One of the Lessons I was meant to learn

Guess what I learned yesterday?

The Atonement is INFINITE.

Think about that word for a minute: just try and grasp the scope of it. Then realize what I learned:

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is INFINITE.

Wow.

MY beloved son.

On Saturday, my sister, my mother and I took my Grandmother and met an aunt and my cousins in Midway for a tea party at Pandora's Tea Parlour.

I arranged for one of my cousin's husbands to watch Lemur so he could play with his boy cousins. When we went to drop him off, though, he seemed a little nervous. My mother gave him a ten dollar bill to help him feel like he had something of hers to keep him connected though we were leaving.

I forgot about this ten dollars.

This morning he must have put it in his pants pocket, because while we were out shopping for Halloween costumes at D.I. he picked up a toy and said he wanted it. I said it was too expensive. He held out this ten and said, "But Mom, I have ten blue dollars!" I remembered where it came from and that it truly was his. So I gave a short shpeil to the effect of, "Be sure this is what you really want . . ." He was so sure and so ready to have me get off his back that he offered to buy Rivulet a doll. She had picked out a stuffed baby doll that looked brand new, and was hugging it close. Lemur wanted to buy it for her. But before we made it to the register, we passed by the books (which I can't pass up at least browsing) and he saw a hard back Book of Mormon. Now:

I have an old pocket size BoM that I found in Seminary that is pretty beat up and Liam has taken to calling it his "blue book" and taking it to church or sleeping with it. Last Sunday, a page ripped out of 2nd Nephi. He was pretty upset and handled it with much care after that. So:

He picked up the HB BoM and said, "Mom, it's just like my blue book. But new. I buy this too. It's my favorite book forever." He then carried it around all day, commenting on the pictures of Jesus and Samuel the Lamanite. He is currently sleeping with it. He had me read from it before bedtime prayers.

Let's recap:

1. Get's $10, which he could spend on anything . . .

2. Offers to buy his sister a dollie.

3. Decides to buy a Book of Mormon.

I'm guessing this is one of those moments where I sit back for a second and realize that I'm not screwing up all that much, because- so far - I have a pretty great son.

Good news to me!

I won a game of Catan on Hard A.I.! And without longest road or largest army! How cool is that?! It's a good thing Rivulet was sleeping, or I would have been screaming my triumph at the top of my lungs.

I learned how to use my sewing maching (which has been in the closet since my mother gave it to me on my birthday.) First thing I've sewn? a Jedi cape for the Lemur. And a little cape for Rivulet from the scraps. Pretty happy with that, too.

Mundane to some, highlights to another. Yay! I won!

What I did today:

* Made my husband lunch at four in the morning.
* Slept in until 9.
* Went to a business lunch with a "warm contact" and my father. I was SO an asset to that situation.
* Painted half of my parents garage door yellow.
*Ate three candy bars without even thinking about it.
*Read the paper for a few minutes and can't remember anything it said.
* Came home with Muad'Dib and the spawnlings.
*Cleaned a floor covered with filth that wasn't mine.
* Won a "moderate" game of Catan on X-box. Shaka wasn't even close!
* Showed the free apartment to some people
* Bought pizza.
* Cooked pizza to perfection.
* Read half a book
* Put my children to bed.
*Scratched Muad'Dib's head.
* Fought an inner battle while not trying to actually fight it for fear that I would only make it worse.
*Tried incredibly hard to maintain focus on something, anything for more than a few seconds.
* Failed at focus.
* Got ready for bed.
* Wrote a blog that will make almost no sense to anyone but me, my Coach, my husband and my demons.

But writing makes me feel better. I may not sound better, or even coherent, but i feel just a little bit better.

The talk that got me.

"A knowledge of truth is of little value unless we apply it in making correct decisions. Consider for a moment a man, heavily overweight, approaching a bakery display. In his mind are these thoughts: The doctor told you not to eat any more of that. It’s not good for you. It just gives momentary gratification of appetite. You’ll feel uncomfortable the rest of the day after it. You’ve decided not to have any more. But then he hears himself say, “I’ll have two of those almond twists and a couple of those chocolate doughnuts. One more time won’t hurt. I’ll do it just once more, and this will be the last time.”

"The process of identifying truth sometimes necessitates enormous effort coupled with profound faith in our Father and His glorified Son. God intended that it be so to forge your character. Worthy character will strengthen your capacity to respond obediently to the direction of the Spirit as you make vital decisions. Righteous character is what you are becoming. It is more important than what you own, what you have learned, or what goals you have accomplished. It allows you to be trusted. Righteous character provides the foundation of spiritual strength. It enables you in times of trial and testing to make difficult, extremely important decisions correctly even when they seem overpowering.
"I testify that neither Satan nor any other power can weaken or destroy your growing character. Only you can do that through disobedience.
"Understand and apply this vital principle to your life: Your exercise of faith builds character. Fortified character expands your capacity to exercise greater faith. Thus, your confidence in making correct decisions is enhanced. And the strengthening cycle continues. The more your character is fortified, the more enabled you are to exercise the power of faith for yet stronger character."
-Richard G. Scott

This is a cycle I want to be a part of!

From "Life"

"Anger ruins joy, steals the goodness of my mind; forces my mouth to say terrible things. Overcoming anger brings peace of mind, a mind without regrets. If I overcome anger I will be delightful and loved by everyone."
-Detective Crews on the new NBC series "LIFE."

Rings a little true for me.

Kids say the Darndest . . .

Last night we were up at Mountain Road Ranch to visit Wildbound and Wildman. NAM, Lemur and Pocketmouse were outside while the adults were "talking" inside. Lemur came in to show me what they were up to. Handing me an unshelled walnut, Wildbound explained that the kids were outside cracking them open and eating the nuts. I asked Lemur to go open one for me. He did and I ate it. He then held up three others and said, "These are for daddy."

"Sure, sure," said I, trying to keep up with the Voucher conversation and the debate whether we were all created "good" or created "equal."

Lemur then spotted a bag of dried apples and decided he'd rather fill his hands with those. "Excuse me?" he asked politely.

"Yes, Lemur weemur?"

He held out his full hands to me,"Will you hold daddy's nuts?"

"Uh. . ."