Sunday, September 10, 2017

Where in the World? Savannah Edition

Imagesource

And here we go again! :)

If it feels like we just did this, we did. Now Savannah's mission papers have been submitted and we're gathering guesses. No one accurately guessed that Spencer would be called to the Idaho Idaho Falls Mission. He's been making the necessary preparations and is getting excited and a little nervous. (He'll be a great missionary!) He reports to the Missionary Training Center on October 4.

We can't wait to learn where Savannah will serve!


Here's are the guesses so far:

1. Senegal
2. Netherlands
3. Austria
4. Salt Lake City Temple Square
5. Tahiti
6. California
7. Guatemala
8. Washington D.C.
9. Texas
10. Puerto Rico
11. Spain
12. Vanuatu
13. Scotland
14. Kenya
15. Oklahoma
16. Australia
17. East Coast
18. Greenland
19. Costa Rica
20. China
21. Baltic States
22. Japan

Where do YOU think Savannah will go?

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Lessons Learned From the Total Solar Eclipse

I know I already blogged about our eclipse experience on August 21, but I can't stop thinking about it. I learned a couple of things that are noteworthy and I wanted to record them while they are still meaningful.


Lesson one (and fairly obvious) is that, even when the sun is completely covered up by the moon, you can still see the sun's aura. The sun never completely disappears. Its power still radiates from behind the darkness. For me, this drove home the fact that no matter how dark our circumstances, God is always there. Nothing is too devastating or bleak for God to make His presence known. If we look for Him, we will find Him. This is a beautiful message and one I hope I never forget.

But Lesson two is the one I've really been pondering for the past week or so. It is this: When we are fully committed, we open ourselves up to blessings and experiences we can't even imagine.

Bear with me as I try to articulate my thoughts.

We live only two hours from the totality zone. That means that our maximum eclipse was pretty close to totality. The graphic illustrates what it would have looked like from our home. Not bad. Our initial plan was to stay home and view it through our special glasses as it approached the maximum for our area. Our experience would be good enough without having to go out of our way, right?

Wrong!

Fortunately, I was talking with a friend a few days before the eclipse. She'd read some thoughts by an eclipse chaser and he noted that the difference between 99% totality and 100% totality is huge! No comparison. The experience is completely different. Well, that got me thinking and wondering if it might be worth the drive after all. It didn't take much to get the kids on board; after all, they'd get to miss a good chunk of the school day.

Because I've already shared our eclipse experience, I won't go into all the details again. I'll just focus on a few things that illustrate what I mean by lesson two.

For starters, unless you are viewing totality, you must wear solar glasses which literally block out everything except the sun. We had our glasses on while watching the moon slide into totality. When only the tiniest sliver of sun was still visible, I peeked over the rim of my glasses to see what it really looked like and, to my surprise, the sun still appeared so bright that it looked like the full sun was shining. It was only when the eclipse reached totality that we could remove the glasses and that made all the difference. It revealed a different world. From the significant dimming of the sky to the visible stars and the evening sounds, it was really stunning. Back home, none of that was part of the limited experience. They couldn't remove the glasses, yet they didn't know what they had missed. They just didn't see what all the fuss was about. And that's the problem. When we give a half-hearted effort, we may never realize that we compromised the outcome. It took more effort and time to see the eclipse in its totality, but as a result, our experience was worlds away from the one back home.

There is a quote that I came across 25 years ago by William Hutchison Murray. I've thought about it so many times. It says,

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."

Elder Gary B. Sabin summed this up well in a talk given last April:
"We don’t hold back to see what the minimum is we can get by with.... When we are fully committed and “all in,” heaven shakes for our good. When we are lukewarm or only partially committed, we lose out on some of heaven’s choicest blessings."
I believe this because I've seen it happen. When I am fully committed, my experiences are significantly different. "Heaven shakes for [my] good" and "Providence moves, too." Who wouldn't want that? 

Don't be afraid to be all in. It's worth it!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Spencer's Week

We've had a great week! Sam and Savannah were home from BYU for a few days (they haven't been home since January!) and it was so good having the whole family together. It's going to be a while before that happens again. With Spencer leaving for the Idaho Idaho Falls Mission next month, December 2019 is the next logical time we'll be together. That made it pretty hard to say goodbye to Sam and Savannah yesterday, but all the good things we have to look forward to made it a little more bearable.




Spencer's had quite a week and it was so nice that Sam and Savannah could be a part of it. On Tuesday night, Spencer received his Eagle Scout award. Many friends and ward members attended the Court of Honor and it was a nice event to celebrate Spencer's long-awaited achievement. He's really enjoyed his time in Scouting and has been a great mentor to his younger brothers and the other boys in the troop. He'll definitely be missed!

An Eagle Court of Honor wouldn't be complete without eagle cookies.

I forgot to take pictures at the Court of Honor so the kitchen will do in a pinch. ;)

On Thursday, Spencer went through the temple for the first time. We headed out super early that morning to head to St. Louis. It was a beautiful drive and a beautiful day. I was so happy that Sam and Savannah were able to be there, too.


The grounds of the temple were gorgeous with flowers blooming everywhere.



BYU starts on Tuesday. Spencer reports for his mission on October 4. Onward and upward!