Christmastime and Rejoicing!

Christmas is two days away and my heart is filled with rejoicing.  Our family has been blessed in more ways than I can count, and my life is full of joy.  Being a wife to Jon Mark is so easy.  He makes marriage fun and exciting and I have never found myself tiring of his company.  After almost ten years of marriage, I think he would agree, that we still feel like newlyweds.  My children are a true source of joy.  Sometimes they are a handful, like today at the store when I had two kids in the basket, one strapped in the front, and one following behind me kicking the shoes off of my feet, not to mention the one that is currently inside of me, I'm sure we must have looked a little like a circus.  But, each night as I check on their sleepy little heads, my heart is full of love and joy.  I get why our Heavenly Father would want us to multiply and replenish the earth, so that we may find joy in our posterity.  My husband, my children, they are my joy.

Mercedes taught me something the other day.  She declared (with utter shock) that a friend of hers (Sophia) at school does not go to church.  With wide eyes she told me that she now has an opportunity to be a missionary to her friend.  She went to her room and looked for a couple of books that she could bring to school to show her friend.  The two books she picked were illustrated church books.  One was the scripture stories, and the other was a book about how children can be missionaries.  I don't know if she actually remembered to bring them to school or not, but she sure was eager.  The next day, I called for Mercedes all over the house.  When I opened the door to the "under the stairs closet" I found her kneeling up and praying.  I left her there and closed the door.  When she came out, she said, "Mom, do you know why I was praying? I was praying for Sophia because the Holy Ghost told me to." I learned from my five year old that when we feel prompted to do something, we should do it.  We shouldn't do it half-heartedly, she didn't just say a quick prayer, she went and found a quiet place and offered a sincere prayer for her friend. 

Joshua has reached a stage lately where he will talk to younger children like an adult would.  For instance, if Luke comes up to him to tell him something that maybe Joshua already knows but Luke was excited to tell, instead of saying, "I already know that". He would say, "Oh, I see, that's great!"  He also went to Santa's Secret Workshop at school and spent his own money buying his siblings a present.  I felt bad that he didn't get something for himself with his $6.00, so I gave him a couple of more dollars to buy something for himself.  He came home with a present for me and Jon Mark, and nothing for himself.

Luke loves playing with Mercedes recently.  They play house and he is usually her puppy or her baby.  He likes to set up a beach party on his bedroom floor (he lays out blankets to cover the carpet) and then he and Mercedes imagine that they are on the beach with carnival rides and have a great time with their imaginations.  Luke feels his emotions 100%.  When he is mad he is furious and when he is happy he is really happy.  He will often tell me that he loves me so much and gives his affection spontaneously and fully. 

Hannah is in a new stage where she doesn't eat her candy or treat, she just holds it tightly in her little fists and gets super messy and sticky.  She won't let you take it away without pitching a huge fit.  So, whoever says  the cliché that "it was as easy as taking candy away from a baby" clearly has never tried taking it away from Hannah.  She's a cutie.  She loves to snuggle Jon Mark and dance on tables.  She loves the picture of herself and Mercedes hanging up in her room and points to it over and over again while saying their names.  She's into everything and loves pretty much everyone.  She doesn't like being left behind and thinks she is bigger than she is. 

Like I said, my family brings me joy.

The other day, I was watching a video about the nativity story.  I saw Mary looking at baby Jesus.  Her expression was so perfect.  It was one of love, wrapped up in a feeling of utter amazement.  Shortly after, the angels appeared and were singing triumphantly.  It gave me chills and it just sort of hit me in a new way.  How we must have rejoiced when our Savior was born!  I imagine we were present there and looked upon our Savior as a baby and rejoiced.  Everything depended on Him.  Our salvation depended on Him.  Everything that meant anything was completely and utterly dependent upon Jesus Christ coming to earth to live for us and die for us.  How we must have rejoiced when he was born!  Neal A. Maxell said, "The wondrous and glorious Atonement was the central act in all of human history. It was the hinge on which all else that finally matters turned." The story of Christmas, the earthly mission of Christ, began in a stable, as he was born to an obedient woman named, Mary. And, angels came, along with shepherds and wise men, who knew their Lord and loved Him. 

We, all of us, knew we needed a Savior.  We chose to follow His plan.  We understood that His sacrifice was needed.  Through His humble birth, He became that first gift of Christmas, given to us by our Heavenly Father who gave His only begotten Son, so "that whosever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". 

So, as I watched those angels and heard their songs of praise, my own heart rejoiced.  I placed myself there, in that stable, amongst the others who so loved Him, who fall short and need Him, who rise just to fall again over and over all the while calling upon His name who is able to save and rescue a soul as mine.  Today I rejoice, and I call upon my Savior yet again to perfect me and make me fit for the kingdom of God.

I am filled with the spirit of Christmas.  And, that is what this season is all about.   

Obedience

I was reading my scriptures today and came across the following verses:

“And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.

“And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

“And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

“And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

“Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore” (Moses 5:4–8).

 

I learned a couple of things from those verses.  First, Adam obeyed.  He didn't obey because it fit his lifestyle.  He obeyed because he believed in God and it was a commandment from God.  He didn't argue about it, he didn't even know the purpose behind the commandment.  And yet he obeyed willingly. 

 

Second, as I read those verses I felt impressed that we can all follow Adam's example and willingly obey because we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost impresses upon our minds an assurance and a peace that the commandment comes from our Heavenly Father.  As we sustain and support our church leaders, the Holy Ghost will offer us the assurance that the commandment is right.

 

I've studied up on the early practices of polygamy in the church.  This commandment would have been so difficult for me to follow, and I wondered how so many members were able to obey this commandment.  How could something so difficult and so strange be widely followed and accepted?  I came to the conclusion for myself (as I read individual accounts) that these women (and men) had had their own personal revelation that the commandment was from God.  Personal revelation, through the Holy Ghost, distilled peace to their minds concerning the matter, and they were able to do all that the Lord commanded of them.  Was it still difficult?  I'm sure it was.  But they obeyed, like Adam, because they knew the source from whence the commandment came. 

 

In the media, church members are often bombarded with claims that we follow our church leaders blindly.  It's not blind obedience.  Blind obedience seems to take away the aspect of the influence of the Holy Ghost and the spirit of Christ.  All people are invited to pray and receive their own personal revelations and it is my faith that we will be given the answers we seek when we pray intently.  I found the following paragraphs which seems to illustrate this point well.  It's by, Harold Glen Clark (1973 BYU address):

 

We learn in the modern temples of Israel that the main reason any of us is on this earth is to see if we will do “all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God [will] command [us]” (Abraham 3:25). Now note, the scripture doesn’t say “Do only the things that God first explains to you.” Thousands of Latter-day Saints are living their lives on the principle that doing God’s will first is the thing to do. All the understanding, believing heart wants to know is, What does God want? Then finding it, he goes and does it. This is not authoritarian. It is not a military order or blind faith. It’s the highest form of intelligence, for the temple story tells us that God created us. He is our Father. Literally, he conceived our spirit bodies in love and with great expectations. He brought us to this earth and gave us the opportunity to choose him or some other way. We see that he made the heavens, and that he made the earth on which we stand. It was he who said of us: They are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; . . . and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father. [Moses 7:32–33] Who has greater love, or who has a greater interest, or who has a greater right in commanding us, guiding us, and reigning over us? Why should he mince words or be permissive or sound anything but a certain note about going the way he has outlined? He set up the stairway, not a stairway; he gave us the iron rod on that stairway to take us to the precious fruit of this life. Who else, as Peter said, has words of eternal life? Where else should we go to find them (John 6:68)?

Once we know whose we are, it only makes sense to follow him.  He knows us and loves us.  He has given us the spirit to guide us.  His ways are higher than our ways.  Men are only blind when they are blinded by the foolish precepts of men.  We obey our Father in Heaven even when the reason for doing so is unknown, because we trust him, and that is reason enough.

Sisters

Pumpkin Carving

 

We carved pumpkins with the Echol's next door.  It was a good time.  I didn't have my camera on Halloween night to get a picture of the kids in costume.  Joshua was an army guy. Mercedes was a frozen princess, Elsa.  Luke was a hero.  Hannah was a cheerleader.

Hannah's Thumb

 

Poor Hannah got her thumb shut in our sliding door of the car recently.  I couldn't get the door open for a while and it scared me.  Luckily, it was not stuck permanently (which does in fact happen with that door often).  I thought it was broken.  It looked so bad.  But, she is okay.

Mercedes and Hannah's Room

 

Mercedes and Hannah will be getting beds for Christmas, so I thought it would be fitting to paint something in their room.

 

I painted princess dresses on a stand because I wanted to emphasize that Mercedes and Hannah are celestial princesses and didn't want to have a commercialized princess picture.  I found the quote to go with that idea.

 

Mercedes wanted a fairy, so I painted a fairy door.  She didn't like the way the face was turning out, so I faced the fairy backwards.

Christmastime Setting Up The Tree

 

We set up our tree for FHE a couple of weeks ago and made gingerbread houses while we watched the Christmas devotional.  I love evenings like this with my family. 

 

They love our tree, although Mercedes doesn't think it is very pretty.  She would like a fancier tree.