The Temple

I went to the temple Saturday. Luckily, I was able to tag along with the Lasley and save on gas. It was such a nice trip. I went on an endowment session and felt very at peace there. It is truly a place of refuge from this world. I am grateful for the temple. Very seldom do I receive big revelations there but I can always count on having a stress-free time. I love the temple and hope I can do my best to make my home a similar refuge.
A word about "Saint" Joseph. Joseph was our Lord's "foster" father while on the Earth. Little is spoken of his obvious dedication, obedience and love for the Saviour. I recently had the opportunity to study more about him before burying a statue of his likeness in the yard of my home for sale. I have gained a great reverence for him. I am thankful he was the leader of the most perfect household. I am glad to feel like I know him better. Burying the statue, for me, was as much an act of faith as Nemon washing in the river several times to remove his leprosy. It seems a simple thing to do, but I will not be prideful and above doing what is simple to bring about blessing I'm in need of. I pray that my home will sell soon and that I will always remember the new knowledge I've gained of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ.

Phew! and Smile

I have been neglecting to look for the Lord's Hand in my life while I have been encompassed with my packed
schedule. However, looking back, I have two experiences to share.
Phew!
Today as I was walking Skittles (which I do 3 times a day, every day, despite the weather), we came to the end of the block. As it was our afternoon outing and snowing, I crossed the street after only covering the one block. We headed back to the house on the opposite side of the street. After just getting past 2 houses, I heard a loud crash behind me. There was a car accident. A car had been turning onto the side street and the oncoming car hit him and his car hopped onto the curb with the bumper torn off in the road. I had just been standing there just one or two minutes beforehand. It shocked me and I said a little prayer for the people in the accident and a quick thanks for my safety and returned home. Many people were on-site within those few minutes as our road is fairly busy.
And now for the smile post. Billy and Ian are my sweet little boys. They are so great. Last night I was out at the church doing some dinner prep for the stake youth dinner tonight and daddy had put them to bed. When I came home a little after 8, I peeked in to see my little girl curled up and totally fast asleep. My boys, however, were awake and alert. They received their hugs and kisses and begged for me to read to them, but I said goodnight and left. A little later they came out into the living room and my 3-year-old in his perfect 3-year old pleading voice asked for "Scriptures?". Daddy said, I told you the story of Moses. They both looked at me and asked again for scriptures. Daddy had tried to get out of reading the normal chapter per night by compensating with a well-known story. The kids persisted. I went in and read Alma 25 to my captivated audience and I smiled as I left them with a prayer. They may have been prolonging their bedtime, but I have passed on to them a great gift- given to me by Nicole Sweeney (a friend in Burlington). I thought my kids were too little for the actual scriptures, but in her testimony one Sunday she shared her experience reading to her boys from the BOM and I decided if her boys were big enough, mine were too. From that day on I stopped dumbing down the scriptures and shared them completely with my kids. I'm grateful they want to hear, even if it's just to stay up a little longer.

Activities Committee

Wow, I have seen committee (many a time) where one or two people do all of the work. What a great committee we have here. Our activities committee met tonight with very little notice and managed to get a lot of things planned out. It was great to feel so supported. I only hope the Lord will strengthen me to do my part. It is a blessing to know I am not alone in striving to live righteously. The Spirit obviously resides with the members who were in my home tonight. And I am very grateful for them.
Another sweet person I love.... Jane M... she came to visit and Grandma Jane just picked up where she left off, loving and nurturing. She is a wonderful friend.

Feeling his Love

My visiting teacher is such a blessing. Meagan Gillespie is ever-watching and ready to respond. She was so great yesterday when I had a little melt down. It was awe-inspiring to see her rush into action to support me. I know she was sent on the Lord's errand. He must care for me to prompt her into action!
Today. Well, at Enrichment Night tonight I felt like I was talking way too much, as I often do, but I felt a great acceptance from the sisters there. I know I must be terribly annoying at times, but I am grateful the ward loves me anyway.

Mixed Feelings

Yesterday during Stake Conference President Oesterle (Steve, not Rudi) talked about Reverence. I knew as he spoke that we are missing that in our home. The Spirit testified to me that our Reverence is lacking. We had a difficult day yesterday. We had to leave Stake Conference earlier for several reasons. Billy kept hacking, coughing so forcibly that I was sometimes sure it would end in vomiting. Ian kept talking and banging his toys loudly on the metal chairs and Carley kept climbing and standing on the chairs. It was an embarassing day.
As for the mixed feelings part, I'm starting to loose faith that our house in Burlington will sell. It looks very bleak for us financially. Perhaps the Lord has other plans for us. It feels hopeless and depressing. Let's hope for the best, but expect the worst.

One more tonight

Today I realized that when I take time to read my scriptures I have more time that when I don't. I know this to be true because I thought I was too busy for scriptures today. And I felt rushed and uneasy most of the day.
But more importantly, Uncle Clarence (Hoover) shared with Carl some wonderful family history documents (including something written in German with the Hoover Crest). We also have pictures of pictures of Carl's mother's Great Great Grandparents- WOW. He is a wealth of information. We have plans to spend more time with him about it all tomorrow.

Trying to Keep this Habit

Last night was Halloween. I didn't blog about experiencing God's Hand. But I did happen to walk into two friends last night while taking the kids out trick-or-treating, and I can't fathom that it was an accident to find them. Sue Dean and Kim ? both worked with me at the Courier and now they both live within two blocks of me. Also I had a missionary moment with my neighbor Marianne. I think I am supposed to be sharing the Gospel with my neighbors in small ways and big ways too. We'll see if anything comes with any of these three ladies.

The Lord's Time

I have a testimony that when we make time for the Lord, there is then time for anything else that needs to be done... even time for things we just like to do. Last night I enjoyed an hour of reading. This morning I threw together a Halloween costume for myself. This afternoon, the boys and I decorated our trunk for the trunk-or-treat (a front-door scene, complete with a scary tree and Oscar the Grouch in a trash can). Billy called it our spookable house. It has been a full day, but we made time to read the scriptures together. We studied the 1st Article of Faith. We said prayers together. I know that because we took a few minutes here and there to do these things, we had time for many things. Including picking up 21 pumpkins for the Trunk or Treat event. We are so blessed to have the Lord's Hand working for us. May we always remember these small things so there will be time for all the other things that add enjoyment to our lives.

First post

First, Billy asked for Hartson Family Counsel tonight- even though we have it on Sundays. Obviously this teaching is important to him. It is great to see him appreciate it in his youth so soon into our beginning this new tradition.
Second, Our licensing for foster parents is complete. We should receive it in the mail within 3 weeks. Our worker seemed pleased with our home and preparations made.
Third, We accomplished much today in our home. Making it a house of order.
Fourth, Carl's job change really paid off today, we all went, as a family, to witness his costume parade at school. It's great he was able to be there. Billy was proud to tell everyone "there's my dad."
Fifth, We had a great opportunity to provide service for members in our ward. We babysat a couple of little ones for one sister doing a great work for the community and provided a meal for a different sister who had surgery Monday.
The Lord is letting us help to build his kingdom in many ways. Our work here is needed... in our home, our ward and our community.

My Inspiration

President Henry B. Eyring (2nd Counselor in the First Presidency) addressed us October 7, 2007 in the Sunday Morning Session of conference in a talk entitled, "O Remember, Remember". Now, I'm not sure if I watched it or listened when it was first given, but today I crept out of bed early hoping to have a spiritual experience for myself and after a prayer, I opened my Ensign right to this message.

"I'm not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down."

After receiving this prompting, President Eyring began writing, everyday, about how he had seen the hand of the Lord bless his family. I feel a great need to have such a book for myself and my family.
So today I will begin. I feel compelled to first, share our situation in the world. Right now, we are struggling greatly financially. But finances aren't everything. We are happy and we have great love. Our house in Burlington is on the market (since March). We are renting a house at in Waterloo, until we can purchase it. The owner is starting to worry that we won't sell our home and make the purchase. Maybe I should explain why we're in this situation of paying for two homes.
My husband Carl left his job as a Manager at Furniture Row in Burlington back in December. The hours were terrible and the atmosphere was tense. He was unemployed until February when Carl decided to pursue a career in banking. We lived apart until June. Carl stayed with his brother Josh in Cedar Falls, since his new job is in Waterloo. I stayed in Burlington so Billy could finish preschool and I could get the house ready to sell. Plus, I was working at Target part-time for awhile.
Despite the trouble we've had this past year our family has been blessed abundantly. That is what I need to record here. The hand of God is visible daily in our lives. I feel compelled to journal this for the strength of my family. This last year we've started having Hartson Family Counsel weekly and we've been better at holding Family Home Evening. We have also been diligent in building and using our Food Storage. The Spirit is in our home more prevalently now. Our trials, though difficult, have brought great blessings.