Sunday thoughts

Marc spoke in Sacrament Meeting today, and gave an excellent talk about faith.

Here was my favorite part: he said that recently I inherited a beautiful painting of the Savior that used to hang in my grandmother's home. Denise brought it to me when she drove out from Denver, and I had propped it against a wall, awaiting its eventual home (unknown to me at the time).

One day when I was out, Marc decided to rearrange the mantel to make room for the painting. He found himself wondering if it was going to work with the rest of our decor, etc. But he left it for awhile to get a read on it, and now it just seems so right, and he can't even remember what else used to be there.

How often do we do that in our lives? What do we have to rearrange to make room for the Savior? Because it is always worth it, always, and whatever we give up will just fade away and we won't even miss it.

I was so moved by this, especially because it was all tied up with my grandmother in my mind. Then we sang Lead, Kindly Light as the closing hymn, a great favorite of mine:

1. Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

2. I was not ever thus, nor pray’d that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.

3. So long thy pow’r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Text: John Henry Newman, 1801–1890
Music: John B. Dykes, 1823–1876

Whew. I really am not much of a crier anymore, but I could hardly sing the hymn and it was a little bit difficult to go to Primary afterwards and carry on as if everything was normal! In the best possible way.

Sunday thoughts

These Sunday thoughts are brought to you yet again by Time Out for Women, this time from speaker Brad Wilcox. (He was amazing, by the way.)

Changing weaknesses into strengths

2 Ne. 25:23 It is by grace we are saved, after (in spite of, apart from) all we can do.

Grace doesn’t kick in when our energy is gone, it’s a constant source of energy and light that helps us through. We may experience his grace before, during, and after our own efforts.

Because God loves us, he accepts any offering, even when we know it is not our best.

He is much more concerned with the offerer than the offering.

What Mormon woman has mediocrity as her goal? Name one! (If we were talking to the Priesthood brethren, it would be a little different.)

*After all, what can we do?

We need to focus on the Savior’s sacrifice instead of our own offering to God. All of our doing has an end – to become.

Instead of asking if we have been saved by grace, we ought to ask if we have been changed by grace.

The miracle of the atonement is not just its power to return us home, it’s the power to transform us. We need to be cleansed so that we can stay in God’s presence, but we need to be changed so that we will want to stay. We will all go back to God’s presence. The question is: how long will we stay there? How comfortable will we be there? Heaven will not be heaven to those who have not chosen to become heavenly.

We are not earning our way to heaven, we are preparing ourselves to live there.

*After all we can do – me and the Savior, together.

D&C 123:17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

We do not reach heaven by supplementing. We reach heaven by covenanting. It is a relationship that is greater than the sum of its parts.

If we see the Savior’s requirements as too much to ask, it’s only because we do not see things through the Savior’s eyes. The purpose of his requirements is change.

When we feel discouraged, we need to remember that we have Emmanuel – God with us. We have a good shepherd who seeks after us again and again, as long as it takes.

I find this all to be hugely reassuring. I have so many, many weaknesses. I know that I need that grace to help me to accomplish everything I do, and I love the idea of having constant access to energy and light. I love the thought that God is more concerned with the offerer than the offering, that is so hopeful! I so want to be transformed by the Savior's atonement. And I love knowing that even with all of my mistakes and weaknesses and foolishness, I can still be in the process of becoming one who is changed, and that the Savior will not give up on me. I find I need to be reminded of this again and again.

a perfect Christmas Eve

There. I've said it. But it really has been a perfect Christmas Eve.

This morning the kids delivered our neighbor gifts. (I made toffee yesterday and it is a new family favorite.)

Then they opened and unloaded the packages that arrived from my mom yesterday. I can't think of anything more exciting to my children than the arrival of my mom's packages, and who can blame them? Our tree is now overflowing.

One package with my name on it said, "OPEN NOW!!" The kids, of course, found this hugely exciting. It contained six miniature wreaths to hang on the back of my dining room chairs (something I have been pining after for about two years). Thanks, Mom!

Eva begged me to get my camera and take a picture of her with Jack. I don't often get photo requests, so I couldn't ignore that.

I spent the rest of the morning baking bread and doing a little last-minute wrapping. Then we headed to Salt Lake to go to Marc's sister Michelle's house.

{detail from Michelle's tree}

Michelle's family has a tradition of eating an Italian feast on Christmas Eve. Not only was it delicious, but the reds and greens were very festive, as well. She made lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, tortellini with chicken and vegetables, and plain spaghetti for my picky Lucas and Eva. Bob & Mim brought a beautiful salad.

Nicole made this delicious appetizer, I kept going back for more!

I made two loaves of the Rosemary Artisan Bread (minus the rosemary), and I must say, they turned out exceptionally well. It's fun to have a showstopper recipe, and particularly gratifying when said recipe is so easy! If you haven't made this yet, do not delay!

Michelle has 12 place settings of her husband's grandmother's china. Isn't it pretty? What a wonderful heirloom!

After our (early) dinner, Marc gave Michelle a little Photoshop tutorial.

Grandma got down on the floor and played with Eva, Eva's very favorite thing in the world.

Lucas and Kristen went outside to sled down the slide. I never would have thought of that!

The rest of us were sitting around chatting. Nicole was texting a boy she likes, while wearing possibly the cutest shirt in the world that she bought while visiting us in Paris. Even though this picture is blurry, I think it captures her so well!

After we had waited sufficiently long to be able to eat again, Michelle served her Italian Cream Cake. (I will post the recipe soon, I forgot it at her house...) It has pecans and coconut, two of my very favorite things. It is reeeealllly good, and check out that covetous cake plate!!

Michelle and Nicole played us two duets they performed at a recent recital. There's not much I love more than family duets. Kristen played her harp as well.

We played some games, with even Eva getting in on the action.

Finally, I said that we had to go home so I could finish up my last Christmas preparations. We drove home in the dark, looking at all the lights and listening to Christmas CDs.

Marc read the story of the first Christmas from Luke 2, and then we gave our traditional gifts to the Savior. I really did not fare so well with the gift I planned to give Him last year, so I had to repeat. I'm hoping the shame of that will give me the boost I need to put it into action.

Then the kids opened their one gift on Christmas Eve. Lucas chose one of the gifts Landon gave him (a Bionicle), and he had it assembled before I could blink. Eva chose the gift Whitney gave her (a Littlest Pet Shop fish) and was totally thrilled. Max chose his gift from Lucas ($15 towards a new ipod) and was, I think, happy and touched.

I put Eva to bed -- she was almost too tired for stories, but then couldn't go to sleep until after 10:00 because she was so excited.

Marc and the boys went down to watch a show on Marc's new giant TV.

I made overnight cinnamon rolls and overnight regular rolls.

Now everyone is asleep and I am getting ready to assemble the stockings! I think the stockings are my favorite part of Christmas day. And I love the quiet anticipation of this night, with everyone tucked in their beds and all in preparation.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas Eve

Mom baked and cooked all throughout Christmas Eve. We put on some Christmas music and went to town. I'm not really sure what I did, except for finding her the ingredients and cooking utensils she needed. Plus, I got the neighbor gifts ready to deliver. And discovered the pipe problem. And did some cleaning up and set the table. But really, Mom did all the work.

Friends and neighbors were dropping by throughout the day, delivering treats and tiny gifts -- it was so festive!

Eva tasting the fruits of her labors -- or doing a little "poison control", as we call it in our family.

We had a lovely dinner by candlelight -- beef tenderloin with blue cheese which was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. (I opted not to post a photo, however, because in the picture it came off as being distastefully carnivorous.)

spinach/raspberry/macadamia nut salad -- delicious, and the colors are so Christmasy!

crab-stuffed potatoes (normally we do twice-baked, but Mom discovered a shortcut that tastes just as good and is twice as easy!)

butternut squash with fresh sage, blue cheese, and bread crumbs (I will definitely be making this one again)

After dinner, we moved to the family room and sat around the Christmas tree. Max played Christmas songs on the cello and we sang along.

Marc read the story of the Nativity from Luke, and then we watched a Church DVD about Mary and Joseph and Christ's birth.

Eva watching with rapt attention

After the DVD, we talked about how the Savior has given us everything. The earth, and everything therein, our families, our very lives. What can we give to him? A changed heart, a desire to help others, compassion, love, obedience.

We got out our little boxes and wrote down our gifts to the Savior for the coming year. I am so excited about this tradition! Ever since we started two years ago, it has really made a positive impact on my life. I was telling my family that I have thought of the things I wrote down and put inside my box literally hundreds of times. It influences my actions for the better when I remember a specific way in which I am trying to be more like him. I hope eventually the same will happen for my children.


We had chocolate cheesecake with ganache topping, and then the children went to bed and we started working on stockings, one of my favorite parts of Christmas! Stockings are so fun.

mine, courtesy of Mom

Max's

Lucas's

Eva's

I guess I forgot to take pictures of Marc's and Mom and Dad's. I feel a bit magical being up when everyone else is in bed, making the magic happen and snapping photos. I was a little reluctant to go to bed! It was a very festive Christmas Eve.

I'm always amazed at how full the tree is when everything is finally wrapped! (not to mention sent by Grandma and other loved ones far away...)

little red box

Last year, we started a Christmas Eve tradition of giving gifts to the Savior. I bought some little red jewelry boxes and just put a letter sticker on the top of each one. (Since we have three people in our family whose names start with "m", I wrote the names on the stickers.)

Marc's parents were with us on that Christmas Eve, so they participated as well. I gave a very brief lesson about how much the Savior has given us, and how the only things we can really give back to Him are: increased obedience, service to others, and improving ourselves and our relationships.

Everyone wrote down one gift they would give to the Savior during 2007 on a little slip of paper and put it inside their red box.

I have just been amazed at how many times I have thought of that little red box throughout this year. Many of my decisions have been guided by what I wrote down on that slip of paper. I have tried countless times in the past to change something about my behavior that needed improvement, but never with this much success. I don't know why, but somehow, putting it to paper and placing it in that box seems to have made it a stronger commitment. Marc's mom told me that she had a similar experience. I was even tempted at one point to get out the box mid-year and add another piece of paper! (I couldn't find it.) I contemplated my gift to the Savior all through December, and I was so looking forward to Christmas Eve so that I could put it in the box and start working on a new change, an improved me.

So this year, on Christmas Eve, we all got out our boxes. My boys weren't quite sure if they remembered what they had written down last year. (Evidently it didn't work equally well for all of us...) I emphasized how this small act had had a great impact on my life during the past year, and encouraged the rest of my family to give it more focus this time around. (I chose one for Eva since she couldn't do it for herself -- to cut back on screaming -- do you think it will have any effect??)

The gift that I chose to give this year is more difficult for me than last year's. In fact, it's something I've tried to work on many, many times over the years, with limited improvement. But I'm counting on the power of the little red box to help me make this happen.