My Greatest Treasures

Yes, this blog has been much neglected.  Our lives are so full and although I love to record thoughts and memories, we have been so busy living that we haven't had a lot of time to preserve the memories of what we've been up to.  That makes me feel sad because I've had so many thoughts over the last several weeks that I've wanted to record . . . impressions that I want to remember.  Hopefully, I can post a few here for future reference, and perhaps they'll be of use to someone else who may read them. 

First-I had a thought while sitting in church several weeks back.  You see, Dave had invited two neighbor boys to join us for church, and then, due to his church responsibilities, he was absent from being able to help me at all with these extra children.  I'm not sure whether or not they've attended church before, but I was finding myself doing a lot of explaining ("the piece of bread it little because it is not to make us feel full, but to help us remember Jesus' body", and "no, we sit through the whole meeting-we can't go and see our friends").  I found myself thinking, "If you would just obey, you'd be a lot happier and so would I." 
You see, I think that thought a lot, as it pertains to my own children.  "Why is it that they just can't understand that if they would obey the first time we ask, mom would not get upset or worn out as often, they'd be able to do what they like to more, and everyone would be happier?" 
So amidst all of this, the thought came to me that as my heavenly parent, my Heavenly Father probably wonders the same thing about me.  "Why doesn't she just do what I ask, when I ask?  Doesn't she know that things would work out better for her if she did?  She'd be so much happier too." 
Hmmm, I guess this parenting thing is teaching us a thing or two about the eternities. 

Second-Every six months or so, our church has a meeting with a large number of local congregations, called Stake Conference.  I always look forward to this meeting because on the Saturday night before, there is an adult session.  Dave and I always make a date of going to this meeting, because at least for me, it is about the only time that I really get to listen and actually walk away enlightened from church.  This conference was this past weekend, and I did walk away enlightened, with a few thoughts standing out to me. 
One is that the Lord knows our children.  Of course I already know this, but sometimes I forget that when I simply do not know what to do, (which lately, has been a lot) He does.  One of the speakers taught that there are no coincidences in life-it is the Lord's hand working for our good.  I love that thought-that He really is mindful of all we are going through and even little tiny things are His doing. 
Another thought that was shared was about the Mormon pioneers, who, when they left their homes to cross the plains, they had to leave behind many valuables in order to make the trek.  Again, when they approached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, they had to discard even more valuables that they had brought, in order to reach the Salt Lake Valley.  The comparison was then made that we too may need to leave behind "valuables" in order to get our families where the Lord needs us to be.  Our "valuables" today may not be physical treasures, but we have them none the less.  Really makes you think, huh? 

There are so many more things I could share, of memories and emotions, and such, but they will have to wait for another post.