Each month has brought fun surprises--every color of tulip imaginable, fabulous family gatherings, an amazing new ward family, front row seats for Draper Days fireworks (set off from the parking lot of Ryn's soon-to-be elementary school that's in our ward boundaries), delicious blackberries growing along the wall of Kev's gym, being able to walk to church just 2 doors down and the library and park just 2 blocks away, etc, etc, etc.
As for the downs, it just sometimes feels like we've stepped into Tom Hanks' and Shelly Long's roles in "The Money Pit". In the last 2 months we've had an AC unit break down multiple times (finally fixed, yea!), a water leak on our main culinary line, a broken gas line (currently being replaced) that feeds our stove and dryer, and a visit from the health department informing us that we have an illegal septic tank in our back yard that was installed for the detached garage when it was built 16 years ago. We knew there was a septic tank, just didn't know it was illegal. Get excited. So when our tub falls through the floor tomorrow, just picture me laughing like Tom Hanks :).
Honestly, I am really tired and it has been pretty frustrating. But also, I've been amazed by the blessings we've received during and in the midst of all these little bumps in the road. When we moved in, we found out that our stake's emergency preparedness goal for this quarter was for every family to obtain or rotate their 2 week and 72 hour water supplies. We have a big 55 gallon drum up at Kev's parents' house that we need to get down here, empty, and refill. But until we could do that, I just started filling up the 96 oz apple juice bottles we use (about 2/week) and the girls had a blast carrying them down to our storage closet in the basement. (We had a Family Home Evening lesson on home storage and they love filling those shelves little by little.) When we found the leak in the water line, we had it turned off for 3 days until we could cap it. The first night, when it was time to brush our teeth, we skipped to the storage closet to get out a bottle of water and we had more than enough to see us through those three days. It was so fun to have that tangible and immediate lesson of how we are blessed when we follow the counsel of our prophet and leaders.
On one of the days when it seemed like every half hour I was receiving some little bit of bad news about one of the problems, I got a phone call from a lady that teaches the preschool where I had been praying to be able to send Elle. All the classes had been filled, so I had her on the waiting list and a spot opened up in the very one I wanted--MWF in the morning, so her schedule would coincide with Ryn's AM Kindergarten. Then, last Friday, in the 20 minutes between some repair men leaving and right before the man from the health department showed up, my neighbor called to tell me that their piano teacher had an opening for Ryn. Another answer to prayer.
To anyone else, these might seem like little blessings compared to the bigger problems. But not to me. Each one of these miracles showed me that God knows me personally and He loves me enough to care about the "little" things that are important to me as a mother. He hears my prayers and He answers them. He cares enough about me and my family to inspire our stake leaders to have that specific goal for water at the exact moment we were moving in to this house and would need it during our water leak repair. And He loves my children enough to offer me that teaching moment so they will have the faith to trust Him and follow Him always. He loves me so much that He lets me grow and learn through these trials, but gives me perfectly timed tender mercies to stregthen my hope and faith so I can survive them. Truly, I stand amazed at the love and grace that He offers me.
A few days ago, my friend Michelle pointed me towards this BYU devotional about grace, given by Brad Wilcox. Amazing. Here is one of my favorite parts that I have seen up close and personally these past few weeks:
"Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done “all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). He is with us every step of the way. Elder Bruce C. Hafen has written, “The Savior’s gift of grace to us is not necessarily limited in time to ‘after’ all we can do. We may receive his grace before, during and after the time when we expend our own efforts”. So grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now. It is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch (see Hebrews 12:2)."
http://byutv.org/watch/49475abb-10d4-4f45-a757-7000b9945468#comments
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