, allowing missionaries to contact home via text, a phonecall, or video call once a week.

It probably goes without saying that there is a big difference between the experiences. Our sons haven’t always felt the need to connect with a call each week, but it is nice to know they can. I like to see their faces, and these calls show me how they are really doing. I also see how they interact with companions. This week on our video call, Tim was a passenger in a car, and he showed us what the landscape looked like as they drove home. It helps me place him in my thoughts a little better. I think we hear more details about missionary work during a call because it doesn’t have to be typed and edited. It’s just real. I think it probably helps our missionaries to see that we are still very interested in their lives and can offer personal counsel.

I hope the weekly call doesn’t go away. It was an inspired change.