I love general conference weekend. It fills me up and rejuvenates me. There is something so comforting and inspiring about hearing words directly sent from our Heavenly Father. I enjoy all 8 hours.
We started it off with our traditional conference crepes. I bought a bag of oranges to make an orange julius with but didn't realize they were blood oranges. Actually, I didn't even know such a thing existed. So when I sliced my first one open I was a bit confused/disgusted. They are named well, they look like some sort of body organ. To be honest I almost threw it away just on looks alone, but the practical side of me won... so I made Chris try them. :) Once he assured me they didn't have an iron after taste I also gave them a try. To be honest they aren't bad, they aren't my favorite either. They taste a lot like a grapefruit, they also made my orange julius more of a red julius.
We spent a little time painting nails
and toes.
Every time I look at her I wonder when she grew up so much.
Life has been a little hard lately. We are blessed immensely and I don't want to seem ungrateful for those blessings. I am constantly overwhelmed with love and gratitude to my Heavenly Father for all that he has blessed me with. But as in everyone's life, hard times come. We have hit lots of set backs and road blocks in our final stint to graduation. June has been the expected graduation date for a long time but as that time has grown closer it has become more clear that we would not meet that deadline. That has been a hard pill to swallow. Chris has worked so hard and put so much heart and soul into this final effort to finish and it just seems like everything that could go wrong has.It is hard when you feel like you are doing all you can do and it still isn't enough. I am a bit ashamed to say it but my faith has given way to fear often as of late. I have shed many tears and asked "why?". The Friday before conference we had an especially bad night. I had spent the week in Saint George so Chris could work crazy hours and make some serious progress on his paper that needs to be published in order for us to start getting job offers. The week didn't go as planned for Chris and by the time I came home on Friday he wasn't much further than he the week before. We were disappointed to say the least and Satan took advantage of our fears in that moment to make sure we felt especially hopeless. By the time midnight came around Chris was banging his head on walls and doubting his ability while I laid on the kitchen floor and cried. (It was a pitiful sight)
Enter Conference weekend--
Isn't it incredible how aware our Heavenly Father is of our needs? He truly is in the details of our lives. He is ever ready to comfort, to counsel, and to send solace to our souls. The first session of Conference on Saturday seemed to have been written just for us. Again tears filled my eyes but this time for a completely different reason. I was reminded that we aren't alone, there is a plan and help is only a prayer away. On top of that we had another tender mercy and Chris's dad came up Sunday morning and gave Chris and me beautiful priesthood blessings of promise, peace, and reassurance.
The funny things is that things haven't changed much. We are still in the same situation, facing the same problems. But somehow they just don't seem so insurmountable. We know we are in the final months. We know things are going to work out. We know that when the time comes a way will be cleared a job will be presented and we will be exactly where we were suppose to be all along. As our faith has been strengthened our fear has ebbed away and peace has filled our hearts.
How grateful I am for the power of the priesthood. How grateful I am for a Father in law who is worthy of that priesthood and always willing to come at the drop of a hat when needed. How grateful I am for a Heavenly Father who is ever mindful of me and my needs. There is so much peace to be found in living the gospel principles. Obedience brings blessings, it always has and it always will.
So bring on the hard, because we are not alone. We never have been. These next few months are bound to be interesting, with bedrest, 3 kids, 6 papers, 20 experiments, a new baby, and mountains of "to-do's". But we will leave it all a little better, our faith will be strengthened and we will look back and be amazed at how Heavenly Fathers hand was guiding it all along.
Faith over fear folks.
xoxo-
me.
