February 9, 2017

The day dawned beautifully.  And Sunee surprised me by calling to say she had taken the day off.  She wanted to know if I wanted to go for a walk.  For old time's sake.  It took me about .2 seconds to agree.  Lance had gone to bed the night before with a bit of a sick tummy, and when I checked on him in the night, my nose told me that he was still sick.  I had changed his diaper and cleaned him up and put him back to bed.  Well, as soon as I entered the hall this morning, I could smell that something horrible had happened in Lance's room!  I went in to get him, surprised that he could sleep through the stench.  He and his bed were soaked through with diarrhea.  Poor, poor boy.

I gently undressed him and wiped him down.  Then I wrapped him in a towel and held him while I stripped his bed down with one hand.  After washing him off in a warm bath, I dressed him in soft clothes and put his jacket on.  It may have been overly selfish of me to put him in the stroller, but walking with Sunee is one of my favorite activities.  I wrapped him in warm blankets, even though the day was beautiful and off we went.  We had Owen with us too.  Sunee and I talked and talked as fast as we could, but we only covered about one tenth of the topics we wanted to cover.  But it was a joy to be together.  Owen and Lance were happy that we passed a bunch of cows with some calves and a herd of sheep with some little lambs wobbling around.  It was so darling to see.

Toward the end of the walk, Lance had dozed off so I quietly carried him to his bed.  We said goodbye to Sunee and then Owen had a little friend over to play.  I then spent the next hour in the laundry room.  I love to listen to General Conference talks or the scriptures while I work in my laundry room.  I love everything about my laundry room: the sun streams in through the glass door, the laundry smells are fantastic, and I have three machines hard at work for me.  As I listened this time, my mind seemed to be particularly open to inspiration.  I kept feeling the spirit wash over me as I was struck by new teachings and thoughts.  I realized I should have had a notebook to jot down everything I was hearing that needed a revisit!

One of the things I heard that I thought was interesting was this thought: we live in increasingly perilous times.  But God's compensation to us for living in such perilous times is that we also live in the fulness of times.  I liked that a lot.  I did remember to write that one down.  I scribbled it in my little book from the IronRodMan activity we did in young women's--the one where we read the whole Book of Mormon in two days.  That also happened to be one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Anyway, I had also written in that little notebook about 2 Nephi 1:7

 7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursedshall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

Reading that during the IronRodMan got me thinking about the last few lines.  Is it possible that this land can be cursed because of iniquity, but AT THE SAME TIME, be blessed forever for the righteous? Perilous times, but also fulness of times.  Can we exist in this troubled world while experiencing the most sublime, blessed life?  

For some reason, that thought brings tremendous peace to my heart.  Let the world fall apart, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  The whole "it matters not what happens in the White House, but what happens in my house" and all that.  It feels to me like everyone is screaming about something these days.  And I am so grateful that I can fold laundry in my sun-filled room, while listening to a prophet's voice, and feel the spirit leading and guiding me in my earthly work.  Is there any way to be more blessed than that?

Well, eventually the stench from Lance's room was filling the whole house.  I went in to collect my poor little boy and found him sopping wet again.  It was like the morning on repeat.  I changed him and bathed him and wrapped him in a fresh towel.  As he laid his sweet head on my shoulder, I thought, "How lucky is this little boy?  He has a mother to tend to his every need, to lovingly clean him up and keep him comfortable, to be there every time he needs me."  I didn't think of it in a boastful way, but an intensely grateful way.  Thankful that I could be the mother.  Thankful, because I love Lance so much, that he is so well taken care of.  And also broken hearted to think that not every sweet baby on this earth has such a life.  I held him a little longer at the thought.

Thankfully, Lance perked up throughout the afternoon.  By bedtime, he was sleepy but he was eating and drinking and acting like himself.  And the kids put away their clean laundry.  And I found Julia in Miles' bed, alongside her favorite reading partner.  At our house, at bedtime, we read.  And we read.  Oh the places we go.  Oh, happy day!

Miles and Julia--my little bookworms!