Peach Fuzz Halo

I wanted to get to this hours ago but didn't quite make it.  Now it is almost "tomorrow" and I hope I can remember everything I wanted to say.  : )  It's been kind-of a tough week with chemo's fun side effects (taste distortion, fatigue, neuropathy, body aches).  I haven't been on the computer much but I'm feeling better now and look forward to getting my yard weeded and the lawn mowed this week.

Two nights ago, upon close inspection of my head, I realized I have "peach fuzz"!  Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that things will soon get back to normal, that I will feel good again, and my hair will grow in.  It made me think about the incredible journey our family has been on in the last 6 months.  I say "incredible" because, though stressful, we have gained so much from the experience (D / C 122:7).  We have received so many blessings and have been the recipients of so much service (Mosiah 2:17).  I have learned so much that I could not have learned any other way.  I have felt undeniably that Heavenly Father knows who I am and loves me and my family.  He knows the struggles Mat and the kids have faced and has helped me know how to help them cope.  For that, I am thankful.

We had the opportunity this morning to attend a regional conference with 60 stakes in Davis and Weber County.  Many of you were in attendance and were uplifted by the amazing messages that were given.  I, personally, couldn't face fighting the traffic downtown, and the crowds, and the baby and all the necessary equipment to get through a 2 hour meeting.  Mat took the baby and went to his parents ward to hear his dad's Sunday School lesson.  I took the big kids and we drove to a stake center in Centerville to watch the broadcast.  I was so uplifted as I listened to Pres. Eyring's talk about the pioneer (whose name has escaped me) that settled in Farmington in 1865.  He was totally destitute and worked so hard to support and provide for his family.  He received so much kindness and service from other settlers to help him get through his first year in the valley.  After he got a modest house built and had crops ready to harvest, a fire destroyed everything and they had to start over.  He was not bitter, he was grateful that his family was OK.

I was so touched by this man's faith, testimony and perseverance.  We don't get to choose our trials or the outcomes, but we do get to choose how we react to them.  My friend, Kara, sent me a card this week with this quote:

Most obstacles melt away when we make up our

minds to walk boldly through them.   -Orson Swett Marden

When we rely on Heavenly Father, when we trust that it's OK if His plan is different from ours, when we have faith that we can get through anything we're handed in our lives, great things can come from our trials.  We aren't promised that He will take our troubles away and make our lives easy, but we are promised that we won't be given anything we can't handle (can't for the life of me think of the reference or the right words to search, in the BofM . . . can someone help?) and that He will lighten the burden and make it doable (Mosiah 24:14-15--I love this scripture!).  Of this, I am sure.

Brooklyn's latest interpretation of mom.  She makes me smile!