My Broken Cottage

Sometimes trials seem to go on forrreevver.  And you never really get the big picture "why" behind all of it.  But every once in a while, you catch a glimpse of what God has in store for you.

This week marks the end of a trial that has bothered me for a very long time.  But it ended.  And oh what a sweet realization it was when I realized I was free.  

As I pondered over it all, I couldn't help but think of this quote:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”  --CS Lewis

God is in charge and He knows what we need more clearly than we do.  It's definitely difficult to let an old cottage become broken and destroyed.  But as I look at my sweetheart Derek and the life we're enjoying together, this is turning out to be the beginnings of a beautiful palace. 

On another note, WE FINALLY GOT OUR WEDDING PICTURES!!!  And I love them so much.  That was the perfect day.

Oh my, I am such a nerd...

Disclaimer #1:  This is from Kaylie not Derek.  He wanted to make sure I put that ;)

I think everyone has certain songs that they just love.  Songs which day after day, year after year, still mean something to you.  

For me there are too many of those to number and they come from all sorts of genres.  But today I've needed the motivation you can only get through epic movie soundtracks.   (Thank you, endless homework.)  

So, because I think these songs are incredible, I've decided to share them with you all.  :)  And guys.  This is so dumb.  I can't even convey how much I love these.  Baaah!  It's embarrassing. But I just love it.

Disclaimer #2:  it's pretty nerdy the stuff I love.  (and these probably aren't the best songs out there, but they're the ones I've chosen to make special.)  So yep I'm obsessed with Harry Potter, I love Narnia, etc.  It's okay to judge. 

Here we go :)

1.  Great for running to and feeling epic.

The Battle  from Narnia

2.  Even better to go running to.  It builds, it builds, and then at 2:59 it's literally impossible not to sprint to.  Try it I dare you.  

Raid on the Castle from Caspian

Literally one of the most sad/beautiful/baaah! moments in movies ever.  that knowing look of "it's okay go ahead.  i know I'll die."

3.  Don't bother listening until 2:45.  But then HOLY COW IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.  Seriously.  

Rue's Farewell from Hunger Games

While we're talking about hunger games, I actually really didn't like the first movie.  But the second movie is powerful.  loved it.

4.  Something about farewells is just beautiful.

Dumbledore's Farewell  from HP6

5.  Slow build, but  once it gets going it's so pretty. And okay, yes, this was the part of the movie that made me cry when I first saw it.  First five minutes.  Pathetic.

Obliviate from HP7a

6.  Brace yourself.  The first note squeals at you.  

Dragon's Flight  from HP7b  

7.  Yeah, it's an oldie.  But something about flying songs is beautiful.  Cue Harry's awkward yelling at 1:21.

\Buckbeak's flight from HP3

Sometimes Harry's just awkward.  

8.  Just good.

Lily's Theme from HP7b

9.  "I've always wanted to use that spell!!"  

Statues from HP7b also Courtyard Apocalypse  

10.  More good homework music.

Arrival at Aslan's How from Caspian

Door in the Air Caspian

Return of the Lion Caspian

Don't you just love how much you can learn about Christ and the Atonement from watching Narnia?  I'm a fan :)

That's all for today folks. Hopefully you either got a really good laugh at all this, or you got to listen to some pretty, pretty stuff. :)

  

Vegetables

Today during Sacrament meeting a cute mom in my ward got up to bear her testimony about God's love for us.  She began by speaking about how hard it is to teach her little girl to eat her vegetables and not just the chicken nuggets.  She told us that it would be so easy to give up the fight on the vegetables completely.  But then this mom told us about how she looks forward into her little girl's future to how much happier and healthier she will be if she can endure the broccoli now.  So while this daughter can only see as far as finishing dinner to go play with toys, her mother can see much further.

This mother related her experiences to how Heavenly Father must feel when we go through trials.  It must be so hard to see us suffer, but He sees further into our lives and understands what will help us.

I loved her testimony.  It reminded me of similar thoughts I've had.  As little children, we didn't understand why we needed vegetables or why we couldn't touch the hot stove or run out into the street.  But we knew that our parents loved us, and we trusted that they would take care of us.  With that faith and knowledge of their love, we faithfully obeyed.

Ignore that my pictures are very obviously off of google images.

So it is with our Heavenly Father.  We may not always know why we need to do something; it doesn't make any sense to us.  But if we remember His love and have faith He will take care of us, we're able to step forward.

And as time goes on, and as we grow up a little, it begins to make more sense.  We may even learn to love what we have been asked to do.

When I was younger, the three hours of church were the longest hours of the week.  The only fun part was Primary because we sung and played games.  But the rest of the three hours were painful.  Especially Sacrament meeting.

From left to right:  Kyra, Kaylie, Jennie, neighbor

Just kidding.  It's google again.

Same thing with scripture study.  I never paid attention during family scripture study (sorry Mom!) and only did it by myself because I was supposed to, but not because I really wanted to.

But.  As I faithfully performed and attended these obligations, something wonderful happened.  Over time, my tiny perspective began to open.   I began to love more and more things about church. (Yes.  The treats in YW always helped.)  In fact, one day in high school I realized that that I actually looked forward to Sundays.  In addition, with diligence and practice, scripture study became more meaningful and I learned to enjoy it.  And as I learned about the significance of the Sacrament and why I needed it, it became a sweet moment each week.

It would have been nice if I could have paid better attention during family scriptures as a kid or started searching for a testimony earlier.

But I wasn't ready.   It took me time to reach a fuller understanding of these things' significance.

This is my attempt at a "perspective" picture (it's our family hiking...sometime...somewhere in Southern Utah.)  Notice the little bits of light coming in from the top symbolizing increased perspective and light.  I know, it's genius ;)

And so it is now.  There are certain things we're asked to do that I still really struggle with.  For example, I still don't quite understand the complete significance of the temple.  And that's so, so hard for me.  It's hard not to understand anything and then to get lost between all the hallways and rooms (I look like I'm new every single time.)  But I try to attend anyway.   Because I have faith that just as it is with vegetables, I'll grow up and someday understand the whys behind the whats.

Three Bowls of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs

I know a lot of you readers have graduated and are now onto full time working jobs, mommy jobs, or various other non-school jobs.  (Or somehow, you’re living on the street and still have a computer.)  But Derek and I are still here suffering in the thick of it.  Because of that, we’ve decided to share a portion of our vast intelligence with you.  Today’s lesson:  The law of diminishing marginal returns. 

Diminishing marginal returns is an economic law that describes how the value of something diminishes with each additional unit.  For example, if you could have one scoop of ice cream you would enjoy it a lot.  If you were offered a second scoop, you would likely still enjoy it.  (Who wouldn't want another scoop?) However, after more and more scoops, thoughts of your waistline or of a resulting stomachache would cause you to reject an additional scoop of ice cream, even if it were given for free.

Another way to think about it is that once a company reaches a certain size, the last employee hired is going to be at least slightly less productive than the previous ones.  The reason for that is that for each additional employee, more inefficiency is introduced into the system.  With this new hire, the HR department now has one more person to worry about, same as the financial department, etc.  More energy must be inserted into the operation in order for them to bring forth the same amount of work.

Extra credit to anyone that can find the spelling error. Hint: It's not labour (even though labor is the official American spelling).

Derek wrote that last paragraph.  It makes no sense to me.  But, I know that I like ice cream!

Or even when I’m given one candy bar, I enjoy it more than if I’m given three.  If I only have one, I’m gonna make that one count.  But if I have three, it doesn’t matter if the first isn’t good, I still have two more.  Overall, three candy bars is better than one.  But individually, one candy bar is better than the third consecutive. 

Let's see an example of this concept found in literature

So that we’ve got the basics, let’s apply this to other areas of life.

1.   If you’re given a cell phone, it’s awesome.  If you’re given a second cell phone, not as awesome.
2. Turning on the first light makes a bigger difference than turning on the second light.
3. Chuck-a-rama.  At some point, you just have to stop.
4. Church.  That’s why most wards put Sacrament meeting first. . .
5. Running....Derek wanted me to add that the more you run the stupider it gets.  "The first block is fine!  But once you get to the second and third, I'm about done."
6. Disney movies.  The sequel is never as good. 
7. Kids.  My parents like Leslie better than Kyra, and Kyra better than me.  Wait. …what? 

If we’re basing family size off of the law of diminishing returns, the more kids you have the less they each mean to you.  (Sorry Spencer.)  So once you have ten kids, you might see one of them and not even know if it’s yours, right? 

Fortunately, no. 

This is where the law breaks down.  If you look at any family….whether it has 3 kids, or 6 kids, or even 13…take one of the children out and there’s a significant difference.   Each person matters—thank heavens.

Not only is my mom telling the truth that she loves us all, but when we read about God’s love, He really cares about each of us. 

”And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever.” (Moses 7:30) 

Somewhere within that mess of stars I'm sitting here at my computer.

I don’t know how many little sand particles there are on earth, but there are a lot.  And to think that each represents millions of earths like this is pretty humbling.  How could Heavenly Father ever hear anyone’s prayers, let alone my simple prayer when I feel lonely or tired.  But just as a perfect Father, He hears us because He loves us and does care. 

Alright, who’s got the closing prayer for class today? 

We hope you liked our lesson today! Go home, teach your families, tease your younger siblings.  And we’ll see you next week with a quiz!

On Remembering What Doesn't Matter

  Sometimes I’ll look back on an experience and I’m surprised by what has stayed with me.  For example, from 1^st grade I can remember the color of the vowel handout Mrs. Gettman gave us (pink) and the girl who tied with me for most ‘tion’ words discovered (Jessica).

My first day of school.  Granted this was Kindergarten, not first grade.  (Poor Jennie can't go quite yet.)

Another first grade memory was when my best friend Kayley was gone on a trip with her family. 
While classtime was lonely without her (I used to watch her and copy everything she did—if she touched her hair, so did I.  If she folded her arms, I better fold mine.   I was pathetic.), recess was going to be a treat.  Being alone, it was a great opportunity to play Mary Kate and Ashley all by myself.  So out on the “spider” playground piece I sat alone, singing songs from the movie I had just seen.  And you know what?  I was having an amazing time.   I loved being with myself having time to contemplate what life would be visiting a ranch as an Olsen twin. 

How preciously lonely I must have looked from my teacher’s point of view. 

So out came Mrs. Gettman  to rescue me.  She talked to me about how it was okay to make new friends and that I should go play with some of the other kids.  (I distinctly remember feeling confused—wait, I look lonely?  And isn’t some tender music supposed to be playing in the background right now?  It always plays when scenes like this in Arthur come up.  Whatever.  I’ll just let her finish talking to me.)  Once she finished her speech to me, she left and I was left to pick up Mary Kate and Ashley where I left off.  Still, I felt awkward since she had come all that way to talk to me.  I better get up and see the other kids.  Sheepishly, I got up from the spider and walked towards the bigger playground. 

The memory ends there.  Probably because once I got to the other kids I realized how shy I really was and blocked the rest from memory. :)

Isn't that so funny?  I could probably list a hundred other memories from first grade--but all kind of weird ones like that.  And same for my other grades in elementary school.

 For the most part, I don't remember big victories and life changing instances.  I remember the little day-to-day moments with no moral lesson.   All I know is they're sure fun to look back and laugh about :)

And they kind of gives us more reason to enjoy each day's little blessings.  Cuz who knows, you might end up remembering it.

Coming unto Christ

Hey everyone, it’s Derek. I decided to write a blog post about something that has been weighing on my mind for years I guess. Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. Throughout my time in the New York New York South Mission, I gained a greater appreciation for what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The scripture I used as a theme for my mission and as a guide for my life is found in 3 Nephi 5:13: “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.”

What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? We have all heard a hundred times that a disciple is a “follower.” So what does that mean? How can we follow Christ? Well, he showed us the way when he was baptized. “Follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do” (2 Nephi 31:12).

Christ was compassionate, so we should be compassionate. Christ was obedient, so we should be obedient. Christ was humble and meek, so we should be humble and meek. Christ filled his life with teaching others the path to God, so we should fill our lives with teaching others that same path. Christ submitted his will to that of the Father, ultimately culminating in his atoning sacrifice for mankind.

The same willing submission that Christ showed as he knelt in Gethsemane and said “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42) also drove Paul to say “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6) and Abinadi to say “O God, receive my soul” (Mosiah 17:20). These men and others throughout the scriptures provide a pattern of how to follow Christ’s example. Christ is the ultimate example of submitting his will to the Father’s, and if we are to truly become his disciples, we must be willing to do the same. As Neal A. Maxwell (an expert on the topic of discipleship, not only in his teachings from the pulpit, but as a faithful example) taught, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar.” That is the way to truly be a disciple of Christ: Follow his example of humbly submitting his will to that of the Father.

Being a true disciple of Christ is not easy. At times all the powers of earth and hell are combined against us. Satan would weaken us and destroy our faith. What can sustain us as we follow the path of discipleship? This thought may help. “When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jeffrey R. Holland). Thus Christ is not only our Exemplar, he is also the source of our strength and our commitment. Call upon Him and you will be given the power to do the will of the Father.

My conclusion echoes the words of Jeffrey R. Holland. It is a call to act on the promptings of the Spirit and to serve the Lord and His children. “In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before” (Jeffrey R. Holland).

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I have committed to follow Him. I believe in His power to save all mankind. He is the Light and the Life of the world.  My invitation is the same as Moroni's final plea to the readers of the Book of Mormon: "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him" (Moroni 10:32). I am a witness of the perfecting and enabling power of Christ. The grace of Christ is powerful enough to save all who are willing to accept Him as their Savior. This blog is for Kaylie and I to share what is important to us. We are trying our best to "come unto Christ." You come too!

Lessons from Disney

I don’t know if I’m the only one, but I seriously get so inspired by Disney movies.  Even if it’s just a Disney song that comes on as I’m cleaning the kitchen, I get so overcome with thoughts about life and a motivation to be good.  If that seems a little crazy, here’s my reasoning.

Oh.  And before I start, this is a joint post.  Derek’s words are in bold and my words are not so bold.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Embedded in The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the theme question:  Who is the monster and who is the man?  Is the monster the hideous man who rings the bell tower, or is it really our “just” minister who seeks to rid this world of what he considers evil?  Or the goat that goes around headbutting everybody? As you watch the movie, the decision is easily made.  It's the goat. What makes a person a human is their ability to feel, not necessarily what they look like.

Phoebus is definitely a man, too.

"Hey, isn't that uh Feeble?...Doofus!...Phoebus!!!"

Another theme comes from the song, “Out there.”  Quasimodo’s only wish is to live one day as a regular person.  “Not above them, but part of them.”  Even though the townspeople go through their days doing menial tasks, that’s not how he sees it.

"Out there among the millers and the weavers and their wives

Through the roofs and gables I can see them

Ev'ry day they shout and scold and go about their lives

Heedless of the gift it is to be them

If I was in their skin

I'd treasure every instant"

What if we could live our lives like that?

And just because I’m obsessed, here are the two songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3otyDyFIe8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoFqnoebywo

Other lessons from The Hunchback:

• Never sleep with your mouth open--you could end up with a mouthful of feathers
• Don’t ever tell someone that they are shaped like a croissant is
• Frollo is just creepy
• If you get pet gargoyles, make sure to name them Victor, Hugo, and Laverne

Mary Poppins

I never really liked Mary Poppins until I had an assignment to watch it in 10th grade AP Euro.  (I think I was finally old enough to understand what was even going on the whole time)  But holy cow!!!  I LOVE IT.  Two things I want to point out. 1)  Bert is awesome.   He teaches us that no matter our circumstances, there is always beauty to enjoy and things to be optimistic about.  My favorite part:   “What did I tell ya? There's the whole world at your feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, the stars, and the chimney sweeps.”  Because honestly, who wants be a chimney sweep?  Not me. But Bert rejoices in what he gets to do.  A sweeper’s as lucky as lucky can be!  From him we learn that whatever our post we should do the best we can. (We also learn that showering is optional).

2)  This movie emphasizes the importance of family.  Mary Poppin’s calling wasn't to clean the house, fly around town on an umbrella, or even to visit lonely men and then laugh on the ceiling (or even to help the medicine go down). Her job was to bring the Banks family closer together.  After so many years of leaving their children in second (or third, or fourth) place, the Banks parents finally realize what matters most.  Not huge bank deals.  Not pamphlets and marching through town.  It’s doing the little things their kids need.  And then they all go off to sing a heartwarming song about kites.

Other lessons from Mary Poppins:

• Don’t jump into a chalk drawing. You never know what might happen
• The feminist movement was still annoying, even back then. “Well done! Sister suffragettes!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvk1NZDFvZU
• The feed the birds song is just creepy
  
  

Lion King

My favorite part of this movie is when the weird monkey guy Rafiki leads Simba to a pond to look at his reflection.  After a minute of initial frustration, Simba realizes that somewhere inside of him, his father is still there.  And then through the clouds Mufasa (“oooh, say it again!”) comes in.  “Simba.  You’ve forgotten who you are and therefore you have forgotten me . . .Remember who you are.  You are my son.” 

 Um….cool, right?!

President Spencer W. Kimball said that perhaps the most important word is remember (Liahona June 2007).  We’re not just here, trying to survive and Hakuna our way through life.  We are spirit sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father.  Who LOVES US.  But we have to remember that.  And remember Him.  

With that knowledge we then have the power to go forth, fight hyenas in fire, and someday, hopefully hold our babies on Pride Rock.

Other lessons from the Lion King:

• Premarital licking is inappropriate, even for lions
• Even if you’re feeling the love tonight
• Hyenas are just creepy
• Nobody likes a bossy bird

We haven't even gotten started on the lessons from Toy Story ("You have been chosen.  You must go!"), Beauty and the Beast (Once you grow up it's okay to eat 5 dozen eggs for breakfast), and Lady and the Tramp (Seriously, the Siamese cats are just creepy). So basically, our advice to all of you is to get out there and keep watching those Disney movies!