fhe with little voice

I have ended up with something that has taken its toll on me and left me with very little voice.  Though I am feeling better it is hard to talk much at all.  I resort to whispering, sign language, and snapping, whistling or clapping to get my family's attention.  Family Home Evening with Mr. O out of town was looking to be a challenge.  It actually worked out beautifully.

My daughter had recommended this great video and it became the focus of our lesson.



We watched it.  Asked questions about fathers, our dad and then we watched it again and thought about how each of the things this father says could also apply to what our Heavenly Father may be feeling and why he is so willing to give us so much.  We especially felt love from our Heavenly Father, our earthly father and the incredible trust in allowing us to become parents too.

I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father's plan is family.  It is so beautiful to realize that we are part of his family.  He loves us.  He watches over us.  He blesses us and gives us everything.  It also helps my perspective as a wife and mother. I'm here to nurture.  It isn't all about me finding myself or becoming something amazing.  I'm here to learn His lessons and to help others learn too.  Its not about me.

Hebrews 12:9

 9 Furthermore we have had ^afathers of our flesh which ^bcorrectedus, and we gave them ^creverence: shall we not much rather be in^dsubjection unto the ^eFather of ^fspirits, and live?

Grateful:
358 My Dad, an amazing good man who worked hard to provide for us and allow us to enjoy a secure happy childhood where we learned the lessons that help us do these same things for our families.
359 My Mom, a sweet loving woman who continues to learn and share everything she is excited about.  She still takes care of all of us.
360  Good fathers raising sons with integrity that will marry and care for my daughters.
361 sick days don't last forever and our amazing bodies to get better.
362 for winter, bitter cold, melting ice, fresh snow
363 that Peter knows how to get his keys out of his locked car.

blessings day

Fun how things work out so well.  Our special day began with a celebration of these two babies born just 6 weeks apart.  Josh and Jared living in opposite directions from my home decided (with their parents) that we should meet in the middle and get them blessed together.  Wow did that make Granny happy!

Imagine the fun of having my two daughters with their families come home to bless their children.  They had not been able to see each other's babies until now.

 Because we had so many people we waited until the chapel was empty and did our own blessing meeting.  It was short, sweet and perfect for all those people who wanted to support these dear families.

the whole group in the foyer of the church

 Our 4 generations with my mother, myself, my daughters and my grandsons!

Grandparents, great grandparents and those sweet grandsons.

Thank you to all the dear family who shared our day and helped it be such a memorable success.

grateful:
351  Priesthood power to give children a name and a blessing
352 worthy priesthood holding sons in law.
353 healthy baby boys
354 pictures of the day and the gang
355 my sweet mother and her help in the kitchen
356 that only one pot of soup burned and the smell is almost out of my house
357 we were able to throw together one more pot of soup for that second shift that showed up to our party

obedient

Obedient.  My word for this year.  It came to me as the obvious choice yet without backup.  I'm now trying to learn more about obedience. My first thoughts were that I want to be more obedient to the spirit.  I want to be living in such a way that I can recognize the promptings of the spirit and then courageous enough to act.  Too much of my day is spent floating, simply doing what is in front of me at the  moment or if that is unpleasant moving to something else.  I feel a lack of direction and yet I am daily grateful to be a stay at home mom, available to my children, flexible in my schedule.  Though it may not be popular, I want to be obedient to my husband too.

I found this article about helping each other as women and mothers and thought that, yes, a more obedient me would be better at keeping schedules, goals, and more available and sensitive to the people in my ward and neighborhood.

Then I read this great post about avodah.  I was ready to abandon my word and just go with her but then thought it would be more obedient and better to trust the direction I had received.  I love when words are figured out, roots, true meaning reveled.  So I'm trying to figure it out.

etymology:

obey (v.) 

late 13c., from O.Fr. obeir "obey, be obedient, do one's duty" (12c.), from L. obedire, oboedire "obey, be subject, serve; pay attention to, give ear," lit. "listen to," from ob "to" (see ob-) + audire "listen, hear" (see audience)

Another source said "Hearken".   This to me is exciting.   I want to be inspired, taught and changed. As I discover more I intend to share.  

. . . and another quote to share and delve into 

 President Ezra Taft Benson put it most poignantly when he said, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”

from this talk.

grateful:

341 homemade bagels for breakfast

342 fresh strawberries from my bountiful basket

343 online etymology sources

344 I might learn some Hebreww

345 Heavenly Father knows me and what I need to discover this year in choosing a word.

346 Happy voices doing breakfast dishes.

347 sub zero temperatures outside are not even noticed inside.

348 my first lesson with the new youth learning curriculum resulted in more discussion and sharing. 

349 My Heavenly Father loves me!

350 new stake calendar

2012 milestones

1.  Hermana Emily returned from the Bolivia Santa Cruz mission

2.  my second daughter had her third child (second son) Josh 10/28/12 at home and I got to be there and stick around for a few days.

3.  Elder Peter returned from the Florida Orlando Mission

4.  My eldest daughter had her second child (son) with a midwife (VBAC).  Jared  born 12-4-12 and I got to be there for a few days, watch Christmas get set up, and enjoy my traveling companion Peter

5.  Had all six of my single children home for Christmas, they even slept on the floor together Christmas Eve and enjoyed a lot of family time through the break visiting extended or distant family.

2013 is wide open with possibilities and I am excited to see what lies ahead for us.  Life is good and we are blessed

grateful
334 Celebrating Christmas includes celebrating family
335 Christmas Eve has become a night that focuses on Christ and his birth.
336 blogs make it easy to remember the fun.
337 shoveling snow for fun.
338 2012 turned out better than expected
339 family love continues to grow
340 Spotify for listening to Thanksgiving and Christmas music