Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
I am grateful for Sunday. I get a break from the grind of daily living; the kids don’t have activities; we go to church and are uplifted by talks and lessons. As a kid, I didn’t like Sundays at all! But as an adult, I have really come to appreciate the wise counsel from God to keep the sabbath day holy.
What a long day! Really, what made it long was driving 2 hours to Logan for Grey’s soccer game and then another 2 hours home. At least they won 5-2! Grey’s friend Jake rode up with us. We decided to stop in Ogden with the Gardners to have dinner at Maple Garden. We had great Chinese food; the boys had a great time being teenage boys; and I enjoyed getting to know Tom and Malisalee. It really made up for the long drive!
A resounding BYU football victory over Hawaii! After the last two games, it was nice to be able to relax during a game and just enjoy a blowout win!
Delicious smoothie after a great bike ride! (No, this is not the picture of the actual smoothie.)
Drama Theater – Samara, Russia
Nate Back received his mission call today – Samara, Russia! Of course, I am very excited for him to go to Russia. It made me think of the young men that I worked with as the deacon’s quorum adviser and scoutmaster that are now serving or soon will be serving as missionaries. I am grateful for their willingness to serve the Lord and set a good example for the young men that will follow.
I am grateful for “daily bread“; those things that help pay our bills for one more day.
Leyton Grove pavilion
I had a nice phone conversation with David Bagwell today. He called about some work I had done for him 10 years ago, and we ended up talking about family, faith, and a little bit of politics. I am very grateful for that day more than 17 years ago when Damian Vest and I made a cold call to David looking for summer work after returning from our LDS missions and before heading back to BYU. That led to good work that summer, full-time work in the future and relationship that will last a lifetime!
Today was the dedication of the Brigham City temple. We have been blessed to be able to attend 3 temple dedications in the last few years. It was a special experience and one I am grateful to have shared not only with Michelle, but with Greyson, Brook and Alyssa too.Here are some more pictures of the temple:
St. George Temple, St. George, Utah
I had an amazing experience today! Michelle and I drove to St. George because we were invited to attend the sealing of Olivia to her mom, Katrine, and her adopted dad, Brad Baker, in the St. George, Utah LDS temple. It’s always great to be in the temple, especially for a sealing. This was actually my first opportunity to be in a live ordinance where a child was being sealed to her parents. I was deeply impacted as I witnessed this special occasion. It struck me that this is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. We talk about it and we know it intellectually, but I was witnessing the goal of eternity – families sealed together! The Holy Ghost powerfully testified that this is essential to eternal life with our families and our Heavenly Father. I am profoundly grateful to have been in that sealing room today!
Brook’s soccer team won their first game this season tonight! Finally, the pieces came together and they were able to score multiple goals and hold off the opposing team. Congratulations Xtreme Heat!
Today was an off day. I spent the day in American Fork so that we could go to Grey’s soccer game in Ogden. We drove all that way and his team lost a 2-0 lead at halftime to end in a tie. The team’s play was a bit lackadaisical, one of the club directors coached as our coach had another game he had to be at so Greyson didn’t play much since the director doesn’t know him (he usually plays at least half the game), so it was a frustrating tie. We got home late, the kids were tired and they got to bed late. I’m having a hard time feeling grateful tonight. I’m realizing this is a lot harder than it initially seemed! (Notice that I missed Monday, September 17th all together.)
Today’s gratitude continues on the same lines as yeserday’s. I had an unexpected closing this afternoon in Sandy. (I’m always grateful for closings!) 4:15p closings in Salt Lake County mean that I end up driving home in rush hour traffic. With the I-15 construction in Utah County, traffic was especially bad from Pleasant Grove to Orem, so I decided to get off the freeway in American Fork and take State Street into Orem. As I pulled up to the light to make my left turn onto 800 North in Orem, I looked over at the car next to me and there were Michelle and the kids waving and smiling at me. Again, I am grateful for unexpected encounters with my family!
Yesterday, Michelle dropped the kids off at school and came back home (as opposed to staying in American Fork) until she had to go pick up the kids from school. Today, I ended up with a closing in Riverton, so on my way back to Provo, I called to see if she wanted to go to lunch. Nothing fancy, just Taco Bell. All the same, it was nice to be with her (and McKay) for lunch again. I’m grateful for the unexpected chances to be with my beautiful wife!
In place of our regular church meetings today, we had regional conference. It was broadcast from the Marriott Center at BYU and 146 stakes participated throughout Utah County and Wasatch County. Elder Dallin H. Oaks presided and there were various other general authorities and local leaders that spoke. The matron for the Mt. Timpanogas temple spoke about the ability of the temple to change our lives for the better. I am grateful to live close to multiple temples and am committing myself to more regular attendance.
I did my last triathlon of the season today. My target finish time was 1:30 and I finished in 1:30:07. I can live with 7 seconds off of my target. Overall, I my body felt really good today. The run is always the hardest part for me and today I am grateful for the 13-year old who ran with me for a while. (You can just see him on the right side of the picture above.) He distracted me and pushed me to increase my pace. Yes, in the end he left me behind, but I’m OK with that. I’m grateful that I am healthy enough to train and complete the race.
One of my favorite hymns is “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, by Robert Robinson. I feel like the lyrics express my own sentiments and, I would guess, can be identified with by many others. Here are the lyrics from the song sung by Freddie Ashby on the album Reflections of Christ (you can listen to it at http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org/multi_music.php):
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
I am doing a sprint triathlon tomorrow in St. George, and as I drove down to St. George today, I listened to this song. The part that really struck me today is in the last verse as it asks the Lord to bind our heart to Him, and then, we willingly giving our heart to Him. This reminded of the lesson I taught to the 17 and 18 year old youth in Sunday School last week. The humble followers of Christ were sanctified because they “yielded their hearts unto God” (Helaman 3:35).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell expounded upon this in General Conference in April 1985:
“It is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us. And if we truly trust God, why not yield to His loving omniscience? After all, He knows us and our possibilities much better than do we.”
I think this is the challenge of our earthly life. We are here to become like our Heavenly Father. Our heart is truly the one thing we have that we can give to Him. He has a plan for each of us and we must learn to trust Him and yield our heart to Him. His will is infinitely more important than our will as “He knows us and our possibilities much better than do we.”
So, today I am grateful for hymns of praise that touch my heart and remind me to “yield my heart to Him” and then He will “seal it for [His] courts above.”
Carpooling to Grey’s soccer game – 1 hour 45 minutes away; Jimmy Johns sandwiches for the car ride; great company for the boys and men. Thanks Johnny!
I am grateful for God’s Plan of Happiness. Life continues after death and we can live with our families for eternity. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Parkin family with the passing of their dad.
I am grateful for people who are willing to go out of their way to help out. Thanks, Jordan, even though I ended up not needing your help!
A great bike ride with the fall colors up South Fork in Provo Canyon
Mt. Timpanogas on the way back down South Fork.
