Friday

How I've seen the hand of the Lord today: Sammy asked me to go to lunch a couple of months ago, and we finally made it happen today. Sometime either yesterday or today, it dawned on me (translation: I was probably inspired by the Spirit) that she likely wanted to talk to me about my sisters. 

Background info: the relationship between Sammy and Melanie and my sisters (Julie and Schpuck) has been difficult and tense. When they are with each other, mostly things are fine and they all get along. But there have been hurt feelings on many sides, and it's just not been an easy thing. 

So, the Spirit whispered to me, "She's going to want to talk to you about your sisters." I feel like Heavenly Father was preparing me for the conversation, and it allowed me to say a little prayer about it, to help me know what to say and to help me be wise in what I say and what I keep back. 

I think for the most part, the conversation went well. Sammy has been hurt by them recently, and she's now ultra sensitive to offense by them, which she recognizes isn't good and probably needs to change. I tried not to say too much, and feel I was mostly successful with that. I tried to give some good advice about how Sammy can help along get relationships with my sisters, and I feel I was partially successful with that. I think the best advice I gave was that she pray to know what she can specifically do to strengthen her relationships with them, that she seek specific ways. I know her and I know my sisters, and I can give some advice. But Heavenly Father knows them all better than I do and knows perfectly how to help. 

Tonight's I took my boys to the Belmont sponsored mom and sons Ninja Night, which was so fun. There was a pizza dinner and treats and fun activities and obstacle courses. I was pretty cautious, doing the course with the boys. My body is getting older, and I didn't want to throw my back out. 😆 But we had a good time together! 

Saturday

We did a bunch of cleaning and organizing and house projects today, including the kids. And then I made a cake and some cupcakes to take to Tovin's birthday party that Emily threw today. We played games and chatted and ate dinner and cake. It was nice to get together with the family that attended.

Reason I love my husband: he's forgiving. Have I already done this one? I feel like there's a lot to forgive sometimes. 😆 But specifically, this time, I got my nose out of joint because he and Brooke started watching The Greatest Showman when I went to Ninja Night with the boys. And I'd been waiting for a good time to watch it with her for weeks. Of course, he didn't know that and it was unfair to be mad about it. But I was. They paused watching so that I could finish it with them tonight. Which was very kind of him. I think I still need to apologize. 

Sunday

Stephanie shared this message from Elder Uchtdorf in our presidency meeting today, and I loved it so much, I wanted to keep it: 

I think God and Jesus want what we want for ourselves, as long as it is in line with their teachings. Want to homeschool your kids? Go for it! Want to grow a garden? Sure! Interested in going back to school? Why the heck not? They love us and want us to be happy. So if what we want is not contrary to their plan for us, they want those things for us too. This is something I've been thinking about as we have started studying the Doctrine and Covenants. It talks a lot about desires.