My college classes started last week, and so far I'm really enjoying the challenge. I don't feel overwhelmed, but I definitely feel busy. I spend at least a couple hours a day working on homework, so I'm learning how to manage my time better. Right now I am enrolled in a required class called "Life Skills" and a Book of Mormon class called "Religion 121." It's only a total of 6 credits, but it's a start. Most of my class "meetings" are online, but I am required to attend a Thursday night meeting in Independence. About 20 BYU-I Pathway students meet together every Thursday evening to have a group discussion about the current subject lesson, led by one of the students. Tonight will be my first group meeting. I'm apprehensive, but excited. I can only miss 2 of the Thursday meetings in an entire year and I have to get near-perfect grades, or I am kicked out of the program. The administrators want to "weed out" any students who are not fully dedicated. The reward of living the high standards is obtaining a bachelor degree from a reputable university for a FRACTION of the cost. My tuition for this ENTIRE YEAR was less than $1000. After I prove my dedication in the first year, I am admitted to BYU-I as an actual online student and get to keep the low cost of my tuition. It's the best option I've ever seen for those who have other obligations to fill during the day or can't afford the cost of an education.
Besides the time I am devoting to college classes, I am keeping busy with my new responsibilities in a local charity called the Kearney Family Foundation. I have helped with the charity at Christmas time for the past many years, but I was recently asked to be one of the board members. Right now my duties are to speak with the local school counselors and get them excited about the upcoming food drives that will help the families in need. Tomorrow I am attending an assembly at my kid's elementary school to kick-off the start of the money drive being held next week. Ryan is going with me to "pump up" the teachers and students by getting them excited about the competition. If anyone can make you feel competitive, it's Ryan! The foundation work will get insanely busy the closer it gets to Christmas. By November I will spend the majority of my time helping with the organization.
Our sweet Maybelle puppy died in a tragic way at the end of July. Just a couple weeks before we were going to bring her home from the breeder's house, she was playing in the backyard with her puppy sisters when a fox entered the yard. The breeder tried to gather all the puppies as quickly as possible, but Maybelle and two of her sisters were killed. We found out while driving down to Lake Powell, and our kids were crushed. Brynlie and Logan were especially inconsolable, but all of them were heart-broken. It was hard to come back to our house after vacation and see all the puppy supplies waiting for Maybelle's arrival. The breeder obviously feels terrible, so we are first on the list to get a puppy when the next litter is born. The new little furballs are due to arrive in a couple weeks, and we are excited to pick one out.
I've attended some neat events in the past month. First was the temple sealing of the Vega family. Ephraim and Jasmine have two handsome boys that joined them in the sealing room of the temple. It was a very spiritual day, especially because I also attended an endowment session where I viewed the new temple film for the first time. A couple weeks after that ceremony, my good friend Pam married her sweetheart, Okunola Oluola, who is a physician from Nigeria. She has been a single mom for almost 15 years, so we were thrilled that she met someone with whom she is so compatible. The last romantic event was this past Saturday when our friend, Jeff Harman, married his fiance Tiffany. Jeff used to be active in the church, but stopped coming after the heartbreak of a divorce. He then met Tiffany and lived with her for a couple years before telling her that he hoped to be an active member of the church again someday. She asked to speak with the missionaries, and is now excited to be baptized. Three of her children are also anxious to become members of the church. Jeff and Tiffany threw together a very quick wedding in order for her to live the law of chastity and be baptized soon.
I have awesome friends who I love. I have been getting together with some of my closest friends for lunch at least once a month. I also enjoy visiting with the girls on my visit-teach route. I am blessed to have friends that I can count on for anything, even if it's just a good laugh!
While we were in Utah, a new Sump Pump was installed in the closet of Brevan's bedroom. It now pumps water constantly throughout the day and spits it out into the yard. The impressive contraption was not cheap. Instead of driving a new car, I am pumping water out of my basement!
Toward the end of our Utah vacation, Ryan told me he was "ready to move to Utah now." I had a prompting about a year ago that we will eventually end up back in Utah, but I was not ready for him to be on board. After several [tense] discussions with our kids, we have decided to put the thought on hold for now. Besides the fact that we have 2 houses we would need to sell, I just don't want to move. There are many advantages (closer relationship with grandparents, more LDS kids around, etc.), but there are also many disadvantages. I love so many things about Missouri. It feels like home. I like the diversity, the people, the schools, my friends, my personal space (instead of living next door to the same people I attend church with), the missionary opportunities, etc. No one can argue with the fact that the youth in our ward are a-MAZE-ing. Some of the strongest youth I've ever seen, and I'm not just talking about a few of them. The youth in our area are STRONG because they have to be. They are constantly confronted with temptations and accusations, so their testimonies are typically rock-solid by the time they graduate high school. I wish I had an ounce of the strength these kids have. If my kids can have the dedication I've seen in other youth, why would I move? I'm not saying kids in Utah aren't strong, because there are obviously incredible kids and weaker kids anywhere you go. I do think, however, that the kids in Utah get used to the culture of the church and don't have to work as hard on their devotion to the gospel since the other kids around them are usually LDS also. There's no "right" place to raise kids, but for right now I'm happy with Missouri. Ryan is still pushing me to change my mind. Lindsey and Logan would handle a move just fine, but I worry about Brynlie since she is making huge strides in her self-confidence lately, and Brevan has basically told us we are welcome to leave but he is NOT moving. From a purely business standpoint, it makes sense to live in Utah. Ryan's company needs him in Utah, but he can still manage the majority of the work from Missouri. From an emotional standpoint, a move sounds stressful and unnecessary. From a spiritual standpoint, I will be wherever God needs me, and for now I feel like we are needed here.
A couple months ago I was needing divine guidance to help me infuse more spirituality into our home. I was concerned that our scripture study wasn't changing us for the better, and the stress level in the home seemed to be constantly rising. The answer came to me while pondering in the temple. Every family situation is different, and I felt like I needed to change our approach to the scriptures. We are now studying a topic for at least a couple weeks, and each family member is encouraged to share a thought, lesson, scripture, experience, etc about the topic during our evening discussions. They are not required to share, but they get to pick something out of the reward box when we finish up with a topic if they have participated some time in the past couple weeks. Our first topic was The Holy Ghost, and we had some great insights and discussions. Our current topic is Repentance. Besides the reward box, there are a couple ways for the kids to get a bonus. First, each kid can receive $5 for every Scripture Mastery they memorize. I have chosen a scripture to coincide with each of our topics. Second, the kids can earn an additional $5 if they bear their testimony in any setting. Am I bribing them? Yes, a bit. Do I care? No. We don't give any allowance, and require the kids to work hard to earn money, so they are excited about this new plan. Brevan and Brynlie both bore their testimonies in the last Sacrament testimony meeting, and I have received NUMEROUS comments on the wonderful things they said. I think they are getting it. Brynlie was very emotional during her testimony and spoke about relying on the Holy Ghost to guide her during a difficult decision she had to make. Brevan spoke about some of his recent spiritual experiences, and how they are shaping his testimony. I bore my testimony that day too, because Bryn was nervous to walk up in front of the congregation. I tend to avoid any public speaking, so I was grateful she pushed me to join her on the stand!
These are pictures of the reward box and the bulletin board that holds our recent thoughts about the current topic we are discussing.
Life is good! Not perfect. Some days I fall into bed at night and feel like a big old failure. Some days my kids drive me absolutely nutso. Some days I think Ryan must enjoy annoying me. And then I remember how blessed I am to have such an awesome, crazy family! I love my life.
1 comment:
Tell Ryan he needs to put this Utah nonsense out to pasture!
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