In His Presence

Scripture of the Day:  "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths..." - 2 Nephi 12:3, The Book of Mormon

The mountain of the Lord is understood to be the temple.

There are many reason why we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints go to the temple.  This verse explains just two:  the temple is a place we can be taught of His ways, and we can walk in his paths.

Each of us, like the primary song suggests, is trying to be like Jesus.  By going to the temple often we are taught about His ways, and in turn can be more like Him.

The phrase "we can walk in his paths" seems very literal to me.  The temple is His house.  He is there. We are walking where He is walking, it is hallowed ground.

In the past Mr Medic and I have tried to attend the temple once a week.  If we wanted to we could walk to the temple, it is that close.  Since having children our attendance has not been so frequent.  But I would like to change that.

An online reference titled: "How Can We Make the Most of Temple Attendance?" tells us this:

When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple.

Ideally I would like to be going every week, but I think we may have to work back up to that.  So, with the help of Mr Medic we will be setting a goal of how often we will go and on what day.  I believe that when we make a specific plan we are more likely to stick to that plan.

If you know you have a birthday party to attend on a specific day, you do whatever it takes beforehand to be there, right?  Same principle is true for attending the temple.  If you set a specific day, you are more likely to plan your week or month around that special day that has already been set.

And, as if being able to learn of the Lord and walk in His paths isn't blessing enough from attending the temple:

...when we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, then come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent. (link here)

What a comfort to know that I have no reason to worry, no matter what happens.  I know that if I attend the temple I can have that peace and reassurance.

I Never Want to Forget

I wanted to write this down before I forget.

I was recently given an assignment for church that will require a lot of time.  I was surprised, but not nervous.  The day after I was asked to take on this responsibility, my thoughts were all over the place.  Still I did not feel nervous.  Here is what I have observed so far...Heavenly Father will bless you for doing what He asks.

Blessing #1-  I had my very first experience with a non-mormon in my tiny Mormon filled town, the very next day after this assignment was given.  I was caught off guard, but excited for the interaction.  My new assignment made it possible to share a little about our church.

Blessing #2-  My children can sometimes get the best of me!  I have recently discovered that I exhibit signs of what the Dr liked to call reactive hypoglycemia (may be made up just to satisfy me, IDK)  I have found that if I do not start my day with a protein rich meal, and continue to stuff my face with wise food choices all day long, I quickly get shaky, weak, sweaty, and very very irritable.  It could just be my imagination, but since my church assignment was given, I feel that I have kept this under control well, and have not been irritated with my children's usual annoyances.  I have found them to be very amusing, and I sit and admire them for long periods of time.  I love who they are. They are so funny and sweet and happy.  They make me happy.

Blessing #3-  This one could be kudos to me or my husband.  Either way, I like it.  I have noticed that we are being better team players.  Case in point:  I decided that I may need to get with the times and add texting onto our plan since others will need to be in contact with me more than usual (again, relating to the church assignment) I hesitantly suggested it to Mr Medic, expecting him to roll his eyes and laugh at what he thought might be another one of my lame attempts at being part of the "in crowd"  I was shocked to hear him say nothing more than he agreed and to call the phone company.  WOW!  He has also taken initiative of random things that will make my life easier without my knowing it beforehand.  I can't even begin to express my gratitude for a companion that enables me to serve to the best of my ability by offering support and unconditional love.

I know there are many more blessings and miracles in store.  I'm so thankful for the blessings I have been given and the love I feel from Heavenly Father.

Snap Back to Reality

I was having one of those days...

Twodles, my ever-so-sweet 22 mo. old is developing his own opinions and is VERY willing to let you know if he doesn't want to do something.  Its all about "I do it" or "I not" these days.  Out of sheer desperation of going completely bonkers if I heard "I not" one more time, I taught him to say "no thanks" or in his words "no tanks."  This age is so extremely taxing on my patience and then to add being a pregnant mess on top of it sure makes for just a few runny nosed, mascara shmeared, snort in laughter at how ridiculous I am, sob sessions.

Church the last couple weeks has been somewhat of an embarrassment.  He is quite vocal when he doesn't want to do something, which isn't so great when its supposed to be a quiet place of reflection and worship.  Last Sunday, I was so hot I thought I was going to pass out.  Twodles didn't make things any cooler, insisting that only I hold him, or when he attempted to use my blimp-like body as his personal play place.  Then add a little thing I will forever more think of as pregnant torture...carpal tunnel syndrome!  I felt like Jennifer Garner on Alias being tortured by some KGB member.  I couldn't say or do anything given where I was, but I literally wanted to stand up and run out of the chapel screaming and crying.

I was bombarded by wacky thoughts like, "I can't stand my 'rotten' child right now, I just want him to disappear!"..."My husband has NO IDEA what I am going through!"..."I can't complain because then Mr. Medic will never consent to another child again!"..."I can't do this for 4 more weeks!" (the last one isn't so wacky, its totally legit)  Then just as the service ended and I thought I was spared an embarrassing scene of insanity, I began to bawl!  Darn it all, I couldn't hold it in any longer.

No sooner, I get "the look" from Mr. Medic.  Every woman knows what I'm talking about.  You don't even have to have been pregnant to know.  It comes when any type of unexplained emotion is manifest and he JUST DOESN'T GET IT!  The look of "what on earth is wrong with you, and where is my wife?"  Thankfully "the look" was followed by complete love and compassion.  But you know that didn't matter much, because I felt like a complete mess.  I tried to explain how I was feeling without succumbing to a total fit of hysteria.  But to be honest I was feeling guilty for my wacky thoughts.

After taking the remaining time at church to chill, I came home feeling a bit better.  I was blessed to have my eyes opened to some of the wonderfully cute things that Twodles does and it made me appreciate him, and being a mommy a little better, rather than sulking in pregnant hormonal resentment.

I CAN DO IT!  There is so much good that comes from the hard parts of being a mom.  Here are some of the great things that Twodles is doing that are my tender mercies and snap me back to reality...

Twodles got on a bike kick for a bit there.  I got the idea to teach him to tell Daddy that he wanted a bike.  I quickly changed my tactics and taught him to say "Daddy, I need a bike!"  Twodles recited his line when Daddy got home from work without a problem.  This is what we found, but our little guy is kinda a shrimp and still can't quite reach the ground. 

He's learning all sorts of "boy" things like playing with his "guys" and making what I'm guessing to be shooting noises. (The bandana is compliments of Uncle Kendall.  Twodles loves wearing it.)

Getting in some practice at taking his clothes off all by himself.  I have NO clue how he got this way!

So excited to show me that he put his shoes on all by himself!  

We worked on sorting beans.  He was pretty darn good at it and was excited to say "cheese" for the picture!

Spending time with Daddy just chillin' which doesn't happen too often.

Prime example of  my child's OBSESSION with vacuums!

The SUPER unusual cuddle time with momma!

Working on hand coordination.  

He knows quite a few words.  He gets his smarts from his Daddy.

Again, learning to do "boy" things!

One day I noticed him rolling his arms, and then it clicked that he must have learned it in nursery at church...so cute!  

Waking up from a nap happy!

This one is quite long so I don't blame you if you don't even watch it, but he sure does surprise me with the new words he picks up every time we read together.

I really do love being a momma to this cute little boy, and can't wait to add one more to the bunch.  Mr. Cooper will surly bring more trying times.  But even better, more of those sweet reassurances that all the hard stuff is totally worth it!


SO.....help me out here:

What are some of your tips for dealing with tantrums, keeping your cool when your about to lose it, and ideas to keep kids as reverent as possible during church?