Thou Gracious God

Thou gracious God, whose mercy lends
The light of home, the smile of friends,
Our gathered flock thine arms enfold
As in the peaceful days of old.

Wilt thou not hear us while we raise
In sweet accord of solemn praise
The voices that have mingled long
In joyous flow of mirth and song?

For all the blessings life has brought,
For all the sorrowing hours have taught,
For all we mourn, for all we keep,
The hands we clasp, the loved that sleep.

The noontide sunshine of the past,
These brief, bright moments fading fast,
The stars that gild our darkening years,
The twilight ray from holier spheres.

We thank thee, Father; let thy grace
Our loving circle still embrace,
Thy mercy shed its heavenly store,
Thy peace be with us evermore.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

I can’t read these words (or hear them sung) without images from my life coming to mind to match the phrases. Perhaps it is the same for you.

Writing a blog means that I look at experiences with the thought, “How/when/should I share this?” I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner today. I wanted make a post to highlight some of the things for which I am thankful this year, and it would be so colorful and full of pictures. But preparations for the dinner and Christmas have taken my energy this week, and I realize that the blog is already a running list of gratitude. I’ve written more than 100 posts in 2024 and they showcase some of what Heavenly Father has done. Just some. Thank you for being my blog friend and reading along.

Scattered

“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”

-Russell M. Nelson

One paradox of gospel living is that if we want to be gatherers, we will need to scatter in some way.

This might look like spending time away from home, scattered about in service.

Elder Cook taught, “When we shine, we gather.” Abandoning old habits, scattering them in the wake of better choices and Christ’s grace, has an effect of making a person shine.

Our family may be scattered for now, but wherever we are, we can be gatherers. Each time we have sent a family member to serve a mission, I have felt the blessing of additional spiritual strength. This is another paradox of gospel living, that in feeling incomplete, I become more intact in Christ. Gathered.

Hopscotch

I’m currently in a time warp because I have been tackling Christmas a little earlier this year. In my head, it is Christmastime, but the grocery store reminds me there is a big Thanksgiving holiday ahead. I have a friend who does her Christmas shopping by October, sets up her tree in early November, and sails through December. I admit that I don’t like to skip the focus of Thanksgiving, but this year, surrounded by Christmas preparations, I am not living in the moment. Maybe playing hopscotch over Thanksgiving helps me forget the empty chairs around our table as I make sure there are simple gifts beneath every tree. Perhaps focusing on Christmas is one way to show my thanks for my greatest blessings: our Savior and our family.

Digger

Ah, home ownership. When the stop-and-waste valve broke this month, Richard shopped around for someone to replace it. The estimates were so high that he decided to dig the hole himself and just ask a company to replace the valve and not excavate. This saved us a lot of money.

Richard is really good at finding solutions like this, and this is one of the reasons the kids and I have lived a comfortable life.

Oh, look. I wrote a book.

A mother of very young children asked me in church on Sunday, “So, what do you do all day [now all your kids are gone]?”

Lately, this is a difficult question to answer without some emotion, but I wanted to convey to her that I love my life. I have always been able to do the things that match my temperament, family, and interests. So I chose to say this about my new phase of life, “I am a writer, and solitude is good for that.”

A couple weeks ago, I compiled the talks that I’ve given in sacrament meetings and stake conferences for the last 9 years serving as a church organization president of a Relief Society and then stake Primary. Friends, I have written a book of religious thought without realizing it. 😂