Hi family!
I haven’t written in forever…I’m sorry! I don’t think I have written in the BAWB since I starting dating you know who. However, I do think I have talked to each of you since I started dating him…like when I kissed him. I should make it a habit of doing something exciting like that all the time because it gave me an excuse to call each of you! I am so grateful we are a family and am grateful we are all friends. Can you imagine being in a family where people didn’t get a long? That would be miserable. Even though Nick still tries to tease me…it just doesn’t work because I know how to handle it and it doesn’t make me as mad as it once did, so then it back-fires on him (I kind of think I might regret that because now he is going to try and think of some way to get me when I bring Aaron to meet the fam…and I haven’t learned how to handle that kind of teasing…be nice Nick!) I am so excited for Nick and Stef to be able to move into a place they can call their own. I am anxious to hear how the house hunting went this weekend. I am so sad that they are moving…but it now gives us an excellent excuse to visit St. George often! Blaine and Kris…I defiantly wished you two lived closer and I would visit you guys more often. Rose…if you could just move a little bit closer too, that would make life so much easier. J Max…I am sooooooooooo excited to come and live with you this summer. You may not believe this, but I often miss you and just want to hang out with you. It was so fun to just be with you while Mom and Dad went to Spain. Seriously, think about all the crazy stuff we did…let’s see….hmmm….you joined facebook, that’s pretty crazy! Mom and Dad, I couldn’t live any further or I don’t think I could handle my life. Okay, I probably could; but, I am so grateful to live so close to home and to have enough money where I feel like I can afford the gas it takes to go home as often as I do. I usually need “a breather” about once a week, and home is the perfect remedy. Thanks for being so welcoming when I come home!
Well, enough about everyone else, what’s new with me you ask? Not much. :)
Actually, life really has been pretty much the same, it is what is coming up that is exciting! I am getting married! Ha ha, just kidding. I am very far from that and am not sure what will happen with Aaron and I over the summer. If you ever want details on that subject, please feel free to call or email me and I will give you the update as to how I feel about him and the whole situation. I don’t really want to put anything here because this isn’t a private blog for just our family. Just know that I think he is an amazing guy. I am moving home (which as I stated earlier, I am very excited for). You might ask “Jane, when do you plan on growing up?” I would reply, “I love home, home loves me, and we are a happy family!” Who knows how long I will be able to live at home, so while I still feel like I’m not too old to move home for the summer, I am going to take advantage of that wonderful blessing!) I am planning on taking Spring classes at the BYU Salt Lake center (I’ve heard it is easier, so hopefully that is true.) I am taking Math 110 to help prep me for the GRE and then my last general class, Advanced English Writing…uugh. I will work part time at Smart Cookie and then when school ends in June I should be able to go full-time. I talked to my boss yesterday and things could be a little bit different than I was planning on…but it should be really exciting. I will keep you posted as to what is going to happen in the “work” area of my life (a little suspense never hurt anybody!)
The day after my first day of spring classes, I am going with three of my friends to California to go to Disneyland!!!!!! I am so excited. I haven’t really ever done a friend trip and I am super excited. Actually, that is a lie, we went down to St. George for a little Spring Break a few weekends ago, and that was really fun, but I will give those details in a second. We will leave on a Wednesday, drive all day, play all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then come home Sunday (and of course we will go to church.) I will only miss one day of classes…so hopefully that won’t shoot the whole term down the drain! We are planning on going to the beach and San Diego Temple one day; Disneyland another; and some wild animal zoo or something the other. It should be different than any other trip I have taken, but also lots of fun! Two of the girls I am going with both lived in California for a number of years when they were younger, so they have lots of friends that we can stay with. Megan Hutchinson also lives out there, so I will probably give her a call and see if we can stay a night there! It’s her Mom’s condo and Meg lives there by herself…so I am thinking this place is nice and that she has lots of room. Plus, who wouldn’t want to spend time with energetic Megan!
Let’s see….oh, the trip down to St. George. That was just what I needed. Marg and Gwen are given a full week spring break, so a few weeks ago they went down to the St. George house with a bunch of their friends. Rosey, Amber, Jamie (Amber’s cousin) and I went down at 10 on a Thursday night (you can do that when you are in college.) It was so much fun! I got to sleep in the Master Bedroom which was a dream come true. Every morning you get to wake up and look outside at the beautiful St. George scenery (I guess I get to do that when I sleep on the couch, but for some reason it is even more amazing when you are in the master bedroom.) That also meant I got to use the Master Bathroom too. Such small things can really make a girl happy! J We went to Sand Hollow one day (we were the only one’s there as it was still almost too cold to go tanning.) The water was freezing, but some of the girls made their way out on the little rafts. I just sat on the shore and tried not to freeze as we got tan. That night we watched a movie, made dinner, and of course had ice cream and brownies. On Saturday, we went to the swimming pool and again worked on our tan. We cleaned the house because Marg and Gwen and their friends were leaving that night. Rose, Am, Jamie and I stayed until Sunday afternoon. Once the first group of girls left, I went to Aaron’s house to meet his family and hang out. It was fun because although I was meeting his family, Aaron’s roommates also came down for the weekend which made it seem a little less official…and I love all his roommates. I loved his family and his house! We ate dinner and watched a movie that night. On Sunday I went to church with his family…fun! I loved the whole weekend and was grateful to have a little break (I still don’t get why BYU doesn’t do a spring break. All we need is like two days off and it rejuvenates us so much!)
Other than that, life is great. I am getting excited and nervous to have to think a little bit more about graduate school. It should be a good experience…and I just pray I can do well on the GRE and in the rest of my classes so I can at least get into grad school somewhere. I would love to go here…but it is really competitive. Miracles happen though!
I love you all! Sorry this is so long, that’s what happens when I don’t write in a long time!
Jane
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
"Crazy Sunday" (max)
Hey happy family!
Let me tell you a little bit about what I did today on this wonderful sunday :)
I woke up at 7:00 to finish up my talk that I was going to give in church. I worked on that and then at 9:00, I went to choir. After choir I came home, ate breakfast and then headed over to church at 10:30 to play prelude on organ for sacrament meeting. In sacrament, I played the organ, gave a talk, and sang a song with the choir. I've never been so nervous for sacrament meeting. After church I went to B.Y.C. and gave the sacrament to sister Nettles. Other than
that, I had a pretty normal day.
Well there you have it, my "Crazy Sunday."
Love you all,
Max
Let me tell you a little bit about what I did today on this wonderful sunday :)
I woke up at 7:00 to finish up my talk that I was going to give in church. I worked on that and then at 9:00, I went to choir. After choir I came home, ate breakfast and then headed over to church at 10:30 to play prelude on organ for sacrament meeting. In sacrament, I played the organ, gave a talk, and sang a song with the choir. I've never been so nervous for sacrament meeting. After church I went to B.Y.C. and gave the sacrament to sister Nettles. Other than
that, I had a pretty normal day.
Well there you have it, my "Crazy Sunday."
Love you all,
Max
Monday, March 9, 2009
Stake Conference - March 09 (Dad)
Hi Family -
I just thought I'd give you a quick recap of our stake conference. It is always a major event in my life but even more so when we have a visiting authority.
This conference we were presided over by Elder Dale G Renlund, an area authority. As a quick sidenote, Elder Renlund has been an Area Seventy for 9 years. That's about 3x as long as a 'standard' area seventy. My suspicion is that we will see him as a traveling authority, even an apostle, one day. But for now, he is working as a cardiologist saving lives, and his wife is a partner in a law firm. And that pulling them out of the public sector would be a challenge for them at this time. But the brethren take advantage of Elder Renlund while he is here. He visits 1-2 stake conferences a month, and has been driving the YSA program from it's inception.
As well as working on a number of projects for the brethren.
Elder Renlund sent me a thorough document describing EXACTLY how he wanted conference to go. Starting with documents to be prepared through who was to attend every meeting.
So mom and I met w/ Elder Renlund and his Wife (Ruth) last Sunday. Just a couple of days after our trip. They came, and we visited about the family, our callings, concerns we had, etc. And then they left. It was a nice ice breaker so that this week of conference I didn't have to die a thousand deaths waiting for conference to start.
Friday was our temple day. We had about 30 people working in the temple all day. Then we had about 20-30 more show up in the evening for our Chapel Meeting. We've had bigger groups, but were grateful for those who came. I conducted and then spoke. Afterwhich President and Sister Chamberlain spoke after I spoke. Then Mom and I were the witness couple which is always a special experience.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/principles-in-temple.html
Saturday we had our priesthood leadership meeting. The Stake Presidency spoke, and then Elder Renlund had each of the Elder's Quorum Presidents come up on the stand, and ask him a question, or state a principle. After each question and principle, he would call on one of us in the presidency to answer the question, or he would expound himself. Other than being somewhat nervous to get a question I couldn't answer well, I felt that it went very very well. My talk was on money management.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/money-management_09.html
After Priesthood leadership, we had a dinner for the visiting authority & wife, SP/wives, all the Bishops/wives, Patriarch/Wife. The STake Relief Society prepared a lovely chicken dinner which their husbands/children served. It was lovely. Elder Renlund asked mom to give some advise to the sisters (which she did a great job on) then Sis Renlund spoke, finally, Elder Renlund, thanked the Bishops on behalf of the first presidency.
We then went into the Adult Session. It was almost magical. We asked 3 converts to church to tell their story. The spirit was just overwhelming after their very different yet equally motivating stories. Then Pres Nielsen spoke on Fasting. Then Elder Renlund had us call on 3 people to come up for testimonies. All 3 did a fabulous job. Then he and Sister Renlund spoke.
Sunday Morning session went flawlessly. I conducted, we had a wonderful choir, The entire SP spoke, and we had an auxilary leader speak about strengthening families. We then called 2 people up from congregation to bear testimony. Both were spectacular. Then Elder and Sister REnlund both spoke. Sister REnlund's talk was particularly powerful. She talked about crabs, and that to catch them, you just put chicken necks as bait, and the crabs climb onto the flat net and hold onto it...not realizing that the net (and their death) is rising. When they finally realize that they are being caught, it's too late, a net comes sweeping down and grabs them. She then compared that to all of us (esp youth). Satan fills world with chicken necks. And all we ahve to do is let go. But we don't. So she says, "If I was going to write a book to warn young crabs, I'd call it 'for the strenght of young crabs' and tell them all about the whole chicken neck thing." It wss great. My talk took a lot from Blaine's talk, Ashleigh's email, and a lot of familiar stories.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/cycle-of-happiness-believe-love-obey_09.html
I cam home and had a 2 hour nap. Then we went to grandma's for Bassett 2nd Sunday. It was a great day.
Loves
I just thought I'd give you a quick recap of our stake conference. It is always a major event in my life but even more so when we have a visiting authority.
This conference we were presided over by Elder Dale G Renlund, an area authority. As a quick sidenote, Elder Renlund has been an Area Seventy for 9 years. That's about 3x as long as a 'standard' area seventy. My suspicion is that we will see him as a traveling authority, even an apostle, one day. But for now, he is working as a cardiologist saving lives, and his wife is a partner in a law firm. And that pulling them out of the public sector would be a challenge for them at this time. But the brethren take advantage of Elder Renlund while he is here. He visits 1-2 stake conferences a month, and has been driving the YSA program from it's inception.
As well as working on a number of projects for the brethren.
Elder Renlund sent me a thorough document describing EXACTLY how he wanted conference to go. Starting with documents to be prepared through who was to attend every meeting.
So mom and I met w/ Elder Renlund and his Wife (Ruth) last Sunday. Just a couple of days after our trip. They came, and we visited about the family, our callings, concerns we had, etc. And then they left. It was a nice ice breaker so that this week of conference I didn't have to die a thousand deaths waiting for conference to start.
Friday was our temple day. We had about 30 people working in the temple all day. Then we had about 20-30 more show up in the evening for our Chapel Meeting. We've had bigger groups, but were grateful for those who came. I conducted and then spoke. Afterwhich President and Sister Chamberlain spoke after I spoke. Then Mom and I were the witness couple which is always a special experience.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/principles-in-temple.html
Saturday we had our priesthood leadership meeting. The Stake Presidency spoke, and then Elder Renlund had each of the Elder's Quorum Presidents come up on the stand, and ask him a question, or state a principle. After each question and principle, he would call on one of us in the presidency to answer the question, or he would expound himself. Other than being somewhat nervous to get a question I couldn't answer well, I felt that it went very very well. My talk was on money management.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/money-management_09.html
After Priesthood leadership, we had a dinner for the visiting authority & wife, SP/wives, all the Bishops/wives, Patriarch/Wife. The STake Relief Society prepared a lovely chicken dinner which their husbands/children served. It was lovely. Elder Renlund asked mom to give some advise to the sisters (which she did a great job on) then Sis Renlund spoke, finally, Elder Renlund, thanked the Bishops on behalf of the first presidency.
We then went into the Adult Session. It was almost magical. We asked 3 converts to church to tell their story. The spirit was just overwhelming after their very different yet equally motivating stories. Then Pres Nielsen spoke on Fasting. Then Elder Renlund had us call on 3 people to come up for testimonies. All 3 did a fabulous job. Then he and Sister Renlund spoke.
Sunday Morning session went flawlessly. I conducted, we had a wonderful choir, The entire SP spoke, and we had an auxilary leader speak about strengthening families. We then called 2 people up from congregation to bear testimony. Both were spectacular. Then Elder and Sister REnlund both spoke. Sister REnlund's talk was particularly powerful. She talked about crabs, and that to catch them, you just put chicken necks as bait, and the crabs climb onto the flat net and hold onto it...not realizing that the net (and their death) is rising. When they finally realize that they are being caught, it's too late, a net comes sweeping down and grabs them. She then compared that to all of us (esp youth). Satan fills world with chicken necks. And all we ahve to do is let go. But we don't. So she says, "If I was going to write a book to warn young crabs, I'd call it 'for the strenght of young crabs' and tell them all about the whole chicken neck thing." It wss great. My talk took a lot from Blaine's talk, Ashleigh's email, and a lot of familiar stories.
http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2009/03/cycle-of-happiness-believe-love-obey_09.html
I cam home and had a 2 hour nap. Then we went to grandma's for Bassett 2nd Sunday. It was a great day.
Loves
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Stake Conference (mom)
Dear Family,
It is late and we lose an hour tonight going on Daylight Savings, but since I am waiting for dad to come upstairs for bed, and kids to come home, why not write? Today began Stake Conference. Well maybe it began last night with our stake temple session, complete with a chapel meeting where dad spoke before an endowment session. Today Dad has been at the stake center since 2 pm. There was a 4-6 pm Priesthood Leadership, then dinner with the stake presidency, bishops and their wives from 6-7 pm and then the stake adult meeting from 7-9 pm. We have a visiting authority, Elder Dale Rendlend and his lovely wife Ruth. (Who looks a lot like Meg Ryan but is an attorney) Elder Rendlend is a Cardiologist. Amazing couple. So it has been a great day. Dad spoke in the Priesthood Leadership about finances and budgeting and he speaks again in the general session tomorrow morning. He is downstairs now working on his talk. As you all know, a talk is never done for dad until the time of the actual meeting comes. He starts weeks, even months ahead and then changes and rewrites, adds and subtracts, down until the time arrives. It will be great I am sure. Elder Rendlend was kind at the dinner to tell me how great dad's priesthood talk was - just perfect he said! It is a blessing to rub shoulders with stalwarts in the church and hear their insights. It is also wonderful to get to know our stake members better. Our Stake focus this year is missionary work and in tonight's meeting we had three stake members share their conversion story and testimony. They were all unique and so inspiring. We have a brother from the Congo who was the first in his country to join the church! Then, before the rest song, three people were called on to bear their testimonies. That wakes everyone up! So it was great day and we look forward to tomorrow.
Other events - our 14 year-old washer died yesterday and we learned is beyond repair. Bummer. I am not in the mood to buy a new washer - too many choices. I shopped today and got even more confused.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this past week Nancy and I fed 70 teachers at Valley Jr. High before parent/teacher conferences. That went well and is good to have over.
On Thursday I went to the hospital with grandma Bassett for an outpatient procedure. She had her heart "jump started" to see if it could correct her irregular heart beats. I drove her home and she showed me where Jill and Kyle are purchasing a home in the neighborhood north of her. Then I helped her clean. Unfortunately her heart is fibriliating again today so the procedure didn't help.
On a sad note, Janalee Wynn's mother passed away on Thursday night. Her dad is still alive and is in poor health and everyone thought he would go first. Her mother was healthy so this was quite a shock. She died of a stroke. We are wondering what we can do for them.
Max played the organ for the first time in sacrament meeting last week. He did a great job and I was so pleased for him. He played at a baptism this morning (that we forgot about and had to be called and reminded at the last minute and went zooming in to very rushed - then the songs were different than what we had been told.) But he did great again. I am so thankful that Max loves the piano and is willing to share his talent.
Thanks to Stef, Janey, Rosey, Jeff and Max who all went to Lorie and Manny's wedding openhouse tonight in Spanish Fork. We heard it was fun and unique. We were so sorry to miss it.
I leave for Texas on Tuesday, March 10 for a week. I can't wait. I have been dreaming about Ivy.
Love, Mom
It is late and we lose an hour tonight going on Daylight Savings, but since I am waiting for dad to come upstairs for bed, and kids to come home, why not write? Today began Stake Conference. Well maybe it began last night with our stake temple session, complete with a chapel meeting where dad spoke before an endowment session. Today Dad has been at the stake center since 2 pm. There was a 4-6 pm Priesthood Leadership, then dinner with the stake presidency, bishops and their wives from 6-7 pm and then the stake adult meeting from 7-9 pm. We have a visiting authority, Elder Dale Rendlend and his lovely wife Ruth. (Who looks a lot like Meg Ryan but is an attorney) Elder Rendlend is a Cardiologist. Amazing couple. So it has been a great day. Dad spoke in the Priesthood Leadership about finances and budgeting and he speaks again in the general session tomorrow morning. He is downstairs now working on his talk. As you all know, a talk is never done for dad until the time of the actual meeting comes. He starts weeks, even months ahead and then changes and rewrites, adds and subtracts, down until the time arrives. It will be great I am sure. Elder Rendlend was kind at the dinner to tell me how great dad's priesthood talk was - just perfect he said! It is a blessing to rub shoulders with stalwarts in the church and hear their insights. It is also wonderful to get to know our stake members better. Our Stake focus this year is missionary work and in tonight's meeting we had three stake members share their conversion story and testimony. They were all unique and so inspiring. We have a brother from the Congo who was the first in his country to join the church! Then, before the rest song, three people were called on to bear their testimonies. That wakes everyone up! So it was great day and we look forward to tomorrow.
Other events - our 14 year-old washer died yesterday and we learned is beyond repair. Bummer. I am not in the mood to buy a new washer - too many choices. I shopped today and got even more confused.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this past week Nancy and I fed 70 teachers at Valley Jr. High before parent/teacher conferences. That went well and is good to have over.
On Thursday I went to the hospital with grandma Bassett for an outpatient procedure. She had her heart "jump started" to see if it could correct her irregular heart beats. I drove her home and she showed me where Jill and Kyle are purchasing a home in the neighborhood north of her. Then I helped her clean. Unfortunately her heart is fibriliating again today so the procedure didn't help.
On a sad note, Janalee Wynn's mother passed away on Thursday night. Her dad is still alive and is in poor health and everyone thought he would go first. Her mother was healthy so this was quite a shock. She died of a stroke. We are wondering what we can do for them.
Max played the organ for the first time in sacrament meeting last week. He did a great job and I was so pleased for him. He played at a baptism this morning (that we forgot about and had to be called and reminded at the last minute and went zooming in to very rushed - then the songs were different than what we had been told.) But he did great again. I am so thankful that Max loves the piano and is willing to share his talent.
Thanks to Stef, Janey, Rosey, Jeff and Max who all went to Lorie and Manny's wedding openhouse tonight in Spanish Fork. We heard it was fun and unique. We were so sorry to miss it.
I leave for Texas on Tuesday, March 10 for a week. I can't wait. I have been dreaming about Ivy.
Love, Mom
Friday, March 6, 2009
That thine alms may be in secret...
So we had a special blessing the other day that is worth sharing. Plus I want to be done working for the day but I kind of want to stay in my seat in case anybody needs anything before the weekend or walks by and thinks that I'm taking off early. :) Plus I haven't written to the BAWB in forever and I feel really bad about that. So anyway, yeah, it's kind of the perfect storm and here I am!
The blessing. Yeah, as you may or may not know, I recently got a pay cut at work (not because of performance or anything, just because of the economy and all). It was substantial enough that we have had to take a close look at our finances and decide what can go so that we can continue to live comfortably. First on the chopping block: Gwen's preschool. Not that it was an easy decision. Gwen loves preschool and I think Kris loves sending her there even more. But really, it is kind of a luxury more than a necessity. And it is expensive--about $160 a month, plus Kris has to go help sometimes. Since we signed her up with the increase we got when I got a raise last year, it just made sense to take her out now that I basically went back down to what I was at before the raise. So Kristi made the call and we began "prepping" Gwen about that she only has x number of times to go back (she would finish March with our initial deposit and then be out).
Then the other day we got a call from the preschool. The aide was so excited she could barely contain herself: "I'm just so lucky to be the one to get to tell you this news! I just want you to know that God really loves you and he really loves Gwen. Someone has paid for Gwen to attend preschool for the rest of the year. She is paid in full! They have asked to remain anonymous and just wanted you to know that God loves you. And we are all just so excited because we all love Gwen and we're so excited that she gets to stay!" Etc. etc.
So isn't that nice?? We felt an intense gratitude. Kris even called me at work the second she heard and I even (kind of) broke out of my typical quiet, montonous "work voice" (ask Kristi what I'm talking about...) to receive the news. We have no idea who it could be that paid. We're not even sure who we had told that we were taking her out. For all we know it could have been one of you guys or it could have been Brian and Ralphie or a friend from the ward. It could have been Gwen's teacher or one of the aides or administrators at the school. It could have been the parents of one of Gwen's friends who feel like they are doing okay and want to lend a hand. It could be a generous friend of the school who has donated money to be used at the school's discretion for instances like this. Really, it could have been nearly anyone.
And that's exactly what is so great about it.
You all probably remember how I always spent my Christmas Eve before falling asleep. Every year I loved reading the George Durrant short story: "That Thine Alms May Be in Secret" about the man who has a secret service done for him and then spends the rest of his life trying to do something that big and that secret for someone else. I've always loved that story and that scripture: That thine alms may be in secret... But I don't know if I ever realized why secret service is so great--even better than public service.
It's because we don't know who did it, so we have to assume that everyone around us could have been the one. We have begun to look at everyone we know as our potential secret helper. And when you look at people that way it makes you love them and feel close to them. "I wonder if she could have done something like that for us. You know what, I bet she could. I could actually see her doing something like that. She is so awesome!"
The same concept is what makes secret evil the worst kind of evil. It's one thing when you see someone get caught shoplifting--tsk tsk. But they are flesh and blood and they will face the consequences. It's another thing when you see a dirty word spray painted on a wall. It makes your blood boil because you know that there won't be any temporal consequences for the offender. And worse you start looking at all the neighborhood kids, all these darn punks on the streets with their baggy pants and their shifty eyes. It could have been any one of them! And you begin to feel distanced from them, you judge them unfairly--a subtle form of hate. It was the same thing when I lost my wallet. I thought it had maybe fallen out of my pocket at work and so suddenly I was looking at all my co-workers and all the janitors and maintenance people: "I wonder if he could have done something like that. I wouldn't think so, but you know what, maybe he would! I don't know, maybe if no one was looking..." You get the point.
So let us get out there and serve and do good. Many times it will be impossible to do it in secret but when we get the chance to do one of our alms in secret, I hope we'll take that chance. Because we'll still get the credit for it from the person we're serving. Just everybody else will get credit too and so it just grows into a great situation for everybody.
The blessing. Yeah, as you may or may not know, I recently got a pay cut at work (not because of performance or anything, just because of the economy and all). It was substantial enough that we have had to take a close look at our finances and decide what can go so that we can continue to live comfortably. First on the chopping block: Gwen's preschool. Not that it was an easy decision. Gwen loves preschool and I think Kris loves sending her there even more. But really, it is kind of a luxury more than a necessity. And it is expensive--about $160 a month, plus Kris has to go help sometimes. Since we signed her up with the increase we got when I got a raise last year, it just made sense to take her out now that I basically went back down to what I was at before the raise. So Kristi made the call and we began "prepping" Gwen about that she only has x number of times to go back (she would finish March with our initial deposit and then be out).
Then the other day we got a call from the preschool. The aide was so excited she could barely contain herself: "I'm just so lucky to be the one to get to tell you this news! I just want you to know that God really loves you and he really loves Gwen. Someone has paid for Gwen to attend preschool for the rest of the year. She is paid in full! They have asked to remain anonymous and just wanted you to know that God loves you. And we are all just so excited because we all love Gwen and we're so excited that she gets to stay!" Etc. etc.
So isn't that nice?? We felt an intense gratitude. Kris even called me at work the second she heard and I even (kind of) broke out of my typical quiet, montonous "work voice" (ask Kristi what I'm talking about...) to receive the news. We have no idea who it could be that paid. We're not even sure who we had told that we were taking her out. For all we know it could have been one of you guys or it could have been Brian and Ralphie or a friend from the ward. It could have been Gwen's teacher or one of the aides or administrators at the school. It could have been the parents of one of Gwen's friends who feel like they are doing okay and want to lend a hand. It could be a generous friend of the school who has donated money to be used at the school's discretion for instances like this. Really, it could have been nearly anyone.
And that's exactly what is so great about it.
You all probably remember how I always spent my Christmas Eve before falling asleep. Every year I loved reading the George Durrant short story: "That Thine Alms May Be in Secret" about the man who has a secret service done for him and then spends the rest of his life trying to do something that big and that secret for someone else. I've always loved that story and that scripture: That thine alms may be in secret... But I don't know if I ever realized why secret service is so great--even better than public service.
It's because we don't know who did it, so we have to assume that everyone around us could have been the one. We have begun to look at everyone we know as our potential secret helper. And when you look at people that way it makes you love them and feel close to them. "I wonder if she could have done something like that for us. You know what, I bet she could. I could actually see her doing something like that. She is so awesome!"
The same concept is what makes secret evil the worst kind of evil. It's one thing when you see someone get caught shoplifting--tsk tsk. But they are flesh and blood and they will face the consequences. It's another thing when you see a dirty word spray painted on a wall. It makes your blood boil because you know that there won't be any temporal consequences for the offender. And worse you start looking at all the neighborhood kids, all these darn punks on the streets with their baggy pants and their shifty eyes. It could have been any one of them! And you begin to feel distanced from them, you judge them unfairly--a subtle form of hate. It was the same thing when I lost my wallet. I thought it had maybe fallen out of my pocket at work and so suddenly I was looking at all my co-workers and all the janitors and maintenance people: "I wonder if he could have done something like that. I wouldn't think so, but you know what, maybe he would! I don't know, maybe if no one was looking..." You get the point.
So let us get out there and serve and do good. Many times it will be impossible to do it in secret but when we get the chance to do one of our alms in secret, I hope we'll take that chance. Because we'll still get the credit for it from the person we're serving. Just everybody else will get credit too and so it just grows into a great situation for everybody.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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