I am still alive, and I am currently working on some pictures from Bolivia set to music! I had some troubles last night getting it to upload, but I think I'm figuring it out now! Thanks for your patience with me!
Today was a GREAT day!! Let me tell you why!! :-)
For a long time Jackson has been telling me he wished he could attend seminary. (Seminary is a scripture study class offered by our church for students in high school- but Jackson is only 12-years old.) Along with his request to attend seminary, Jackson has also been telling me he wanted to do band at the public school again.
Every time I considered sending him to the middle school I felt a strong hesitation. I wasn't sure what it was, but I had the feeling that there was another option for him. I continued to ask him if he was sure about band at the public school. I told him he had the option to further his musical education in the home. He insisted he really wanted to do it, and I didn't know why I was feeling such a strong hesitation.
I felt like I needed to kneel down and have a deeply sincere prayer about where I should send him. However, I kept putting that prayer to the side. Because I have been so busy with life, I didn't take the time to deeply pray about that particular decision until last week!
Once I knelt down and offered up a serious prayer, all of a sudden a thought came to me to check the high school. But… (I protested in my mind)… he's only 12… I can't have a child in high school!!
The thought returned to my mind several more times, so I made the phone call to the high school. Within a day, Jackson had auditioned and received permission to participate in the marching band. He would be on the drum-line and take an intense percussion class. They practice every day, but on Thursdays they practice from 2pm-8:45pm!! Jackson attended last Thursday and LOVED it.
I felt God's hand direct the entire process of enrolling Jackson. There was a ton of paperwork involved and lots of logistics. Every time I felt worried about how it would all come together, the thought came very strongly into my mind, "You don't need to stress about this. This was all inspired by ME (God) to begin with."
The realization continued to return: This wasn't my doing. This was God's idea, and HE wants the best for us!!
We were excited all weekend about Jackson's opportunity to excel in music. It wasn't until Sunday that I realized that since he was an official high school student, he would be allowed to attend seminary!!
This morning was his first day of seminary and of high school. I had gone to sleep at 3am, but there Jackson was at my bedside at 5:15am this morning… ready to go and VERY excited. Abe is still gone for a couple more weeks, so all 6 children and I loaded up into the van by 5:30am for our 30-minute drive to seminary!
I'm a night owl, so 5:15am comes VERY early to my body. Needless to say, we're praying for strength around here!! :-) It is soooo worth it though! What a great day it was to see my son run into seminary this morning! His whole body beamed with excitement!!
I know that God is working out the details in all of our lives… sometimes we just need to take a moment to ponder and pray about the small details in our lives in order to discover the wonderful life experiences God is willing to provide.
Last weekend I awoke to a wonderful aroma… WAFFLES!! Jackson had two waffle makers running, so the whole family could eat. He even cleaned up the mess when he was done!! Yep! He's ready for high school and seminary. :-)
I was able to read your post yesterday about your trip to Bolivia and I was surprised when reading today’s post you decided to take down. After reading it, it had me thinking all day. Seeing the pictures of the children with a rendering of Jesus was sweet and everyone you encountered knew about Jesus and seemed to cherish what you gave them. It made me think about how there is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible and the closet anything comes to a description is in Isaiah 53:2. Isaiah was prophesying that the coming suffering Servant would arise in lowly conditions and wear none of the usual emblems of royalty, making His true identity visible only to the discerning eye of faith. It was great that you had that opportunity to provide physical images of Christ to people through the pictures. What is most powerful is our actions. I like what you said at the end of the post that I believe was an exchange you had with a customs officer commenting on your demeanor. The best way I can be a witness of who Christ is, is by how I treat others. A picture will never be a complete image of God or accurately display His glory, from what the Bible says it seems to me that Jesus would not stand out in a crowd. He wouldn’t have a glow around his head, he wouldn’t be taller or cleaner than everyone else, his clothes wouldn’t be shining white. His face probably wasn’t perfectly clean or his teeth sparkling white. His eyes weren’t piercing or his complexion smooth. Jesus looks more…. like the rest of us. The thing that attracted people to Jesus was not His beauty, His eyes, His stature, His glowing clothes, or angelic halo. He had none of these things. The thing that attracted people to Jesus was His love, acceptance, and forgiveness. You were in Bolivia loving and helping others and that’s what people noticed. I find when I when I wash the dishes for my spouse, when I give up that television show to help my child with homework, when I take a plate of cookies to my neighbor, when shovel the snow for the elderly lady across the street, when I give food and water to the homeless, when I give of my time and money to help anybody in need. When I do these things, I’m the image of Jesus people see in the world today.
ReplyDeleteI understand sometimes when we are very personal on social media that it leaves us vulnerable so I completely understand your reasons for deleting.
I came across a quote yesterday that seems apropos to this, “If you live by peoples acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.” I think when people get personal that’s when they get real. Keep it real. Here are just a verse Bible verses of encouragement for you. Matthew 25:31-46, 1 Peter 4:10, Colossians 3:17.
~Cristee
Hi Cristee, thank you so much for your words about our Savior. I am truly grateful for every reminder I can have of HIM and how HE lived. Thank you also for your encouraging words with such beautiful scriptural passages. The verses you chose truly touched my heart and strengthened me. May God bless you and your family.
DeleteI, too, was blessed enough to read your post; I was so happy for the beauty and light that you were able to share with those people! I thought about how humble they must be, and how much we take for granted here. For example, I'm not sure the people here in UT would have had the same reaction if you'd been sitting at the temple with your pictures. It's not that anyone would have had a negative reaction, necessarily, but of course, we're so surrounded by opportunity to obtain those things for ourselves here that I'm not sure they would have been such awed and grateful recipients. I hope I'm making sense.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm sorry that I've been so very busy and have not made time to comment recently, but I have so enjoyed your recent updates, as always! My daughter and I enjoyed learning even more about HEFY as she came in and watched your slideshow with me and then we browsed the website to learn even more. Your kids are as amazing as ever. And I'm loving the tender mercy of the mascara, a gentle and loving reminder from a kind and wise Heavenly Father.
Thank you for seeking out the good and for noticing it when it is there (and for sharing so much of it with us)!!!
*hugs from UT*
Thank you so much for your message!! I don't expect you to comment, but I always love it when you do. :-) Let me know if your daughter has any other questions about HEFY! Yes! I did understand what you were talking about… I LOVED being around the grateful hearts of the people of Bolivia. So many of my youth from our trip have expressed their desire to return to Bolivia and that experience… RIGHT NOW! :-) It's a whole different world of true gratitude which in turn brings true happiness.
DeleteThank you for your beautiful heart!
I'm sad that I missed your post but loved hearing that a door was opened for your son to attend seminary. How is he enjoying it?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! He is LOVING it! There were a couple of days when we couldn't afford the gas to go, so we rode our bikes 29 miles together and left at 5am to make it there! :-) He NEVER wants to miss! Thanks so much for reading. It's GREAT to hear from you.
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