Soul Carving

   With the many voices being raised today, we can feel bombarded with conflicting opinions, uncertain what to believe as the many voices clamor for our attention. When I start to feel this panic and confusion welling up in me, I turn to the scriptures for clarity. Helaman 5:30 of the Book of Mormon says:  "And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul"    I've been privileged to share my voice on a website specifically for women of faith. You can read my previous contributions here and here .    Today, you can find the final installment of Embracing Grace featured on A Voice of Gladness. I hope my voice brings you some needed clarity and peace in this tumultuous world. Share the link with others you think may benefi...

When we first moved into this home, I knew I wanted to update the toy kitchen for our kids. Our family was growing and I was excited to have more space available. So for Christmas that year, I was delighted to score a sturdy wooden set, including a stovetop and oven along with a fridge. I liked that they were painted a bold red and green respectively -- nothing considered too girly for boys to play with. I also loved that they don’t sport any brand name logos or characters. They look “real”. A few Christmases later, we added new dishes (from the local secondhand store, of course), and we spruced up an old wooden table with spray paint to go along with the oven and fridge.  Just recently, I realized our silverware collection had dwindled, so I surprised the kids with a new, realistic looking set. But I lamented that the kids had no drawers to store them in. It seemed odd to put them in the cupboard next to the oven, and keeping them in the refrigerator was out of the question! ...

Emily Dickinson called hope " the thing with feathers ". This time of year, nearly every time I'm out for a walk, I can find empty eggshells. The bright turquoise of the robin's shells stand out against the dampened soil. I always feel a surge of excitement when I spot one. I like to collect them for our Nature Nook at home.  But lately, my delight has quickly turned to sorrow as I've discovered several eggs, cracked, but with baby birds still inside. Yesterday, I even found a dead baby bird on our driveway. It makes me heartsick, seeing these lifeless, tiny shapes. As the chatter and songs of a dozen other birds fill the air, my heart swells with a bittersweet ache. I relish the music that surrounds me, but I mourn for those voices that are lost.  Spring is a season of new beginnings. Witnessing death at this time seems like a cruel irony. Like a bird struck down in mid flight, it can cause you to question that budding optimism you felt only moments...

Reflections on Wisdom Sits in Places by Keith H. Basso In Western Apache culture, places bear the names given to them by the ancestors. These names are often straight forward in their descriptions, but always imbued with deep meaning. The elders of Apache society instruct their youth to drink deeply from the wisdom of these places. Wisdom is like water. As one apache said, "You can't live long without water and you can't live a long time without wisdom. You need to drink both." Certain places then, are like oases of knowledge from which each generation may quench their thirst. Often, the sacredness of these place-worlds is not recognized until after repeated experience with them. It takes great faith to act with reverence even when one's surrounding seem not to merit such actions. We must beleive that simple tasks, when repeated in an intentional, ceremonial fashion, can hallow even the the most derelect environments. This is the process we r...

How to Live  through a pandemic With the closure of many schools and workplaces, I see a lot of posts about the difficulty of being with our kids and family more than usual lately. I totally get it (I'm a homeschooling mom of eight -- believe me, I get it!). So what I say is not meant to shame anyone or heap more guilt upon weary souls. But I want to state very clearly my beliefs on this matter -- even if I have trouble practicing what I preach at times.  When our patience is wearing thin and we find ourselves pining for a return to normalcy, remember this: God gave you these children. He didn't give them to the school teacher, or the district administrator, the childcare expert, or the pediatrician. They are your divine charge for "wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord." (1 Ne. 19:3). So instead of fretting over our supposed inadequacies, or complaining about the sacrifices involved, why not turn to the Lord to learn a bit more...

     My kids, like most, love to play dress up (though my teen might prefer the term, "cosplay"), and they do it on a regular basis. So they're usually planning Halloween costumes well in advance of October. And by that I mean that while they are enjoying their candy on Nov. 1st, they start discussing what they want to be for next year!      Last September, when our 9-year-old son said he wanted to go as a referee, we decided to order an inexpensive costume through Amazon. Halloween was drawing nearer. Princess costumes arrived for two of our girls, but somehow, the referee package went missing. Only a week left before Halloween. Time to get thrifty.      I'm no seamstress. Lucky for us, our neighbors who were moving out had just gifted us a collection of long-sleeved shirts in assorted colors. There was a white one in his size. I purchased a couple rolls of black Duck Tape and got to work.       I didn...