The Sabbath

We made it to bed pretty "early" last night... maybe 11 or 11:30.  I woke up sometime around 5 or 6 and laid awake for a long time, but I was warm and comfortable, at least.  Lila slept a little better than the previous two nights, but still woke up a few times.  Coughed a lot.

I got up for church at around 8.  Lila got up just as I was about to leave, so I was able to nurse her a little bit.  She is way too cute.  And it's hard leaving her because I'm not used to doing that!  I was maybe 5 minutes late for sacrament.  Sat in the back by myself.  It was nice being able to pay attention to the speakers (or the people bearing their testimonies, in today's case).  Stopped in Primary to hand off the agenda and see if we are meeting this week.  I love my ward.

Got home and Jake left to go to priesthood and the nursing home.  Lila went down for a nap shortly after I got home (at 11...even though she usually doesn't nap till 12).  I was nursing her, laying down in bed, like I often do before naptime.  She had just fallen asleep when she started coughing and puked up her milk.  So then there was crying as I changed her outfit and cleaned up quickly, but she fell back asleep quickly.  And slept for 2 hours!  Which is a rarity!  Poor girl doesn't feel good.

So I read some of my book and Jake got home.  We had lunch (nachos); he broke his fast.  Oh, last night after I wrote, we had a conversation in the kitchen about obedience... how I still wasn't like totally on-board with not watching the Superbowl.  I had agreed not to do it, but my heart wasn't in it.  Jake admitted that he actually really enjoys watching the Superbowl and that he really wanted to, but he wanted to be obedient to the Prophets' counsel and the Lord's... to making the Sabbath day a truly holy, sacred day.  And also how he often doesn't want to fast, but he does, to be obedient.  So that really touched me and I told him that I would really try to be better.

During the closing hymn in sacrament meeting, I had a very strong, sweet impression from the Spirit.  I was thinking about the Staples, for some reason.  Kevin and Sonja.  And I've been thinking of them from time-to-time the past few weeks... about how they are really have an amazing family, and how I hope that Jake and I can have that kind of family too.  I was thinking about how interesting it is that Kevin, at such a relatively young age (32 or 33) is bishop.  And then I had this vision of Jake as bishop someday.  And I was overwhelmed with the spirit... because I know that Jake is being prepared, and is preparing, for special work in Heavenly Father's kingdom.  I know that his faithful obedience is blessing our family and will continue to bless our family.  His obedience to simple commandments is honorable... and I was filled with a strong desire to support and sustain him in whatever righteous thing he wanted for our family.  Including not watch the Superbowl. :)  It's funny that we're not even sports fans, but the Superbowl has been cause for several "discussions" over the past few years...

As we were finishing lunch, Dan arrived.  He wanted to talk and get some advice.  He's been dating that 16-year-old girl he met in rehab, ever since they got out of rehab in November.  He's thinking pretty seriously about moving up to Midland to be with her.  To make a long story short... he wants a serious, committed relationship, and she doesn't.  And she shouldn't.  She's 16!  It's really an unhealthy relationship, for both of them, for a lot of reasons.  But it was a very good talk.  He said that he is "dating to marry," just as we're taught to do in church.  (He's currently inactive.)  That he does want to get married and have a family.  He said he's done "living the single life," which I think is pretty funny... because he's... 18.  And a very immature 18, at that.  (It's sad though, because his perspective is very skewed because he didn't go to high school like a "regular" kid.)  So we talked with him about qualities he wants his future wife to have.  He's never made a list of qualities before.  His list, for today, only had five qualities, but they're all very important things: 1) smart/educated, 2) motivated, 3) family oriented, 4) hard-working, 5) good communication.  We asked how Kelsey (his girlfriend) compares to the list.  He said that she has only one of those qualities... that she's "family oriented."  He's especially bothered right now because she's been hanging out with a 20-year-old guy.  Anyway, so then we helped him make a list of things that he needs/wants to talk with her about and I coached him on how to talk with her so that she might not feel offended/attacked.  But, bottom line is that she's much too young and immature to have the kind of relationship that Dan wants.  He knows that.  He said, "I know what I need to/should do... but I don't know if I'll do it."  He's... basically addicted to the sex.  Which is why his substance abuse counselor advised him not to be in a relationship for a year.  But, he didn't listen.  Anyway.  He has the chance here to make a good decision, and I hope he does it.  He's going to call and talk to her tonight, and then call us tomorrow to tell us what happened.  I talked with him about sacrifice--about doing something hard and painful now in order to have something better later.  I hope he can have that kind of perspective as he makes these decisions.  What a punk. :)

After he left, we laid down with Lila again and read some books.  Lila was pretty funny today.  Making funny noises, giggling at us, being pretty playful, even though she's sick.  We adore her.  We really do.  She eventually fell asleep, and Jake and I dozed off too... and then at 4:30 Mike came over.  He went to the KUB's break-the-fast today.  And brought us some yummy brownies to snack on. :)  Yesterday and he Emily shopped more together and they also went bowling with Natalie, a friend of Emily's from the branch.  Mike's been having a lot of fun lately with other YSA's; it's been good for him.  So he got to play with Lila too.  He has a piano app on his ipad that Lila loved playing with.  She's a hoot.  He left to go fix Emily's internet, which she needed to study for an A&P exam.  I'm glad they can be friends.

He said that the first time they went shopping together, Emily had picked out a bunch of clothes for him to try on.  He went to try them on, and when he came back out of the fitting room, he looked around and didn't see Emily in the men's section.  He figured that she must have lost steam and went to look for clothes for herself, like Kalina would have done.  But then he looked further down the men's section and she was there, all happy/excited, with a bunch more clothes for him.  He was really impressed.  He said it's really good for him to see how other women can be.

After he left, I called Patrick Bonczyk.  He'd called while Mike was over.  He just started grad school a month ago in Louisville, KY.  His apartment is pretty awful, and he's a little depressed... homesick and all.  But now he's thinking about dropping out at the end of the semester (it's too late to get a refund) and just looking for an entry-level position somewhere in Louisville.  He's worried about incurring too much debt and not having a job after he gets a PhD.  (He's working on his masters in musicology right now... music history.)  He really wants to get married to Tomomi (the Japanese girl, who lives in Japan, that he's been dating for a few years now) and have a family with her, and to be able to support their family and have a pretty stable life and lifestyle.  That probably won't happen if he gets a PhD in his field; there just aren't enough jobs out there.  The other option besides just dropping out of school is to finish his masters and then go to librarian school and be a music librarian.  Which makes a LOT of sense, to me, anyway.  So we had a long talk about it.  And it was so nice to visit and to be there for an old friend.  I count it as a special blessing, perhaps directly related to our trying to keep the Sabbath holy.

I used a lot of my Gryphon skills today. :) Talking with Dan and Pat.  I'm so grateful for them... being able to empathize and help people sort out their feelings and problems.  I'm positive that they will come in so handy with my children.

Lila went to bed after that, at 9.  Fell asleep pretty quickly.  Still coughing a lot... but hopefully she'll be feeling better in the next few days.  Jake's working on clerk stuff and I've been typing away on here.  Hopefully we'll get a little alone time before bed and another long, busy week begins.