My little sister Julie, "she's so pretty!"

{Julie and I this last October in NYC. She wanted to pretend like we were homeless.}

Members of our family know exactly what the word "bowtanny" means. But in order to enlighten those that may not understand this bit of verbology (words not found in the dictionary but should be, including verbology), I will explain. This is the very class my sister thought she was taking in college while striving to get her masters degree in social work. She was in the book store hunting down the assigned book for the class. After spending more time than necessary she finally gave up and asked the clerk if they, in fact, even carried the book. Yes, it is as you might have guessed, Julie was looking for the curriculum for her Botany class. But wait, my adorable little sister only gets better with age. Not to be out done by herself, Julie has added one more to what I call her "very strawberry blonde moments". While I was having a conversation with her, she told me with disgust dripping from her tone, "Do you know that I need to go home and take care of a hundred frozen cookie dough buckets? I went to pick up the orders only to find that they come in buckets as frozen cookie dough! ". I bit back my initial response to say, "Well yes honey, what part of the word dough did you not understand but instead asked, "Well Honey just how do think the frozen cookie dough should come?" "Oh, I don't know", she stated, still a little irritated, "I thought they were coming as cookies, not DOUGH!" Julie is proof that you may be able to take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can't take the blonde out of the girl! Life with Julie is just plain fun!

The Appropriate Companionship of Wisdom and Power

In research for a talk I was giving I came across this quote. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with others:

In 1866, when the Relief Society was reorganized, Eliza [R. Snow] was set apart as president over the entire sisterhood of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-dat Saints]. She received many letters from officers in ward Relief Societies, asking about their duties and responsibilities. In 1869, in answer to such a letter, she wrote these words to Mary Lightener:

“Tell the sisters to go forth and discharge their duties in humility and faithfulness and the Spirit of God will rest upon them, and they will be blest in their labors... (My Favorite part of the quote): ....Let them seek for wisdom instead of power and they will have all the power they have wisdom to exercise!!!” 1

Should you want to learn more about how incredible and inspiring Eliza R. Snow was/is, click on the 1 at the end of her quote.

Taught by my Little Ones

Though not so little any more they will always be my little ones and today I have been taught by them. As I spoke with my daughter Amber this afternoon she said "Mom I need to go, I think the children's mother is here". Though she is pregnant with two daughters of her own, (the youngest just turned one) Amber tended a set of 19 month old twins for the day in order that their pregnant Mommy could visit the doctor. Then, not but a few moments afterwards I was speaking with Melissa, (who also is expecting) and she said "Mom I need to go, the family we are having dinner with is here". In an effort to help a struggling family they had them over for dinner. It is one thing to serve others when you have an empty house but everyday I see young mothers, whose plates are already full yet find the inner strength to serve someone else. I am constantly humbled by their goodness. While being taught by others is vastly rewarding, there is something richly fulfilling for a mother to be taught by her children!

Alas, my tutorial was yet to be finished, as my daughter Stefani called, excited because she had aced a test! That in and of itself is wonderful but her continued explanation touched my heart. Stefani was concerned about her grade in this class as she had not done so well on the last test. When receiving her paper back for the test she took today she noticed that the aide who had graded it had given her credit for an answer she didn't deserve, as it was only half right. In the attitude and principle of integrity Stefani took the test back to point it out to her Professor. To give the professor credit (which was why Stefani told me this story in the first place), he gave her the point because of her honesty. Whether he had or not, is not my lesson learned here today. Her honesty will be measured far beyond her term grade and I am reminded that one act, one little point is not worth the honors of men. Our acts of righteousness honors God and in turn bespeaks of our desires towards our Eternal home.

I am so grateful for the lessons taught to me this day while glancing through the windows of my children's lives.