The Polar Express Miracle

We have a family in our ward who had a chimney fire

a week ago.  No one was hurt but the house

requires a lot of fixes before they can go back.

Their insurance has been pretty good to them

and they are in a motel now and will be until

the day after Christmas when they will

move into a rental until their house is repaired.  

They have three children (4,6,and 9) who

have about had it with a small motel room.

Terry, the mom, has been trying to 

keep things as normal as possible.

Today she came to church and we all

gathered around to hear her story.

She said it took everything she had

to come to church today.  (She came

in jeans because they have a limited

amount of clothes right now.)

One sister, Jennifer, was really concerned

about Terry and her family and offered

do to anything for her.  She offered her own

children's clothes and toys.  Terry said thank you

but it would add to the confusion right now.

As Jennifer started to leave for her class

she had a thought and asked Terry if she

could give her one of the books that her

children had brought to church.  Again,

Terry, said no thank you.  But Jennifer  just

felt like giving her a book.  So she pulled

 The Polar Express out of her bag and

asked Terry to please take it.

Terry looked at it and just began to cry.  She said this is the

book that her children love to have her

read to them at Christmas time.   She had been unable to

find it in the piles of stuff from the fire and

she had been to all the local stores looking for

a new one.  She had felt it would be the one

thing that would seem normal to them at this time.

The other side of this story is that Jennifer came

to church early today to practice for the Christmas

program.  She asked her girls to bring some things

to do while she practiced.  They grabbed the  The Polar Express.

  Jennifer had just purchased it.

She said she wasn't sure why she thought to buy it

because her family already had the book at home.  

Then it ended up at church with her girls bag

of things to do.

There are no coincidences.  Even The Polar Express

is important to God.  Especially when a young mother

needs to know that he loves her and things will be all right.

  

Yet in the dark streets shineth the every lasting light

I am the light and life of the world.

3 Nephi 11:11                                 

"Here in the midst of war, raging and roaring over all the lands and seas, creeping nearer to our hearts and homes, here, amid all the tumult, we have tonight the peace of the spirit in each cottage home and in every generous heart . . . Here, then for one night only each home . . . should be a brightly-lighted island of happiness and peace."

Winston Churchill, December 24th, 1941

White House 

I love this part of his speech.  As families consider their

tender relationships this week, it is consoling to know

that each cottage home can be a brightly-lighted island

of happiness and peace.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: 
Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

The events in Connecticut have saddened and scared

us all.  It's likely that events like this will

continue unless and until we seek the light and life of the world.

Him whose birth is celebrated this month.  Until then

we are on our own. The babe born in Bethlehem calls to us

to come and follow him.  

Yet in the dark streets shineth the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years 

are met in thee tonight.

Rockwell Michael Brooks

I am always amazed at the perfection 

in a new born baby.  All the working parts.

And those eyes. . . when they open

it is like being present for a miracle.

I spent some time with Lee and her

family.  Just helping out a bit.  It was

so sweet to see Lee fall in love with this

little boy.  

Something about you blossoms when

you hold a your baby in your arms.

The bud is always there but the

sunshine is the baby.  It only takes

a short time and you are forever 

changed.  There is no going back.

And you don't want to!

Welcome, Rockwell!  

We're so glad to have you in the family!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

These are the perfect pictures to say that

the snow has finally come.  The snow was

pretty by itself but the sunset as a back

drop is amazing.

I love the angle of the sun this time of year.

It is part of the Christmas atmosphere.  

I didn't notice it so much growing up.

It was after we moved into this home that

I noticed it and the feeling it brings.

 It is just comforting.

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.

David and I made a major departure from our 

Christmas traditions this year. . . . We went to

Lowe's and bought an artificial tree.  We had a

Monday afternoon set aside to buy a permit

and make our annual hunt for a live tree.

But we just couldn't get ourselves out the door

in time to get it all done.  I suggested we go and

buy one and I was shocked when he said that

might be a good idea.

It is so pretty.  I love that I can manipulate

the branches to accommodate my ornaments.

It is flocked and looks really pretty when

the lights are on.  And a good thing is: no

major clean up!  By the end of the season

I have a ton of needles to clean up and what

didn't come off while it was upright are

pulled off when I drag it out the door.

The only down side is I miss the smell of

a live tree.  But that is what candles are for!!

 I made this tree skirt.  It is actually a skirt I

bought from St. Vincent's.  I was going to

alter it for myself but with a little thought

I was able to make it into a tree skirt.

I don't know what it says about David and

me....fake tree and all but he is still him and

I am still me and it is still Christmas.

The Old Underwood Typewriter

A method hoarders can use to clean up their stuff is to take pictures of things that have special meaning and then throwing away those things.  

I’m not a hoarder.  Well – not yet, anyways!  But I keep finding things that are taking up space that have no real purpose.  So enter this typewriter.

It is in the trash can tonight.  I used the therapy advised to hoarders and took a picture and then threw it away.  I feel a bit guilty about it.  But then I tend to feel more guilt at night.  Ask me tomorrow.

This was my mom’s typewriter.  OK, I am really feeling bad now.  I think she brought into her marriage to my dad.  She gave it to us kids to play with because she got new IBM typewriter.  I ended up with it. 

My kids played with it some but think about it….a typewriter or a computer….which one would you play with?

In memory of the typewriter I will tell a story.  

One summer night when I was about 8 years old  our dog was growling at something in the front yard.  My sister, Lynne, was taking care of Jeff and me.  She told us not to go outside…..fat chance.  We all went and looked in the direction of our dog’s nose and saw a bear…up on it’s hind legs and coming towards us.  We screamed, called the dog, and ran into the house.  Lynne called my Uncle Joe, who lived about 150 yards away down the hill.

He ran up the hill and when he came to our door he called us a bunch of dumb kids.  He said he was sure he saw a horse run from our front lawn.  So we went back into the house.  But we knew what we had seen and, at least, we had the dog in now.  

Lynne was trying to calm us down and suggested we play a board game.  We sat on the fireplace hearth as far away from the front door as possible.  She picked the up the poker and sat Jeff on one side of her and me on the other.  We stayed that way until Mom came home. 

Whether she believed our story I don’t remember. I do remember the next morning that I saw the typewriter on the kitchen table so I hurried and found some paper and started typing over and over again….. “it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen”.

So goodbye typewriter and thanks for being my friend.

The Mother In You

I saw this picture on Pinterest. It was a cross section of a pregnant woman.  It was amazing.  New life developing within a mother!  And a mother’s body adapting as best it can to accommodate.

It is no easy task.  We only see the external expansion.  There is so much going on in the inside.  It really struck me that a great sacrifice is made each time a woman conceives.  She leaves behind all that is normal.  Her body and her emotions are stretched to their limits…literally.

And once that baby is born there is another adapting to a new normal.  Here is a new person.  He or she is the new member of a family. Within hours a love is developed that will last through the eternities.

For my daughters and daughters-in-law I want to say I love you and admire you.  In a world of selfishness and personal desire you have not adopted the ways of the world.  You  have stayed true to the mother in you.  God bless you everyone.

There are no coincidences.

My brother, Jeff, called me the other day and said he had a story to tell me. 

He was driving home from Heber and when he almost home he suddenly had a thought to stop at a mechanic shop and talk to this guy he knows about his car.  He had to act fast as the turn was right now!  He just about rolled his car making the turn.

He got out of his car and went into the garage and the owner was gone but a younger man was there.  Jeff told him what he needed and as he turned to leave the other man turned to go back into his shop.  Jeff noticed his back pocket and the worn circle from a tobacco can.

Now you have to know that Jeff chewed tobacco for the better part of his life.  He quit 16 years ago.  I may have written about this before.  But I need to mention that Jeff’s habit was life altering….for him and his family.  And it was a hard habit to break.  So, to finish the story it is important to state that Jeff is an ambassador for breaking the habit.

Well, he asked the man what type of “chew”  he used.  This startled the man and he turned around.  Jeff told him that he once chewed and that it was a nasty habit and hard to break.  

He didn’t know this guy but from their conversation he started to piece together that he was LDS because he mentioned something about his “almost 8 year old daughter”.  Jeff then said to him that he quit because his then 7 ½ year old daughter came to him and said she was going to be baptized and pointing to Jeff told him that she wanted him to baptize her.  He man said that his daughter had said as much to him.

Then the man asked Jeff what his name was. Jeff Brewer he told the man.  Then the man asked him if he knew Bob Genet.  Yes, Jeff knows Bob.  The man said that Bob was his Bishop and he had told this young man to give a Jeff Brewer a call (about chewing Tobacco).  They were both a little dumb founded.  Jeff asked him if he knew a Ryan Brewer.  He did.  He is the ward clerk in Bob Genet’s ward and he lives 3 houses down from the young man.

All of a sudden it became very clear to this young man that God knows him personally.  And Jeff was amazed that what he thought was a stop about a car was really a stop about a young father in need of encouragement and understanding. 

They parted ways but Jeff told him he would be back.  And he will.

Every now and then Jeff calls me with a story like this.  I love them.  I love that Jeff is an instrument in God’s hands.  For so many years Jeff hid from church because he chewed tobacco. He told me once that he avoided driving by churchs on Sundays.  He knew he needed to be there.

Well now he is there….every Sunday.  And he is other places…..like mechanic shops in Linden, AZ.