This past weekend there was a major ice storm on the forecast. The freezing rain was supposed to start early on Friday, and continue intermittently through Sunday early afternoon. School was cancelled for Gabe on Friday because of it, and the temple preemptively closed down for the weekend. The freezing rain had started (slightly) by the time we woke up Friday morning, so we spent the day inside. Every so often we would peak outside to see how bad it was. There was definitely a layer of ice on everything, but not nearly as much as we expected. By Saturday the roads were clear and it was supposed to stay that way until late that night. So we went to the theater and watched Moana (which we LOVED, minus the stupid, weird crab) and went out to dinner with some friends.
I was supposed to teach the combined young women for the first time on Sunday, but the forecast had changed to constant freezing rain from 3am to 2pm on Sunday, so I just knew church would be cancelled. My lesson was mostly prepared already anyway, because I had been thinking about it and making notes over the past two weeks at least. But I still hadn't organized those thoughts and notes into a coherent lesson yet. At dinner with our friends (the wife is the 1st counselor in the Young Women Presidency and I'm the 2nd), I told her that I was so sure church would be cancelled (actually we were all really surprised it hadn't been cancelled already), but I just knew that if I assumed that and didn't finish my lesson, it would end up not being cancelled.
Well guess what, I didn't take any time that night to finish working on my lesson, so I set my alarm a little extra early for Sunday morning. When I woke up, it was raining - not freezing rain, just raining - and you could see what ice was left melting. So much for church being cancelled. I didn't have as much time before church as I really wanted to finish putting my lesson together, but because of the preparation I had done beforehand, it was enough. I, surprisingly, wasn't nervous about teaching the entire young women, and actually found that I really enjoyed it.
I had been reading the section "Love Those you Teach" in the Teaching in the Savior's Way manual during the week, and absolutely loved the suggestion to set up/prepare for the lesson ahead of time, so that as the students are coming in for class you can interact with them, instead of being absorbed and hurried in setting things up. The other suggestion was to have some of the students help you set up, so that you could interact with them in that way. I don't really do displays for my lessons - artsy stuff really isn't my forte - but I did pick up a few posters from the library ahead of time to hang on the board, and I wanted the main scripture from the lesson written on the board. So a couple of the young women worked together to write the verses on the board, and another hung up the pictures for me. It was a small thing, but I appreciated their help, and appreciated that it allowed me to have more interaction with the girls before the lesson. Like I said, I really enjoyed teaching the entire group, and the lesson went very well. The young women had some wonderful comments, and I felt the Spirit guiding my responses and the flow of the lesson. Teaching is such a great experience when I do my part ahead of time. I am so grateful for my calling with the young women and all that I am learning because of it.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
The latest and greatest from St. Louis...
It seems like every time I call or visit with someone to catch up I end up saying, "So pretty much the same as last time..." There really aren't a lot of big or progressive things going on in my life right now. But that's ok, it's the small and simple that make the greatest difference, right?
So, for the most part, things are pretty much the same as they were months ago when I wrote the "5 years of updates," but there are a few things worth sharing! First of all, Gabe is now in Trimester 9 - our of 10! That's right! Less than 8 months until graduation! AND, less than 5 months until we move back home to Springfield! :O And we actually know now that we will be able to move home in May. At the end of last trimester, Gabe applied to some extra clinic opportunities hoping to guarantee that he would be finished with his required adjustments, new patients, etc. by the end of this trimester. He was accepted into LCC, one of the clinics that works with Logan University and does community outreach (aka - lots of patients). We were super excited and are very grateful. He's liking it pretty well so far. He goes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 12-7, in addition to his regular clinic hours on campus Wednesdays from 12-4 and class every morning from 7:30-12. On top of which, he has a class on Saturday and Sunday for a couple weekends, as well as the occasional seminar. Ya, he's pretty busy right now. Thankfully, his time at LCC and his weekend class only last until mid February.
But for the meantime, his busy schedule has left mine feeling rather empty. But trust me, I'm not complaining. Since moving away from home after high school, I've come to realize more and more how introverted I actually am. So while I miss the extra time with my husband, I have no problem with the extra quiet time by myself at home. The only challenge is trying to make sure I'm still being productive and not a total bum...which I think I'm at least partially succeeding at. :) I spend Wednesdays babysitting and Thursdays at the temple. Other than that I'm trying to devote a lot more time to scripture reading, and just reading in general, as well as cooking a good dinner every night and keeping the house clean. And seeing as how I cook and clean like I do everything else in life - very "thoroughly"...ok, slowly - it fills my time up pretty well. Plus it also leaves my schedule open for phone calls, visiting teaching, preparing young women lessons, and spending time with friends. Oh! And I'm now trying to spend some time each week doing, or at least reading, family history. Anyway, it sounds kind of boring, but I like boring. :)
Our time here in St. Louis has gone by so quickly, it's crazy. We are SO excited to move back home and be closer to family (and farther from the city), but there are definitely some things about St. Louis that I'm going to miss. First of all, our ward. Seriously, our ward here is amazing. Before moving up here Dad gave each of us, myself and Gabe, a recorded Father's Blessing. In mine he talked about the ward that I would go to in St. Louis and how I would enjoy it and how it would bless my life and fill my cup each week. I can't even express how completely I have seen that fulfilled. I've served with the young women pretty much the entire time we've been here and I have absolutely loved it. I have come to know and love a lot of the women and families in our ward, but I have especially loved the relationships I've gained with the other young women leaders as we have worked and served together. Everything about it has been a blessing - I've learned so much, grown so much, been shown so much love and kindness, and had so much fun. Secondly, and I'm sure even more profoundly, I am going to miss serving in the temple each week as an ordinance worker. Words truly cannot express how my testimony of and love for the temple has grown over the past 2 1/2 years through serving as an ordinance worker. The temple is everything. It has given me so much strength and sustained me so completely to be there each week. I honestly can't even begin to imagine the void that I will feel not being able to come to the temple as often or to serve in the same capacity. But I am beyond grateful for the time and opportunities that I have had. Our time here in St. Louis really has been short, but it has changed who I am and impacted my life forever.
So, for the most part, things are pretty much the same as they were months ago when I wrote the "5 years of updates," but there are a few things worth sharing! First of all, Gabe is now in Trimester 9 - our of 10! That's right! Less than 8 months until graduation! AND, less than 5 months until we move back home to Springfield! :O And we actually know now that we will be able to move home in May. At the end of last trimester, Gabe applied to some extra clinic opportunities hoping to guarantee that he would be finished with his required adjustments, new patients, etc. by the end of this trimester. He was accepted into LCC, one of the clinics that works with Logan University and does community outreach (aka - lots of patients). We were super excited and are very grateful. He's liking it pretty well so far. He goes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 12-7, in addition to his regular clinic hours on campus Wednesdays from 12-4 and class every morning from 7:30-12. On top of which, he has a class on Saturday and Sunday for a couple weekends, as well as the occasional seminar. Ya, he's pretty busy right now. Thankfully, his time at LCC and his weekend class only last until mid February.
But for the meantime, his busy schedule has left mine feeling rather empty. But trust me, I'm not complaining. Since moving away from home after high school, I've come to realize more and more how introverted I actually am. So while I miss the extra time with my husband, I have no problem with the extra quiet time by myself at home. The only challenge is trying to make sure I'm still being productive and not a total bum...which I think I'm at least partially succeeding at. :) I spend Wednesdays babysitting and Thursdays at the temple. Other than that I'm trying to devote a lot more time to scripture reading, and just reading in general, as well as cooking a good dinner every night and keeping the house clean. And seeing as how I cook and clean like I do everything else in life - very "thoroughly"...ok, slowly - it fills my time up pretty well. Plus it also leaves my schedule open for phone calls, visiting teaching, preparing young women lessons, and spending time with friends. Oh! And I'm now trying to spend some time each week doing, or at least reading, family history. Anyway, it sounds kind of boring, but I like boring. :)
Our time here in St. Louis has gone by so quickly, it's crazy. We are SO excited to move back home and be closer to family (and farther from the city), but there are definitely some things about St. Louis that I'm going to miss. First of all, our ward. Seriously, our ward here is amazing. Before moving up here Dad gave each of us, myself and Gabe, a recorded Father's Blessing. In mine he talked about the ward that I would go to in St. Louis and how I would enjoy it and how it would bless my life and fill my cup each week. I can't even express how completely I have seen that fulfilled. I've served with the young women pretty much the entire time we've been here and I have absolutely loved it. I have come to know and love a lot of the women and families in our ward, but I have especially loved the relationships I've gained with the other young women leaders as we have worked and served together. Everything about it has been a blessing - I've learned so much, grown so much, been shown so much love and kindness, and had so much fun. Secondly, and I'm sure even more profoundly, I am going to miss serving in the temple each week as an ordinance worker. Words truly cannot express how my testimony of and love for the temple has grown over the past 2 1/2 years through serving as an ordinance worker. The temple is everything. It has given me so much strength and sustained me so completely to be there each week. I honestly can't even begin to imagine the void that I will feel not being able to come to the temple as often or to serve in the same capacity. But I am beyond grateful for the time and opportunities that I have had. Our time here in St. Louis really has been short, but it has changed who I am and impacted my life forever.
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