mercy

(my forget-me-not thoughts. more of a journal entry, but you can read it if your in the mood for a sermon)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt

i have been thinking about mercy a lot.
on sunday i had an experience. third hour was a combined meeting so the ladies (me included) met in the chapel with the men. as i was sitting next to dave, the piano started for the opening hymn. i looked up to see the pianist was an older man who once stayed after church explaining to dave his list of medical issues. he has physical limitations and maybe some special needs. he was playing and let's just say what he lacked in theory and timing, he made up for with feeling. the gentleman leading stood in front, confidently, and led to no real particular beat, yet happy, like it was no problem at all. i could almost feel the love the congregation had for this man playing the piano. it wasn't uncomfortable and they allowed him to mess up and succeed at the same time.

moving, changing jobs, building a house has me feeling a little hectic and re-realizing where i fall short...so i have had mercy on my mind. i realize that through the atonement Jesus took on himself all our weaknesses, and for that i am grateful. i also realize that i need to do the same thing. my part of the atonement is when other's weaknesses affect me, to choose to show mercy.

each year my brother sends out a few quotes to memorize for money as part of our big family get together. i have thought a lot about them.

Passage #1 “We need to get back to basic principles of recognizing the good and praiseworthy within the family…. Family loyalty will emerge when we reinforce the good and the positive and bridle our negative thoughts as we seek after those things that are of good report.”

Passage #2 “What each of us does need is family, friends, employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we are trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weaknesses. What ever happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt? Whatever happened to hoping that another person would succeed or achieve? Whatever happened to rooting for each other?”

Passage #3 “Be one who nurtures and who builds. Be one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart, who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them. Be fair with your competitors, whether in business, athletics, or elsewhere. Don’t get drawn into some of the parlance of our day and try to ‘win’ by intimidation or by undermining someone’s character. Lend a hand to those who are frightened, lonely, or burdened. If we could look into each other’s hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.”

we got extra points if we did a little research to find out who was being quoted. it was marvin j ashton. it's a great talk. you can read it here

anyway, made me want to be better at allowing people to mess up and still succeed at the same time....less critical and more gracious.

flagstaff

we took a quick trip and stayed in the best hotel in flagstaff, the little america. even abe said, " who can resist the penguin?" and it's true! we went to pick sadie up from girl's camp and let the boys see some friends. it was a fantastic few days. i was not prepared for the emotion i would feel when we got there. i was prepared to help the kids reunite with friends, but instead i feel like i was able to realize how many friendships i developed over the three years we were there. i think i really needed that. we spent most of our time connecting with people. going to movies, dinners, eating wings (18 mind you, and it was my first time), we went to our old ward (tears), had a rainy family night at the park, played games, and we can't forget, LOVING the trees and clouds because they are beautiful in flagstaff. sadie got a group together to see harry potter and abe, kai and max were able to spend a few afternoons at friends' houses. dave and i drove to winslow and took a some of dave's old co-workers to lunch. he loved working there.

i didn't take any photos, except these two pictures on the way out of town. i just can't explain how grateful i am that out of all the places we could have ended up, we were led to flagstaff. we had some important learning experiences, testimony builders, we grew as a family and met so many really great friends.

real soccer camp

we just finished a week of real soccer camp.

it was max's first camp and even though the first day was a little rocky (he started crying because the coach thought he was too little and in the wrong spot, but i reassured him that max was tough and that i signed him up to be with the big kids and kai) he went from crying the first day, to making the winning goal and being lifted up by his team mates. i heard two kids say as they were walking away, "that little guy scares me." he was a head shorter than everyone, but super tough. it was fun watching kai and max play together...and i can't believe i didn't get one picture of kai. he kept stats and kept me informed. i love it.
max looks a little scared, but was actually loving leo the lion.

abe really got a lot out of this camp technique wise. he had a great week.

abe and a few boys from his soccer team.

summer fun

we have been tending my niece for ten days while her parents are celebrating their anniversary in the dominican republic. we are trying to do a few fun things while she is here.

dinner in a hut= pretty fun.

wings

sadie boarded the plane (by herself) and headed for arizona. she is going back to flagstaff to stay with some friends and go to girls camp with our old ward. she is ecstatic! the rest of us will drive down this weekend and spend a few days there. our kids really miss flagstaff and can't wait to go back. anyway, sadie is now an unaccompanied traveler--and she also wasn't too excited i stopped to take her picture:)

player of the day x2

kai and abe have been at byu soccer camp this week. they are loving it and so am i. i love the ride home because they tell me all the details and play by play excitement.

highlight: at the end of the day, each coach picks one player of the day. they stand in the front to be recognized and presented with a ball. kai got picked yesterday and abe got picked today! pretty exciting.


abe's coach said, "today's ball goes to abe, because he always works hard and he ALWAYS has good sportsmanship."
when abe sat down, she leaned to another coach and said, "he is so cute!"

kai's coach said, "i picked kai because he always works hard and he is always hustling, AND he scored our goal today."

my brother is always saying, "work hard, and good things happen." and they do!

aviary

kai's summer fun pick was going to an aviary. he notices birds a lot and is very interested in them. we picked up our cousin lily, and spent an afternoon at tracy aviary. it has changed a lot since i was a kid, much cleaner and nicer than i remember. we saw a bird show, ate popsicles and hunted down a finch for kai. he did not want to leave without seeing a finch. done and done!



when we were having a bathroom break, we noticed some of the most exciting birds we saw that day...a nest in the corner with a bunch of tiny babies. the mom kept bringing them worms and we could see their necks and beaks stretching for the food. i love this picture because lily is loving abe. abe has a few cousins that have sort of crushes on him. he takes it all in stride.
we ended our adventure at the wading rivers at the park. the kids loved making boats out of what ever they could find, and following them down the rivers. thanks kai for the great pick!!!

small town 4th

happy independence day! what a happy day.

i looked at our fruit and noticed it was extra happy too. max pointed out one side -- "girl happy" and the other side --"boy happy".




sadie and i got up early and went downtown midway for the patriotic celebration. it made me fall in love with this little town and i felt so lucky to be here. so many people in patriotic socks, necklaces, and older men in red white and blue ties. my mom would have loved it! the speaker spoke from an old white gazebo in the middle of town and talked of god and our founding fathers. there was a bell choir and a real choir. veterans stood in the audience while we sang. there were standing ovations, flags, beautiful mountains. i teared up once. sadie was excited because we actually recognized people. she had some friends run up to her and say, "you look so cute and so patriotic!" when they left, she turned to me and said, "i was trying NOT to look too patriotic."
even though she didn't want to look patriotic, i know she felt it.
happy 4th of july!