Friday, October 16, 2020

Be Ye Lift Up, Ye Everlasting Doors

Recently, we have pondered
and painted doors.
Jesus taught:  I am the door
      So, doors must matter!  
     Our neighbor, Bertie, told us to paint
the door of our heart
with the blood of the Lamb--
 as Moses invited his people 
to do in Egypt
by making choices 
to invite the things
that do not lift and edify us 
(the destroying angel)
to pass by, 
or pass over 
ourselves and our homes. 
We are presently in process of painting 
   
the "lintels" (or the trim) of our garage, 
     our front door, 
and now the shed--
our current "high mountain"
 where we value engineering 
and knot-tying skills 
which connect and secure us to
our highest objectives.   
Along with this, we love the
(often blind) courage of a spouse,
to reach, prepare and help to complete them.

Sometimes doors fail to open and close as we wish,
(This is a photo of our east bedroom window shutters,
barred closed to protect against the raging Labor Day winds)

so we are learning patience
might be opened.  
We are learning that the Lord
and knocks. 

That He is the Keeper

of our most important gates.

And we join Him
as we open doors for others.
 Some treasured doors have opened for

our daughter Maria,

and her best friend, Jacob. 


Last year, as we wished goodbye

to a friend,

Ashley Christensen

in our Fresno, California mission,

Sister Christensen exclaimed

she knew our Maria. 

(“Maria is your daughter!?  I love Maria!)  

I mentioned a challenge
of not knowing an individual
that this daughter seemed to be interested in. 

“Jacob Peterson? I love Jacob Peterson!” 

Apparently, Ashley’s missionary preparation
instructor was Jacob—

“Jacob knows so much

[about the gospel and more]

and he is kind!”

We finally met Jacob,
over very hot soup at a restaurant,
(Jacob likes spicy!)
Then at family gatherings,
we learned to play
a favorite family game of Jacob’s,
Queendomino. 
During a January journey to visit Amber
in New Mexico,

of course, I was all ears. 
(Any news?) 
No decisions. 
When Maria
(or any other unnamed Starkey)
makes up a mind, it is not to be rushed. 
Mid Spring, before our
Sunday home worship service,
Maria waltzed through
the front door,
sat on the music chair
and declared:
“I am determined
to marry Jacob.”

There it was! 

Corona virus or no.

Prior to announcing this decision,

on the final Saturday

that the Bountiful temple was open,
in March, 
Maria secured an appointment
and attended,
receiving her “temple endowment,”
which filled the necessary instruction requirement
to allow Maria and Jacob
to enter in July to be sealed--
a wish that others have desired and still await.

And that they may grow up... 

and receive a fulness...

and be organized... and be
prepared[!]...”

Above is my happy reminder

of the blessings of beginnings.

Note from Val:
"We, the parents of Maria,
report with joy
the comings and goings
around Maria and Jacob's wedding:
The preparations were good--
lots of man hours.
The temple sealing was very spiritual and lovely.
The open air, masks-required reception
was beautiful and enjoyable,
with way more people
than we ever imagined!

Special thanks to so many who helped,

who traveled from far.

We know that many couldn't come

but sent their kindness and
best regards."
          
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 
A bubbling brook 
at the bottom of Grandma's hill
on Mutton Hollow
was carefully carved

with fingers that decide daily,
“I can create beauty out of anything!” 

Just over twenty-seven years ago,
a reception was held here
for Maria’s parents. 
Only, this year, it was coupled
with fresh, candid creativity, carrying
fabric banners,
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 
photographs, 
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 
fabric lanterns 
(discovered in a favorite weekend tradition of frequenting garage sales)
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
 antique soda bottles 
          
(and other "paraphernalia" Maria’s family members
 have scratched heads about, over the years--
(Photo credits above:  Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
prove there is a time 
to every purpose under heaven!) 

We hope to express joy, gratitude and thanks 
to friends, extended family, 
sisters, brothers, children,
grandchildren. All gathered (in masked marvel)
in a peaceful
setting of tree-canopied outdoors. 
It was the bubbling brook 
that attracted Maria’s nieces
and nephews,
glad for any reason to be together—
but what can top a wedding?

Like our bubbling brook,
we overflow
with ripples of appreciation--
first, to a grandmother
who in January, with her twin,
marked a 91st year.

Cherished
are mornings
we toiled together
side by side replanting lilies. 

Grateful we are,
 to Val's sister Marlene
for her tireless weeding
and artistic hand
in creating landscape beauty; 
to his brother Paul and wife Gloria
(sister Sherryl and her grandchildren)
for mornings hauling and dumping mulch
from truck to garden path.

Thanks to Jacob's
supportive family network,
who lent house
and home, making signs,
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 
cutting fabric
collecting heritage frames
of marriages past and present,
-- detailing the story of two unique,
commendable children, growing up,
chasing dreams and in the process,
finding one another.
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 

As preliminaries were stirring,
I bent my brother’s ear to ask,
"If you were preparing to meet
your child's new in-laws-to-be,
what questions would you ask?"
His questions opened the door
for delightful memories,
shared over delicious fruit bowls
and Tammy's (Jacob's mother's) homemade
cookies at a lovely bridal shower
held at dusk in her sister's
back yard, near another babbling brook.


One story of a boy growing up is a

revealing portrait of the young man our Maria
chose to marry--
Jacob has always loved rocks.  
In his Puerto Rico kindergarten, Jacob noticed they
were NOT studying rocks. 
"Why are we NOT studying rocks?"
the five-year-old took his teacher aside to ask,

"It is not in the curriculum,"
she kindly replied. 
"But Jacob, you can study rocks and teach us.
Will you?"

Jacob agreed. 
Four months later, after meeting
weekly with the kindergarten teacher,
Jacob was ready.

"How much time do you think you will need?"
the teacher queried,
thinking he would maybe want five minutes.  

"Three days," was Jacob's answer.  

Three days came and went. 
Jacob presented his prepared material,
and as his presentation drew to an end,
Jacob passed out an exam to
test his classmates.  
Both parents shared this story with a smile.  

Fast forward to another memory,

this time with a partner at his side.

a rock on her finger

was presented in the mountains

near a waterfall.

Later vows would be offered

between sacred granite walls.

Something there reminded us of a day
nearly twenty-seven years earlier,
as her parents exited
doorways of a Logan, then later Seattle temple.
It was another place of quarried rock
from which Maria's mom and dad embarked
as a couple sealed in holy covenant, prepared
 to celebrate the arrival of Maria nearly a year later
amidst seven doting siblings. 

Both Maria and Jacob's individual choices
in choosing trustworthy friends,
drawing support from family and others
in paths of goodness,
that pointed them toward promises
they would make
within stone-cut holy walls.
The officiator, Brother Richard Adams,
offered unrushed time,
helping us each visualize
the magnitude and grandeur of
participating in a bond
that connects families
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 

for more than this life

walled an altar
where the couple knelt
in a sacred covenant (or three-way promise)
between Maria, Jacob, and their Heavenly Father,
binding them to each other
and to future
children and generations.
The experience was gratifying--
exalting, joyful, blessed.
After this lovely
sacred hour,
siblings
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
grandmothers,
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
cousins,
(Photo credits above:  Thank you to 
friends, and family
(Photo credit: Thank you to 
gathered
in the welcome shade
of Grandma Starkey's back yard patio.

Jacob and Maria's former bishop,
Brother Page Bennett performed
the ring ceremony,
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 
commending both
for being "anxiously engaged"
in good causes,
declaring--
"If you want something done,
ask a busy person!"
He invited the couple forward
to a new great cause--
beginning a brand-new
family--their own!

Special caution
was exerted
to honor
distance guidelines
and sanitary suggestions. 
(Photo credit: Thank you to 
Siblings
with children, came from
as near as Grammy's house
to as far as traveling from
California,
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
others from Arizona,
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
Washington State,

(Photo credits above:  Thank you to 
and New Mexico,
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
offering greetings, well wishes,
appreciation of flowers
(Photo credits above:  Thank you to 
and for Maria's simple, unique decorations.

Jacob’s family remained

after the Starkey vehicles
rumbled away,
carrying yawning grandchildren


preparing for an early morning
road trip to Arizona,

to honor our grandson
Riley's
high school graduation.


After sending off Starkey grandchildren,
we scoured Grandma's hollow
for a ribbon, or bottle, or strand of lights
to recollect and stow. 
But everything had been collected and stowed! 
Thanks to a family that "just DOES that."
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 

Maria and Jacob finally landed

(Photo credit above:  Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)

at their Kaysville Main Street cottage

following a respite picnicking and zip lining. 

Jacob has now passed
his graduate record exam
(they are both hoping to be outstanding in their field!)
(Photo credit above:  Thank you to 
and has begun working again
with a former geology professor
analyzing development of concrete.
 Maria continued
"at home" engineering
for Hill Air Force Base,
until recently,
where she has returned in person,
newly assigned to manage a project
from which a fellow colleague just retired.   
We relish prospects
of a year of close connection with them
before they seek further
adventures elsewhere.

Celebrating, this time in Manti,

with Maria’s cousin

Daniel in his response to a mission call

we ran across a description
adding detail to why
marriage is “ordained of God,”
explaining that a change in...heart will come
as [you serve and] feel your faith
in eternal families.
It will change your feelings
about what it means
to be a [family member.]
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 
That change in your heart
will come as you feel your faith grow
and the promise of eternal life
... becomes real to you.

“That happened
to Parley P. Pratt
when the Prophet Joseph Smith
first taught him the doctrine
of eternal families.
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 
Parley P. Pratt wrote:
“It was at this time
that I received from him
the first idea of eternal family
organization,
and the eternal union of the sexes
in those inexpressibly
endearing relationships
which none but the highly intellectual,
the refined and
pure in heart,
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 
know how to prize
and which are at the very
foundation of everything
worthy to be called happiness…
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 

“It was from him
that I learned
that the wife of my bosom
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
might be secured to me
for time and all eternity;
and that the refined
sympathies and affections
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
which endeared us to each other
emanated from the
fountain of divine eternal love.
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
 It was from him that I learned
that we might cultivate these affections,
and grow and increase in the same to
all eternity... 

(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)

“I had loved before,
but I knew not why. 
But now
I loved—with a pureness—
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling. …
I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed;
Jesus was my brother, and
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
that the wife of my bosom
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
was an immortal, eternal companion;
a kind ministering angel,
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
given to me as a comfort,
and a crown of glory
(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)
for ever and ever.”

So, here is our blessing to the newlyweds: 

We pray His hand will be over you for good.
May eternity be your rock and your covering. 

(Photo credits above: Thank you to  Flying Gull Photography)

May doors of education

add intelligence and light,
(Photo credit above: Thank you to 
that lead to (another) perfect day.
Any questions?

Grateful, we are, for that which

During our recent storm on Labor Day,
with the summer over, we weathered
90 plus miles per hour hurricane winds,
we prayed for them (and for each of you)
that your faith "fail not."

May you continue to be showered
(and shower others)
with blessings small and large
as you gather, treasure,
appreciate, and keep one another.

(Grateful we are for moments
with grandchildren
that we continue to treasure)
(Photo credits above: Thank you to 

Let us cherish the gates and doors
that offer liberty and good choices. 
As we ponder our part
in protecting and preserving freedoms
offered by our Constitution,
how we may best appreciate
the founding principles
that encourage participation.
We honor responsibility 
in choosing  “statesmen over politicians,”
as I remember Grandpa Ivin L. Gee
supplicating heaven over whole-grain cereal
in his inimitable bass voice
at a tiny Lander, Wyoming
kitchen table.
And as we pray for God to heal our land,
and to quench our fires,
may we challenge discord


Because future doors might be wrenched--
like our French back door
which hung from a single hinge
during Labor Day’s fierce gusts--
may each of us fasten our doors securely
to a solid frame.   

May we remember,

that God is not in the wind or the fire 

but in the still small voice.


Love, Laurene and Val


1 comment:

  1. So wonderful to see the beauty and purity of love between these two precious children of God. The smiles on everyone's faces shows the special family time that was shared. I wish them all the happiness life can offer.
    You did a wonderful job of putting all the pictures and stories together. So fun to read.

    ReplyDelete