One Day More

I hope you have all noticed how restrained I have been this year about reminding you that my birthday is approaching. The time for that is past, however. There is only ONE day left until my birthday! I hope you all enjoy the best day of the year.

I was trying to downplay my birthday this year because I didn’t think we would do much to celebrate. I thought about making myself a german chocolate cake and leaving it at that. Instead, I have been completely spoiled already. My friends threw a surprise party for me on Friday night. I got a package in the mail from my Mom. Narda gave me a bag of trail mix that I am already half way through. Kate brought me flowers and raspberries yesterday. The ladies I work with in Young Women brought me gifts today. Cheryl called to apologize that my gift wouldn’t arrive in time. I don’t know where everyone got the idea that my birthday is so important to me. It has been a great weekend and the actual day hasn’t even arrived yet! Thanks, everyone.

The weather here has really turned chilly. The feety pajamas are out, the winter clothes box made its way out of the dungeon, and almond milk is the preferred treat before bed. My girls, however, are still insisting on wearing short sleeves and skirts every day. (According to Jane you can not be a princess unless you are wearing short sleeves and a skirt.) I thought I would solve the weather appropriate clothing problem this week by storing away all the summer clothes and leaving only the warm clothes in the girls’ dresser. The next morning after I had dressed and fed the girls and was cleaning up the kitchen, Kate and Jane came running downstairs wearing...their swimming suits! They wore them every day this week for the majority of the day.

Kate had her first taste of flying this week. Our ward adventure group was meeting at the zoo one day so we headed out to meet them there. Our car was in the shop again and we had a friend over, so I put Jane and Cole in our chariot and Kate agreed to ride her skuut. It was a very blustery day. In fact when I checked the weather that morning it had a severe weather warning for gust of winds up to 40 mph, which of course I gave no heed. We turned a corner, the wind blasted us and I noticed that the chariot started picking up speed. Then I looked over at Kate. The wind caught her and the skuut took off! She was going faster and faster and faster. The cute thing did an amazing job of steering across the crosswalk but then she ran full speed into a flower box and went right over her handle bars! She came up with a mouth full of dirt, but at least it was a soft landing. I tried to sell it to her as her first successful flight, but inside I was shaking and crying. After that I had her draft behind the chariot and we made it to the zoo without further incident. Josh picked us up and drove us home.

Jane is threatening to give up her nap, which is a very sad development for me. I was ushering her to bed one afternoon this week and she said, “No. I don’t want to take a nap. My bed is taking a nap.”

Kate and Josh were looking at the picture of the General Authorities in the Ensign. She wanted to know who Elder Holland was because she read the cross-stitch sign we have up in our room. Josh was showing her the Quorum of the Twelve and explaining that they were the Apostles. Kate excitedly said, “Where’s Peter?”

Jane loves being “little,” probably because Kate is always telling her she is little. You know how kids like to be told they are big? Not Jane! She insists on being little. She will say, “Mom, you are big and Kate is big and Dad is big, but I am little.” Well, along with that she also loves little things and she is now into hiding little things. Every time I put on my shoes I find a bouncy ball or a ring or a plastic animal hiding there. There are beads in the dish cupboard, little books in the bed, doll house furniture in the dresser. Every time I find a little treasure tucked away I just have to smile and think of my Little Jane Jane.

I was taught something this week as I was reading scriptures to my girls. I was reading King Benjamin’s sermon where he is teaching the people about the Savior. In that mind boggling dynamic of eternity v mortality, the Savior knows what decisions we will make and what path we will follow in this life. That means that He knows who will accept and apply the Atonement in his/her life and who will not. And even still, he chose to take upon himself the sins of ALL men, even the sins of those HE KNEW would reject Him. He knew when He was suffering that some would not accept the gift of Atonement, and He knew who they were. He knew when He was suffering for their sins that they would not accept the opportunity He was giving them to overcome those sins. But He suffered for them, each one individually, anyway. He didn’t save himself the pain of suffering for the sins of those He knew would reject him. He suffered for ALL men and took upon himself ALL sin and gave EVERYONE the same chance to return to live with God. That is LOVE! He knew the gift would be rejected but He gave the gift anyway. Oh, the JUSTICE, the MERCY, the LOVE of our Savior!

I guess I had never thought about the Atonement in just that way before. I sat there and just let the Spirit soak in for a minute. Kate looked up at me and said, “Mom, why are you just sitting there? Keep reading.” To which I replied, “because this is incredible, Little one.” Maybe working with the Young Men and Young Women in our ward made this especially poignant. Every week I wonder whether it is worth the effort to serve these kids that seem like they couldn’t care less whether the gospel is part of their lives or not. I guess if the Savior thought it was worth suffering for their sins, a few hours of providing rides and preparing lessons for kids that don’t show up won’t hurt me. Whether or not they get anything out of it, the opportunity to be blessed by the gospel is always there for them.

Happy Thanksgiving!