The Bible Belt

The Bible Belt is a great place to live.

Where else, in a public school district, would they bring in a “Pastors of ‘Effective Evangelism’" muscle team to hold an assembly for the school children? Their mission is to bring people to Christ once they have their attention (which is usually accomplished by breaking something with their forehead).

For school assemblies they remove the religious aspect and these beefy phone book tearing, cinderblock breaking, ice block crushing monsters bring a message of “following your dreams” and “never giving up”.

They demonstrate the power of their dreams by hoisting small children far above their head.

The children are in awe at their strength and size ----which OBVIOUSLY cannot be attributed to steroid use.

Nope….their strength is from summoning the power of their dreams.

They made a believer out of Bradley. If they reached no one else…at least they had an impact on him. Immediately after the assembly he wanted me to take him to get a jug of protein powder before he tried to bench press Karah. (okay, the protein powder part wasn’t true).

Tonight, while we were holding Family Home Evening, Bradley said he had a “special show” for us.

He removed his shirt and came in with a large Pampers Baby Wipes box…and told us he was going to use the power within him to shred it. He needed us to yell and scream to cheer him on and he got very frustrated when we slacked.

I made this little video – in case there is SOMEONE out there that will be touched by this message.

Bradley Feels Da Powah

p.s. – I DO think you can follow your dreams…even if you can’t break a pencil over your knee, quite yet.

Thanks for the wonderful night of memories, Bradley. We love you…and we look forward to showing this to your first date in a few more years.

 

Breaking for Spring

We enjoyed a few days in Kansas City over Spring Break.  The kids first stop was to visit their newest cousin, Anna. Her cuteness was NOT lacking. My hands clench just thinking about her….Oh, how I long to squeeze her again and kiss those DELICIOUS cheeks. Yummmmmm……O.

While dinner was on the grill, Uncle Mark entertained us with a puppet show from his (much coveted) puppet-show area of the kitchen. I just love him.

Dinner was beyond delicious…and I would like to add that bread and homemade jam was involved.

One of my favorite parts of the visit was chatting with Laney…and playing Imaginary Go-Fish with her. She is so beautiful to me….to everyone, actually.

There were other cute cousins present…but they were too busy playing for a photo shoot. Here is what I was able to snag of Megan:

It was so great to catch up with them…but sad to be reminded of how fun they are to be around…and how seldom we are able to be. Bittersweet.

A visit to Grandma’s was long overdue. The following morning she welcomed us with her famous French Toast breakfast. After that we drove up to the construction site of the Kansas City temple. It was rumored that Angel Moroni was going to be put up that day – so we were all so excited.

Even though it was a construction zone…the spirit of the temple was tangible. There was such a beautiful, sacred feeling there. The kids were in awe.  It was SO windy and very chilly…hence the blankets.

It was nuts to see the workers way up there….see em???

Karah talked about how one day she might be married there.

We spotted Angel Moroni in his box!

Unfortunately it was way too windy for him to go up that day. We were so sad to miss the big event…but thanks to http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/ we were still able to see pictures from when it happened the following day.

I hope the kids always remember our morning at the temple…and that someday, they will visit it often.

We topped our trip off with a visit to Great Wolf Lodge with our great friends, the Sandersons. We have been there so many times that I won’t bother with pictures…except this one…because he is cute using his magic wand.

And that was that. Great, quick trip. We got home on Friday and still had the entire weekend before we had to get back to “life”. Glorious.

 

Best Day Ever

Today was the best day ever. I had my first mammogram (had a “smashing” time), my mom took me to lunch at Fire House Subs, and my Tommy T surprised me with beautiful flowers and the sweetest note, ever.

The best part of the day??? I found out I’d had an infection and do NOT have breast cancer. All that worrying for nothing.

If that aint a good day…I don’t know what is, my friends.

Life is good. All is well!

P.S. ---- I now KNOW that a woman didn’t invent the mammogram because no woman in her right mind would have invented such a boob torturing device. There was SO a man behind THAT technology  

Life Lessons

Today was a pretty crappy day. I have had a health issue arise that I have been worried about this past week. I went to the Doctor to get checked out.  While the Doctor  is optimistic that there is nothing to worry about…I  have still allowed my mind to go to those dark places - where the worst is yet to be. I have spent the day feeling sorry for myself – worrying – and accomplishing a whole lotta nothing.

This afternoon, Karah was suddenly screaming for my help. Bradley had flipped over the handlebars of his bike. I found him bloodied – with a gaping hole inside his bottom lip. One finger was bruised and swollen…we feared it was broken.

He had road rash all over his face.

He screamed and sobbed as I attempted to clean the gravel out of his wounds. I was forced to control all emotion and face the task at hand…comforting my son and getting him medical attention. I couldn’t decide which wound to begin cleaning…they were that numerous…from head to toes.

Tom rushed home and we drove him to the ER. As I sat in the back seat of the truck with Bradley, I again, let me mind go to the place of self-pity. “Why did this have to happen today?” ------ I found myself asking Heavenly Father why he would add this to everything else I had been through today….on a day I felt so ill-equipped to handle it. I sat thinking how cruel it was that Bradley had to go through this…he is so little…and this was so traumatic.

Neal A. Maxwell said, “Hence when God is actually lifting us up, we may feel He is letting us down.” This was one of those times. At the precise moment that I felt so let down…I was actually about to be lifted up.

Bradley put on his brave face in the waiting room…and once out of his line of vision…my tears started falling. The guilt for not making sure he was wearing shoes and his helmet. The “What if I Had’s” and the “What if I Had Not’s” flooded my mind. I rushed to the bathroom to pull myself together – trying to erase any evidence of my tears. I didn’t want him to see any fear…just a calm assurance that everything was going to be okay.

He was patient throughout his exam and x-rays. It was miraculous that his little finger hadn’t been broken. I was relieved to hear that they weren’t going to stitch the inside of the mouth. I had been sick at the thought of holding him through that pain. He was pretty beaten up…but his little spirit was still full of light and hope. He talked about what he wanted to do for his 18th Birthday party while we waited for the Dr. to return.

Tom bought him a bottled water to sip as the nurse cleaned all of his wounds. On the way home we stopped to get him a shake from Chick-fil-A with some nuggets.

From the back seat, he announced, “This is the best day of my life! I got a water, a shake with four cherries in it, and chicken nuggets…and tomorrow I get a toy!”

I looked back in amazement at what I had just heard. There sat a bloodied and bruised little boy…and with a swollen lip, proclaiming his love for this day.

Life lesson learned.

Before bed, Bradley gave Karah this letter…

(“You are the best sister. Thank U for saving me. BFF. I LOVE You.”)

And she gave one to him…

After the kids were all asleep, Tom and I sat down for some nasty take-out BBQ. We talked about how we need to be more child-like…having the faith to find the good in every situation – even the painful ones. We discussed how we should even be thankful for our gross BBQ…when so many in the world don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. It tasted better after that.

I do believe that there is purpose in everything we are called to endure. Brigham Young said, “We understand only in part why we are required to pass through various incidents of life – yet there is not a single condition of life and not one hour’s experience but what is beneficial to all those who make it their study, and aim to improve upon the experience they gain.”

So…the question I posed to Heavenly Father….of “Why today?”….”Why Bradley?” had been answered.

Because He loves me enough to recognize where peace can be found….in the presence of faith and gratitude…and because only my child would be able to teach me.

And because this would be the ONLY way to teach Bradley that I am not lying when I say he needs his helmet and shoes.

Dual Purposes Served. Off to bed…hoping for a better perspective tomorrow.