Pieces of My Childhood

 I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. My niece, Melanie, contacted my sisters and I a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that she had "inherited" a pair of ice skates from our parents estate. She was initially going to do something with them, but changed her mind after all these years and asked if any of us wanted them. I told her I was interested and I received them in the mail yesterday.

I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure they are the pair of skates that Jane and I got for Christmas one year and had to share. They look old and roughed up, but I might try to clean them up and maybe put them in a shadow box or something to showcase them. 

I chuckle a little to think that Jane and I were expected to share a pair of skates. We did everything together and having to take turns with the skates was a little annoying, but it did teach us how to put aside our own selfish desires and share! 

Skates isn't the only thing we shared. We shared a bed, a bike, every birthday cake, and probably some clothes. I never thought it was fair that Jane and I always had to share everything when my "singleton" siblings never had to, but I can't really chastise my parents for that. They did the best they could on a limited income and 7 children to raise.

Living at the Power Plant had a lot of perks, and one of them was that every winter the canals we were surrounded by would freeze over and we could ice skate practically in our own front yard. We would spend hours taking turns skating. 

Sometimes we would hike up the mountain to a canal that was on the ridge above our house. It was a little harder to get there, but was a fun place to skate. Sometimes Mom would drive us to town where someone had watered down an empty lot and turned it into a skating rink. Many people from town would gather there to skate. Oh, the memories!

********************

Here's another little piece of my childhood. I made this in art class when I was in the 6th grade (I think).  Jane made one that was a horse. I'm glad my parents kept it because it brings me joy even to this day. Jane threw hers away, but I have kept it since it was returned to me after my mom passed away.

I don't remember if I free-handed the drawing or if I was allowed to use a stencil. Since I'm not that great at art, it was probably the latter. 

To make this, we were given a sheet of metal and we had to use a tool to make an indentation into the metal. We then colored it dark with some kind of paint and after the paint dried we then used a piece of steel wool or something else that was abrasive to scrub off the paint in certain areas that we wanted to stand out and left the rest dark. 

Some people are afraid of clowns. It's probably because of the scary movies they have made with evil clowns in them. I have never been afraid of them, however. I have always liked clowns. They are supposed to be funny and make people laugh, not be scary!

I have so many memories of my childhood in my mind, but it's kind of fun to have these two items to bring those memories back to life. I had a wonderful, worry free childhood. I'm so grateful for that!

Crying Unto the Lord

 In our Book of Mormon study this past week we learned about the Brother of Jared and how he "cried unto the Lord" in prayer to ask that the Lord not confound the language of his family, his brother's family, and their friends during the time of the Tower of Babel . The Lord granted them their desire. 

To me, "crying unto the Lord" means a prayer that is a cry or pleading out of desperation than a regular prayer would be. The Brother of Jared was desperate to not have their language confounded. Thus, he cried or pleaded unto the Lord for that desire.  

Well, I thought this was perfect timing for that lesson since I had a need to "cry unto the Lord" for myself recently.

On Friday afternoon, November 7th, I started having digestive problems. My symptoms included cramping, diarrhea, nausea, and dry heaving. After a couple of days with no improvement, Kyle convinced me to get a Covid-19 test because my symptoms sounded a lot like what Emily had when she first got Covid. So, on Sunday I was able to get a drive-through test done at CVS Pharmacy. They said it would take 2 to 3 days to get the result. 

As I waited for the results, my symptoms worsened. Besides the diarrhea and cramping, I had a fever off and on. I suspected that I had diverticulitis and not Covid, but I wanted to get my Covid test results before checking for diverticulitis. That turned out to be a big mistake.

Two days after my Covid test was done, my symptoms got even worse. I was in an extreme amount of pain. I knew I needed to get checked out by a doctor, but stubbornly wanted my Covid results first. Feeling desperate, I went to the Lord in prayer and "cried unto him" (I was literally in tears) asking for His help. I needed the test results ASAP. He answered my prayer and told me that I would get the results that day. Feeling better about the situation, I thanked him and closed my prayer.

Not even two hours later, my cell phone beeped notifying me that I had a text. It turned out to be my Covid test results. Boy was I happy! I was also relieved to see that I had tested negative for Covid. I was also so grateful that God had heard my prayer and answered it so definitively!

Knowing that I didn't have Covid, I reached out to my primary care doctor's office, explained my symptoms, and asked to get an appointment. Nothing was available until the next day. They told me that if my symptoms got worse then I should go to Urgent Care. Well, my symptoms did get worse so I had Alan drive me to the ER in Lancaster after he got home from work. About four hours later after blood tests, urine test, EKG, and a CAT scan had been done I got my diagnosis. I, indeed, did have diverticulitis.....again! I was there last May with the same illness, only this time it was much worse.

I only have one picture of myself while in the ER (Alan was not allowed into the hospital because of Covid). I took it while lying on a gurney in the hall because no cubicle was available. It is of my I.V. in my left hand. Fortunately, it took only one poke to get the job done. I was proud of my nurse. Sometimes it has taken up to 4 or 5 pokes to find a vein.

Since being on antibiotics, I felt much better. It is now about  nine days since I was diagnosed and my health is back to normal. You don't really appreciate good health until you don't have it. I REALLY appreciate my health now, and hope to never forget that!

Flying My Flag

 I have always been patriotic, but have not always outwardly shown my patriotism. I have never really had a flag to fly or a pole to display it on. I know I could have purchased one, but never did. A couple of years ago, however, I acquired a flag from a friend whose mother passed away. It has been sitting in my garage all this time until two days ago. I decided to place it on our front porch because it was election day and I wanted to show my patriotism.

I was going to take my flag down after the election, but because no winner has been declared (lots of cheating at the polls that needs to be investigated), I have decided to let it continue to fly until a winner emerges. Let me add that I abhor cheating. The fact that there is so much harvesting of ballots makes me cringe. I long for a fair and free election. I don't trust the results at all. There are so many states where cheating is taking place, and the problem areas are always are in counties where the Democrats do the counting! So disappointing!

Last Words

 I was listening to the "Sunday on Monday" podcast about the Book of Mormon this morning. At the beginning of the podcast, the host invited us to write down what our last words to our family would be if we knew we wouldn't be around much longer, and to limit our statement to 6 sentences.

I want to take on that challenge. I think this is what I would say in my 6 sentences:

"Although some of you might be questioning the reality of Jesus Christ right now, I want you to know that I have a deep and abiding testimony that He lives,  for I have seen his hand in my life on many occasions. Because of Him and His graciousness, I have literally experienced miracles, like prayers being answered, being healed quickly from Bells Palsy, and having an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort when I have needed it most. Jesus Christ is my friend and will be my advocate to God when one day I will stand before Him to be judged for my actions in this life, just as He will be your advocate on your own judgment day. Christ is the gateway to Heaven and he has beaconed all to 'Come Unto Him.'  I have followed that admonition and hope that each of you will too. Remember who you are and why you are here and do all things unto the Lord and He will bless you beyond measure, is my prayer for you at this time. Love, Mom"

The reason the host invited us to do this exercise is because this week we are studying Mormon chapters 7-9. In chapter 7, Mormon writes his last words. Then in chapters 8 & 9, Moroni writes his last words. 

After Mormon dies in the great battle on Cummorah's Hill, Moroni is completely alone. Everyone he knows (all of the Nephites, or anyone who will not deny Christ) has been killed by the Lamanites. He is the last man standing, so to speak. He is hiding in a cave in order to complete the records his own father commanded him to write, hoping not to be discovered by the Lamanites. He is basically writing his "last words" to his people as well as to anyone in the future who will be reading what he wrote (like me and millions of others).

I can't imagine the loneliness that Moroni must have been feeling. Can you imagine being all alone and being hunted by evil men who enjoy killing others just for sport and the lust of the kill? I can't imagine that! 

I'm so grateful to be surrounded by family members, good friends, and a supportive church family. I feel loved, cared for, and protected - especially by my dear husband! We are "one" in every sense of the word. He completes me and I hope we will have many more wonderful years together.

I love that Angel Moroni sits atop most of our LDS Temples. It is a reminder to me that the statue is a call to take the good news of the gospel to all the world. Also, Moroni is facing East, announcing the 2nd coming of our Savior. Christ will come from the East.

I long for that day!