"Faith in God" is a Gift

I have a new calling in the Church. When I say new, I mean new. It was created out of a need. It seems the Faith in God award program for Primary children ages 8 - 12 needs some help. So our ward Primary presidency created a Faith in God Coordinator job and I’m it. One read through the Faith in God books, one for girls and one for boys, and I am hooked on this program. My mind is racing with ideas to help these precious children live these principles and receive their awards. I’m having a lot of fun with this, working with them, their parents, and leaders.

Now here’s a very fun side note. I was hoping to find a good example of a child who is really into working on the suggested activities, but had not mentioned it to anyone yet. And BAM! I open my email from our son in Wyoming, Paul, the father of six of our grandchildren, and here’s what he wrote (Kaylyn is his 10 year old daughter, Hailey age 4 and Jaxon age 2 are the two youngest):

“Your new calling sounds fun. Kaylyn, just last night got out her Faith in God book and did several of the requirements, she even led the song for family night. She did this all on her own. She told me this morning that she took Hailey and Jaxon on a walk yesterday afternoon and wondered if that counted as a service project. I told her that it certainly did, especially if she did it without being asked. She said that she did, so I told her to count it as a service project to help her mom.”

I was so pleased with this email that I had to call Kaylyn and tell her I was going to use her as an example to our Primary. Her response was so rewarding. She said, “I love working on my Faith in God. It’s fun!” Then she told me she was learning her Articles of Faith, which is part of the program. I said, “Okay, tell me one.” She rattled off the first one, then I said, “Now tell me the fourth one.” She thought a minute then recited it nearly perfectly. I congratulated her and said, “Will you call me each time you learn a new one and say it to me?” She was pretty excited about that and said, “Yes!”

It’s so rewarding when callings transfer into creating close relationships with your family. This calling is going to be fun for more reasons than one. Now I’m thinking of writing a song about it.

Nothing Like Being Grandma

This little girl, who used to climb in bed with me early in the mornings and kiss my cheeks all over when I would visit them, has somehow turned 18! Little Jade is all grown up. Talk about a “Sunrise, Sunset” moment, this is it. It happened too fast.

Jade and her four siblings live too far away. It should be against the law. Instead of flying to Oklahoma for her high school graduation we decided her gift from us would be a flight here for a one-on-one with Grandma and Grandpa. She was delighted— a chance to get away and be spoiled. With a number of fun-loving cousins here to enjoy from time to time (thank you, Rebecca, for coming just in time), she has had a ton of fun. As for me, I have cherished every moment with her since she lives so far away.

She loves the musicals and wanted to watch “Newsies” with me one afternoon. So, of course, we watched it. Now I know what heaven is—it’s Jade snuggled up next to me on the couch watching the DVD as she sings along with every, and I mean every, song. She knows them all. I loved every minute. When that’s over she has another idea. Grandpa walks in and she says, “Grandpa have you seen ‘The Princess and the Frog’? We hadn’t. “Oh, you just have to see it with me!” So off we go to Red Box, come home with the DVD, fix popcorn and the fun begins again. This time both grandparents enjoyed the fun of hearing her sing and wiggle in rhythm throughout this jazz-filled adorable movie. She’s right, it’s a good one. But would it be as good without her to watch as we watch it?

Another day she helps me with dinner and shares her testimony of Christ, and expresses her thanks for a great senior year of seminary. Could there be anyone more wonderful than her teacher Brother Torrie? I’ve never met him, but from all she says I think he must walk on water. He reached into her heart and wound the gospel firmly around it. And I love him for it.

Among the many activities we arranged, we gave her a fun party with Lundberg cousins, took walks around the Provo Temple, time at Perrys’ where Janice taught her the new song “He Loves Me” I wrote with Janice for our granddaughters, a shopping trip to Park City outlets with cousin EmmaLee, husband Brandon and baby Jaymz, baptisms with cousin Brooke at her favorite Oquirrh MountainTemple, a trip to Tami’s horse ranch, a piano concert with the Saunders clan to hear Aunt Delma play, a visit to beloved 89-year-old Aunt Fern, a couple of over-nighters here with cute-cousin Rebecca, and a fun double date arranged with and by yet another cute cousin, Melissa, who knew the prefect “righteous hottie” for her blind date. Jade said, “I like these Utah boys, they are so respectful and good, and they know how to have a fun time the right way, and they’re so cute. I think I want to marry one of them some day.” At this age, the grass is always greener away from home. She hopes to come to school out here after a year or two of college there. I’m in favor!

Just thinking about her flying back home brings tears to my eyes. I will miss her terribly. This gift for her has been a treasured gift for me. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for blessing us with grandchildren like Jade, and the 14 others whom we also adore and look forward to a spoiling on some special occasion for them. But for now I’m content to bask in the happy light of Jade’s incredibly fun visit.

Worth the Wait

I’m sitting in my office and looking once again at the decades-old photo of Gary and me. He’s so handsome in his Air Force uniform (of course, I’m not prejudice at all) and I’m smiling next to him, looking so young and wrinkle- free. No wonder, it was before we had any kids—not that I’m blaming my wrinkles on our kids, still they have to take some responsibility for bringing on the gray hairs I now have, which of course no one can see because of my magical hairdresser.

We were so young then. Gary was having the time of his life piloting the F-100 while I was being a homemaker and a stay-at-home writer. I couldn’t get much of a real job because the Air Force moved us every few months during training. Mostly, we were busy learning how to be married people, waiting and wishing for babies to come along.

For those of you who know us, it took us awhile, five long years. And then it happened through adoption. I could tell you many stories about the miracles of adopting our children—they each came to us by divine guidance. We knew they were ours! We just had to find them, fill out the papers, sign off in the courts, and make it everlasting at the temple.

Today I’ll share just one of those sacred experiences with you. This is the story of our fifth child, our son Paul. We moved to Utah from California, not knowing why, just knew we were supposed to move there. Gary quit his job, we sold our house, and came, settling in Salt Lake City (we now live in Provo). The search for a house and a job began. Why are we here, we wondered, but felt at peace.

About four months after our move, we found out the reason. We were walking in the mall and ran on to the former mission president, a lawyer, Gary served with while we were stationed in Germany. We had a feeling there was another baby for us somewhere and had been praying about it, so we asked if he knew of any that would be available for adoption. He said, no but would ask his partner. I’ll cut this short, and will simply say that his partner was a praying man and soon knew we should be the parents of a soon-to-be-born baby. Other couples were ahead of us, but he said he knew we were the ones. We were thrilled and so excited.

Several weeks later the phone rang and it was him, announcing the birth of our baby boy. He was three weeks premature, so they wouldn’t release him to us until he gained more weight. We couldn’t even see him. In those days the adoptive parents weren’t allowed in the hospital. A nurse would meet them, with the lawyer, outside the hospital and hand the baby over to the adoptive parents. A week went by and it wasn’t happening.

The problem was that our baby boy wouldn’t eat He refused to take the bottle from everyone who tried. No doctor or nurse had any success. The lawyer kept us updated on this. After putting us off day after day, not letting us in, I finally called our lawyer and said, “This is my baby and he needs his mother there to feed him. You find a way for me into that hospital or I will break the law and find a way myself!”

That did it, he made it happen. Dressed in white hospital gowns, we were ushered in to our baby’s isolation area. My heart was pounding. The nurse placed him in my arms—he was so cute, and so bald. I adored him right off. She handed me the bottle. I looked into his precious face and softly said, “Hi, baby, I’m your mother and I love you.” Then I put the bottle nipple in his mouth and said, “Now, drink for Mommy.” He immediately began sucking, and kept sucking. The doctor and nurse were astonished. Gary took a turn and he drank for him, too. But he wouldn’t drink for them After that I came in for his feedings every few hours. He did so well the doctor said, “You’re the only ones he’ll eat for. You can take him home.”

He has been a light and a joy to us ever since. Now he has a great wife, is a school principal and the father of six of our cherished grandchildren. These five wonderful children of ours were definitely worth the wait.