Snow Day and Grace

Well, there wasn't really any snow with it but the kids did have a 'snow day' - No school! The winds were terrible and many roads closed so school was closed as well. I couldn't have picked a better day for it - thank you school district - and as it turned out it was one of the sunniest days we have had since Christmas.

I had been wondering what to do with Nathan because I needed to go meet our builder out at the new house (which is FREEZING COLD) and I also needed to pick all the flooring (translates to dragging poor Nathan around and telling him not to touch anything while I gab about floor coverings and try to make a decision all on my own). It turned out great because I spent about 5 hours yesterday taking care of new house stuff while the kids took care of each other at home. Then of course we had the Tuesday run-a-round schedule of piano, dance, gymnastics, scouts and mutual - but I should be used to that by now.

About the house: It was soooo warm, too hot in fact. Our builder is 'thawing it out' and wants it to get up to about 90 degrees inside. When I asked Why? he told me that he wanted to have all the moisture (snow and ice that came in before the roof) to be completely dried out before they sheet rock the walls so that there is no chance of mold. I could have hugged him! I detest mold, so let it be 90 degrees! The ceilings are completely sheet rocked, walls will come on Thursday.

I have been having trouble picking the flooring (mostly because I don't like making decisions like that that are so permanent and visualizing my house done in something that I can only see a small sample of just frustrates me) so I called my neighbor who is also building a house. She was having the same trouble so we decided to do it all together - LeRoy was very glad to be left out of this process. My builder took both of us to see 3 homes to help us visualize things (trims, faucets, colors, carpets, tile, wood floors) and then we went to the flooring store. I am so relieved to announce that I am dropping off all of the specs for tile, wood floor, carpet, trim, casings, faucets, counter tops and paint colors today. I don't want to see another house or see any more samples - I'm afraid I will change my mind again.

As monotonous as all of this may be to anyone reading, it wears me out. My body was really rejecting getting in and out of the Yukon by early afternoon and having fallen on the ice in the morning didn't help. By the time bedtime came I felt a little bruised and beat up. I still took a Unisom and still didn't sleep. I'm just a pregnant insomniac with spastic legs. I was totally depending on the Unisom to knock me out and nothing happened - either night. I will admit that I was only up twice each night but does that really count as a good night sleep?? My mind never goes to bed, I still feel tired when I wake up and my legs are still jumpy.

Ahhh . . . ok, this is my trial for now and I WILL make it! One thing that has helped is to realize that I was missing my greatest strength - or rather not paying attention to it. Though I have prayed more during this time in my life than ever before, I find myself whining and pleading for the trials to be made easier rather than praying that I will have the strength to endure them. A couple of years ago for an enrichment gift at Christmas time, the enrichment leader came up with a wooden plaque that we could give each sister. This could be a really long story but to shorten it, I helped to apply 100 vinyl letter sayings to these blocks. The saying: "Grace shall be as your day". It comes from the song 'Come, Come Ye Saints'. As I applied the saying over and over again to these blocks the true meaning of it really came to me and I realized that no matter what is going on in my life, there is Grace sufficient for that. That Christ has suffered all for me and that it is by His Grace that I can endure, even cheerfully endure. As I was pondering this I looked up and on my wall is a gift that a good friend gave to me. I haven't read it in a while and the verse completely applied to me. It was a good reminder the other night (during one of my many terrible, horrible, no good, very bad nights). I realized that I have been depending on "the arm of flesh" to ease the trial (herbs, vitamins, massage, baths, Unisom) rather than depending on the Grace of Jesus Christ and the Priesthood to help me endure the trial. So I am committing to cheerful endurance and dependance on my Savior. Please forgive me when I fall and post a whiny, poor me day.