My corner of the world has been so wrapped up in... beautiful life, I have missed this tender and important part of recording the details. Struggling with how transparent to be in this space, I regret being timid about posting here.
Recent days I have loved cuddling my little Miss S! This newest heavenly child of mine brings hugs and love from parents above. She came to our family to be held tight, passed from heart to heart as she shares smiles and love! I am so grateful for her!
I am grateful for miracles of guardians. I spend many hours during the light, and through the night in my sitting room cuddling my little miss. Some weeks ago, I was in SLC, and attended a sunday school class where the original of this picture was shared. It is titled Ministry of Angels can be found on artforangels.net by Kerri Guthrie
I followed the beautiful artist to her car, and found she had printed copies of the painting available. I brought one home, seeking to remember the feelings of the lesson I had been taught from above. I am so grateful. In my haste to return to my home, and "catch up" I quickly posted the print atop a bookshelf, leaning it against frame in a easel there, for a safe place until I could find it's new place in my home. It was not a coincidence. In that room, around the ceiling on one wall is a shelf I have filled with pieces of history from the past. Hats from my Great Grandmother Chloe,
a frame of pictures of my Grandparents, Harold Wilford Reeder and Mary Petersen,
sit with pictures of Bradley in his youth, an old toolbox from his Grandfather complete with a hammer, cloth measuring tape, and games Bradley's Great Grandfather Barnabus Burt Eakle used and built.
Treasures adorn that shelf. On the wall near the bookshelf are two pictures of my Great Grandparents, Paul I. Paulsen and Karen Berntsen, I am sure were expensive when printed, but through the years, other family members didn't want or have space for them, so somehow I was their lucky recipient, hang high on the wall.
One morning as I nursed my heavenly Miss, I sat in that chair and the vision of what surrounded me opened. Not intentional in any way, but powerfully that room is a visual reminder of the angels surrounding my family.
It is a room in which my family all gathers every morning to read the scriptures. One entire corner is consumed with books of scripture, a mix of compilations, sizes, colors, all stashed for daily use as we study together. I am so grateful for each guardian of my family! I am grateful for the prophets and their sacrifice to preserve and record the spiritual messages of the scriptures for me and my loved ones. I am grateful for the lives of dedication and sacrifice of my forefathers who fled the "old country," their homes in far away lands for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. They paid a heavy price for truth, one I am privileged to be the benefactor of. Thank you! I am thankful for the examples of education, honesty, hard work, dedication, service, gratitude, thrift and love they have written in the sands of time.
This semester both C and L have English classes which have required them to learn of their ancestors. We have had a box full of histories traveling from school room to kitchen table, to couches and reading chairs for the past weeks. Writing assignments have required them to dig deep, to discover and learn of their struggles and successes. I am thankful for those histories recorded and shared. Our own family scriptures of testimony and faith.
As the clock ticks past midnight, it will soon be Thanksgiving day in America. A day we celebrate abundance. I have so much of abundance in my life. I pray for my Elder in a far away land, with different traditions, and pray for his success, for gifts of tongues, for comfort and the spirit to guide his every step. Missing him forces me to treasure deeper the blessings of together with loved ones surrounding me. I am so grateful to have my parents here for this Thanksgiving. I pray the day and weekend will be filled with beautiful sharing. It has already begun just that way. Today while I mailed a package to my missionary, my Dad sat with little S reading to him, struggling and testing patience, he listened intently and with love through two long books. My Mom found a book, and held my littlest Miss S while she napped, providing a long,loving hug! I pray the minutes, hours and days ahead will be filled with meaningful, beautiful, lifetime memories for all of a beautiful holiday together!
Last Thanksgiving we were in Virginia. J was playing basketball, and we feasted in the historical settings of Jamestown, Yorktown, Colonial Williams burg, Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, and then in the following weeks, my little ones and my Mom were protected as we revisited Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and significant LDS historical sights. It was a year we will forever remember!
This year with the exception of our missionary in the other side of the globe, the nucleus of our family is here at home. New professional opportunities have suggested that saving the funds for other opportunities is necessary this year. I hope it won't be at the expense of beautiful memories! I believe I can create those here under my own roof! Prophets have repeatedly said "The most important … work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes." I am grateful to have my parents join us here in our own home this holiday! Laus Deo!
Recent days I have loved cuddling my little Miss S! This newest heavenly child of mine brings hugs and love from parents above. She came to our family to be held tight, passed from heart to heart as she shares smiles and love! I am so grateful for her!
I am grateful for miracles of guardians. I spend many hours during the light, and through the night in my sitting room cuddling my little miss. Some weeks ago, I was in SLC, and attended a sunday school class where the original of this picture was shared. It is titled Ministry of Angels can be found on artforangels.net by Kerri Guthrie
I followed the beautiful artist to her car, and found she had printed copies of the painting available. I brought one home, seeking to remember the feelings of the lesson I had been taught from above. I am so grateful. In my haste to return to my home, and "catch up" I quickly posted the print atop a bookshelf, leaning it against frame in a easel there, for a safe place until I could find it's new place in my home. It was not a coincidence. In that room, around the ceiling on one wall is a shelf I have filled with pieces of history from the past. Hats from my Great Grandmother Chloe,
a frame of pictures of my Grandparents, Harold Wilford Reeder and Mary Petersen,
sit with pictures of Bradley in his youth, an old toolbox from his Grandfather complete with a hammer, cloth measuring tape, and games Bradley's Great Grandfather Barnabus Burt Eakle used and built.
Treasures adorn that shelf. On the wall near the bookshelf are two pictures of my Great Grandparents, Paul I. Paulsen and Karen Berntsen, I am sure were expensive when printed, but through the years, other family members didn't want or have space for them, so somehow I was their lucky recipient, hang high on the wall.
One morning as I nursed my heavenly Miss, I sat in that chair and the vision of what surrounded me opened. Not intentional in any way, but powerfully that room is a visual reminder of the angels surrounding my family.
It is a room in which my family all gathers every morning to read the scriptures. One entire corner is consumed with books of scripture, a mix of compilations, sizes, colors, all stashed for daily use as we study together. I am so grateful for each guardian of my family! I am grateful for the prophets and their sacrifice to preserve and record the spiritual messages of the scriptures for me and my loved ones. I am grateful for the lives of dedication and sacrifice of my forefathers who fled the "old country," their homes in far away lands for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. They paid a heavy price for truth, one I am privileged to be the benefactor of. Thank you! I am thankful for the examples of education, honesty, hard work, dedication, service, gratitude, thrift and love they have written in the sands of time.
This semester both C and L have English classes which have required them to learn of their ancestors. We have had a box full of histories traveling from school room to kitchen table, to couches and reading chairs for the past weeks. Writing assignments have required them to dig deep, to discover and learn of their struggles and successes. I am thankful for those histories recorded and shared. Our own family scriptures of testimony and faith.
As the clock ticks past midnight, it will soon be Thanksgiving day in America. A day we celebrate abundance. I have so much of abundance in my life. I pray for my Elder in a far away land, with different traditions, and pray for his success, for gifts of tongues, for comfort and the spirit to guide his every step. Missing him forces me to treasure deeper the blessings of together with loved ones surrounding me. I am so grateful to have my parents here for this Thanksgiving. I pray the day and weekend will be filled with beautiful sharing. It has already begun just that way. Today while I mailed a package to my missionary, my Dad sat with little S reading to him, struggling and testing patience, he listened intently and with love through two long books. My Mom found a book, and held my littlest Miss S while she napped, providing a long,loving hug! I pray the minutes, hours and days ahead will be filled with meaningful, beautiful, lifetime memories for all of a beautiful holiday together!
Last Thanksgiving we were in Virginia. J was playing basketball, and we feasted in the historical settings of Jamestown, Yorktown, Colonial Williams burg, Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, and then in the following weeks, my little ones and my Mom were protected as we revisited Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and significant LDS historical sights. It was a year we will forever remember!
This year with the exception of our missionary in the other side of the globe, the nucleus of our family is here at home. New professional opportunities have suggested that saving the funds for other opportunities is necessary this year. I hope it won't be at the expense of beautiful memories! I believe I can create those here under my own roof! Prophets have repeatedly said "The most important … work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes." I am grateful to have my parents join us here in our own home this holiday! Laus Deo!