Submitting to what is inflicted upon us

Mosiah 3:19

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

When I first became acquainted with this verse as a teenager, I thought that "inflict" seemed like such a painful word. What father would inflict things upon his child?

But as I've gotten older, I've realized that the Lord inflicts things upon us because he knows they will help us grow in the right ways.  Scoliosis and a back brace was inflicted upon me as a teenager. Not the funnest thing I've ever had to cope with, but it shaped me in profound and important ways.

Since then, other hard and sometimes painful things have been inflicted upon me. Things that were completely not my fault. Things that were unfair. Things that caused heartache, and tears, and soul searching.

Am I willing to submit to such things?

Are you?

My answer to the first question, is a firm, "yes". It may be hard, I may be brought to my knees with sorrow and tears or simply from a burning desire to understand, "what am I supposed to be learning from this?" But I say, Yes. I am willing to submit.

I have faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that he is “an high priest of good things to come.” I believe that all of the afflictions I experience will be for my good. That they will help me become a saint through the atonement of Christ.

As for the second question, only you can answer that. But I believe that there is peace and joy found in this journey of submission.

Nathaniel is one!

Someone had a birthday!

Nathaniel loved his new blocks. (Good choice, Daddy!) And that green soccerball-looking-thing behind him is one of his other favorite gifts. It's easy for him to grab and he loves throwing it.

Grandma Kimi, Grandpa Steve and Aunt Isabel all came down for the weekend to celebrate his happy day. (And Great-aunt Tine, Great-grandma Nancy, and Great-grandpa Quinten came down on Saturday for a little birthday picnic)

This was probably my favorite picture from the weekend.

Grandpa Steve and Nathan having fun!

In other news, we got Google Fiber internet, and are loving being able to watch General Conference at home. It is glorious. Join us tomorrow for two more sessions at 10:00am and 2:00pm here

It'll be worth it. Come and listen for yourself.

Shopping Excursion

I spy with my little eye, a really cute baby at the store...

Do you see him?

Highlights from the holidays so far

We've looked for (and found) a Christmas tree:

Nathan sat on Santa's lap (and enjoyed it!):

We've made and eaten Christmas cookies, sung lots of Christmas songs, wrapped a bunch of presents (still haven't wrapped them all or sent all the ones that need to be mailed.... but we're getting close!), and have had just a jolly good season.

One of my favorite Christmas videos: here

To an awesome Grandma...

To an amazing Grandma on her birthday,

This is how we feel about you:

And this is how we feel when we remember that we get to see you in less than three weeks:

And Nathan wants you to do lots of this when we see you!

This little angel (and his mom and dad) are wishing you a very happy birthday!

Love you Mom!

Scooter

The baby scoots!

Insomnia

I've turned into a bit of an insomniac. Various cousins may find that kind of funny because I used to be notoriously good at dosing off (sometimes mid-sentence) in the middle of midnight giggling conversations at cousin sleepovers.

I think it's a common symptom of PPD though, so I'm not too surprised. And I was a bit of an insomniac when I was pregnant too.

My dad has struggled with sleep for years and I'd never understood it well. I had always thought, "If he just lays down and holds still long enough, won't he fall asleep?" Could it be that hard? Well, now I think I understand a little better.

I'll lay in bed, and my mind is in high gear thinking about my day, about tomorrow, about random moments from my childhood, about a book I'm reading, or just about anything. And it doesn't calm down. It used to calm down, and I'd fall asleep. But for a while now, I can lay there for what seems like forever until I get bored and go do something besides just laying there.

Most often I'll read a book. Last night it was a new book called "Looking for God in Harry Potter". Quite a fun read. If I start reading, after a while, I'll find I can't keep my eyes open anymore, and then I'll go lay down in bed and conk out pretty fast.

In other news, Nathaniel learned a new trick the other day. He took his stuffed elephant, started chewing on the ear and then let go with his hands so it was just hanging from his mouth by its ear. Pretty much, I think that this baby is the cutest one that EVER lived (you're under no obligation to agree with me, but I think I'm right, because I'm his mom :).

Oh, and did I mention I have the coolest husband, too? This year he's an assistant conductor in BYU Singers... as an undergrad! Normally they only have the graduate students assist, but my handsome man landed the job because he's just. that. good.

Life is full of beauty

My two favorite boys playing at the splash pad.