All Things New!

 Dear Family and dear friends,                                            

How was your Navidad (Christmas?)  Are you mustering your second wind?  

We count blessings, as the newly painted bedroom afforded room for a daughter to introduce a new cousin to her sister's family:  

and great granddaughter to Great Grandmas.

Comings and goings brought joy sufficient to bring a few pangs of longing at a season's change.

"I cried the day that I took the tree down! I want this season to last all year long!"   

But as newness breaks upon the horizon...

is it not awe-inspiring to wake up

 to pink sky, white snow drifts, untouched beginnings, 

ready for the treading?

 A niece, Christine, prompted a 3 plus year prayer journal, where one of my requests recently has been for eyes to see effectual doors and courage to walk through each. 

  One such door came to us with the invitation of a Colorado daughter to visit and install bifold closet coverings for her dining room food pantry. A stretch for each of us.  

She invited.  I said YES!   (But actually, I was not sure I would not be driving alone, until Maria’s sweet engineer father bit into the bait and decided it was something he could and would try.)  One problem:  doors were ordered just before Christmas.  You know the routine—everyone wants something ordered and arriving just before Christmas!  Doors were slated to arrive Thursday, December 28th. End of story.  Or was it?  Christmas Eve, a phone conversation went like this: 

“We really would like you to come.  Not as a doormaker, Dad, but as a father!” 

 I call those “horse (or Dad) whispering words." 

       They spoke truth.  And they motivated a 4:30 a.m. Christmas morning rising. 

 7:30 AM departure. 

After a quick early morning "hello" to nearby loved ones, we were on the road!  

Sky fair. 

Roads dry and clear.

 Marked tender mercies!  

5 p.m. Denver arrival, sporting a beautiful sunset and nearly full moon.  

Dinner.  

Games. 

A tour of scientific corridors, reminiscent of my own Dad meandering marble halls sampling soils from New Hampshire to North Dakota to Southeastern Washington and beyond.  

Then, while daddy-daughter engineers scratched heads determining dimensions, diameters and drawings, the rest of us sanded, mudded, caulked and painted to our hearts’ content.  

After wanderlust in home recreation reached its peak, it was time to teach Dad a favorite Peterson family game:  Hand ‘n Foot.  Which, we won’t say who actually won, 

but “A good time was had by all and Zella Bassett served!”  

(A famous family saying, quoting Great Grandma 

Mary Ellen Gee’s regular Relief Society minutes.)  

Closet doors came two days early.  And are currently complete, 

along with a small cast-iron pan sized hole filled in the ceiling 

(remnant of earlier dissolution of cabinets in a previous visit of Jacob’s parents.) 

                                                                  (Before)                                               ( After)

Is it not wonderful to renew connections with loved ones that nurture talent?  

Perhaps it fits a drawing on our granddaughter's bedroom wall: 

 "Just because something comes easily to you, 

does not mean it has no value.  

You find it effortless because you love it, and that is your gift."

 (Aedan of the Shining Wing Clan, The Tea Dragon Festival, by Katie O'Neill.)  See below: 

                                What are prized remnants of favorite family moments for you?

One of mine was finding holy halls in a city where my father went to grade school.  

The Colorado visit also invites memories of my own parents driving distances, arriving 

paintbrush in hand (even when a possum joined our sleepover!)  

(Finished product!)

I appreciate reading biographies of prophets 

that visited grown children, trowel and hammer in hand

with masterpieces of divine handiwork going and coming. 

Which brings me to another story:  

Last month, an annoying sign flashed the dashboard of my mom's and brought me to a dealership for service.  I walked in prepared to fix whatever it took (as flashing lights offer discomfort!) The specialist greeted me with welcome words:  "Don’t worry, you are covered!  Your brother has a plan for you!"  I fished out keys and waited.  During the time it took to change the oil, rotate the tires and replace wiper blades, my thoughts rested on the words just repeated to me: 

 "Your brother has a plan for you, and you are covered!"  

My Brother has a plan for me.  Purchased at an infinite cost!  What is my part of the bargain? Perhaps regular maintenance? Honor golden "rules of the road?" Apply such gifts afforded me to serve my family as I prepare to greet a Father waiting in a life ahead?  

I pray to honor my stewardship and watch for ways 

to "clean my side of the street" in this brand-new beginning!      

  

P.S.: Val’s mom, Verla,  turned 94 the day our youngest Kaysville granddaughter turned eight last week. 

A 94-year-old took her children to dinner.                          An eight year old was baptized. 

 During a baptism lesson moment, creating Lego baptismal font and temple, 

 

came from the mouth of babes a reason a person might honor a day of rest: 

“Well, it is because we want to be polite to Heavenly Father!”  

What is polite?  What else can I learn from little ones?  

May we find ways to listen to (or become) "Dad whisperers," this year!  

What if we choose to be polite and remember what we have to do, 

as we remember with joy that we are covered!  

Blessings in your brand-new year!    

Love and kisses! Laurene and Val