On to November

And just like that, October is over.  I can't believe I didn't get one post in the whole month.

We enjoyed our annual trip to Porcupine Damn to see the salmon run.

We had loads of fun for the one day we had snow:

My kids were hilarious.  They knew snow was in the forecast and prayed that it would snow a lot.  When Hudson woke up the next morning he was like any other kid on Christmas morning.  That kid LOVES snow.  I've been hoping we could end up getting a job somewhere that has lots of snow but it may not work out that way for us.

We went to the annual Pumpkin Walk.

We've raked up and played in the fall leaves.  That was hours of excitement for sure.

Except for that one cold snap that brought the snow, we've been enjoying a very lovely fall.  It's been gorgeous outside.  How I love that sunshine.  And the leaves!  So vibrant this year.

Ethan's still been looking for work.  No luck yet.

And now we are on to November, and enjoying the rest of the loveliness that autumn has to give us.

Mountains to Climb

I was sitting in church today thinking about the many people I know that are experiencing major trials right now.  It's not just a few.  There's job loss, premature babies, cancer, divorce, strokes, death and more just in my little world of friends and family.  It seems times are tough for just about everyone right now.  Here in our own little Nuttall home, that is no exception.  It's been over six months since Ethan graduated with his MBA and we are still looking for work.  Now, I know that is small fries compared to all the things other people are going through, and that humbles me.

As I was pondering trials today, my thoughts turned to how I seem to have this innate desire for everything to be easy.  True, that may be a common trait amongst all of us humans, but I think I have an extra dose of it.

All my life, it seems, I've been doing what I can to make things easy.  During my schooling years, I only did the easy assignments or took the easy classes.  Wouldn't want to challenge myself and make things too difficult!  I rarely add extra things to my schedule, keeping to the most essential tasks.  I keep my hobbies simple and few.  I'm constantly evaluating the things in our home - do we have too much?  What could I get rid of to make things easier?

I stress easily.  I get overwhelmed easily.  So I try to avoid situations where those feelings might occur.

Wanting things to be simple and easy is such a part of me that I began to wonder if I was this way before I came to earth.  Surely life wasn't easy in our premortal existence - there was a war in heaven after all.  I imagined how I must have run to our Heavenly Father for comfort many times.  "Why does it have to bee so hard?" I'd ask.  "Why must there be so much suffering?"

What would Father's response have been to such questions?

Painting by David Bowman

I don't know if this is right, or true, but this is what came to me today as I was thinking about it: he would have said,  "If life was easy it wouldn't be worth living."

Really?  Because I can imagine a wonderful life full of peace and no problems.  Of course I'm kidding . . . mostly, because I know we need trials in our lives.  Trials help us develop, mature, they help us grow  closer to our Savior, they help us to appreciate the good times, they keep us humble, they teach us to empathize, trials test our faith.  Apparently trials are awesome!  I guess I forgot that.

What if, instead of being frustrated and stressed when trials come upon us, we welcome the challenge, knowing what opportunities trials bring?  Could we welcome the hard times knowing that our Heavenly Father uses those times to shape us, to refine us, like in the refiner's fire?

In a conference talk, President Spencer W. Kimball retold a story of Caleb from the Old Testament in which Caleb, confronted with a problem, said to the Lord, "Give me this mountain."

President Kimball said:

There are great challenges ahead of us, giant opportunities to be met. I welcome that exciting prospect and feel to say to the Lord, humbly, “Give me this mountain,” give me these challenges.

Grand Teton Mountains

How many of us have asked for a trial?  President Eyring has.  He read President Kimball's talk and decided to pray to receive a trial.

He recounted:

Within a day or two my prayer was answered. The hardest trial of my life surprised and humbled me. It provided me a twofold lesson. First, I had clear proof that God heard and answered my prayer of faith. But second, I began a tutorial that still goes on to learn about why I felt with such confidence that night that a great blessing could come from adversity to more than compensate for any cost.

Adversity brings blessings.  Great blessings.

President James E. Faust said:

Here, then, is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this way the divine image can be mirrored from the soul. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, godly whisperings of the Divine Shepherd.

Out of the refiner’s fire can come a glorious deliverance. It can be a noble and lasting rebirth. The price to become acquainted with God will have been paid. There can come a sacred peace. There will be a reawakening of dormant, inner resources. A comfortable cloak of righteousness will be drawn around us to protect us and to keep us warm spiritually. Self-pity will vanish as our blessings are counted.

I'm learning I need to be grateful for these hard times.  We all do.  It's good for us, it really is.

To all of us out there suffering right now, let's be happy.  Let's be grateful.  Let's feel blessed.  And let's say, "Lord, give me this mountain."  Because, I know, that with the Lord's help, we can conquer these mountains.

And we'll come out better, happier people on the other side.

It Makes Me Smile

"Mom!  I squibble my nibbles!"

Not Quite What I'd Asked For

I folded Libby's laundry and placed it in a basket.  I handed her the basket and asked, "would you please put your laundry away?"  I came back ten minutes later to see if she'd finished . . .

Not only did she NOT put her laundry away, piling it on the floor instead, but, as a bonus, she took all the clothes out of her drawers and put them in the pile, too.

What Would You Like?

My grandma and grandpa have given us the Taste of Home magazine for Christmas the last few years.  We really enjoy looking through it and picking out things to make.  I got a new issue last week and thought it would be fun to give the kids little sticky flags and tell them to put a flag on any recipe they would like me to make.  Maria had orange flags, Hudson had blue and Libby had yellow flags.

 They picked out more than I expected:

Of course, some of them got a little carried away:

Libby picked this.  "Libby," I said, "you're suppose to pick things you want me to make.  That's a bed."  "But I want that bed for you," she said.

They did make some nice selections, though.  They all picked this:

Hmmmm.  Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie.  I think I'll have to make that.

When You Go to the River

Sometimes when you go to the river you get to hope across streams.

Sometimes when you go to the river you find great rocks to throw into the river.

Sometimes when you go to the river you have to take off your shoes and socks, roll up your pants, and slosh through the cold, cold water.

 Sometimes when you go to the river your dad will help you walk to the middle of the river and you can feel the river pushing you.

Sometimes when you go to the river your pants get a little too wet.

Sometimes when you go to the river and your pants get a little too wet you have to wear your jacket like a skirt . . .

Or a dress.

Always when you go to the river you smile and smile and smile . . .

Because going to the river is great fun.

Balance

Ethan and I have had to think about balance lately.  Life is pretty stressful right now.  Ethan's been looking for work since April when he graduated.  As any of you who have had to look for work know, it takes a lot of time to apply for jobs.  A lot.  Ethan spends hours every day looking for and applying for jobs.  It's pretty much a full-time job.  We haven't done as much as we would like in the way of fun this summer mostly because of this.  Ethan feels a lot of pressure as the sole provider and I think he let's that keep him from having fun - why have fun when finding a job is so critical?

But that's where balance comes in.  He's been working so hard and not off-setting it with enjoyment.  That only creates stress.  Stress makes life miserable.  Life is to be enjoyed.  Sometimes that's harder to do than other times.  But that doesn't make it any less important.  We realized we need to have more fun.

And so we went into to mountains.

I love how excited my kids get when we tell them we're going to the mountains.  I love how it only takes us about 10 minutes of driving across town before we get into the mountains.  I love how, as we were walking through the mountains, Ethan sighed and said, "I feel more like me now."

As a family, we're getting better at hiking.  We hiked the Jardine Juniper Trail and made it farther than we ever have before - and that's with all the kids walking the whole time!  That's a major accomplishment for us.

That hike was good for all of us.  I love what being in the mountains does for our souls.  

I don't know what our future holds.  I don't know when relief will come.  I do know that where ever we go the Lord will take care of us.

And I hope that, where ever that place is, there will be mountains.