Zech's poetry page

A while ago Zech asked if he could make a blog with a poem that he had written about Minecraft. Gary set one up for him that you can see here. Today we read about the Yamato dynasty in Japan and learned about Haikus. You can read Zech and Gabe's Haikus on Zech's blog. I don't often feel like I'm getting much right but it makes me happy to see their interest in sharing their thoughts with people and their desire to conquer the computer. Here's to small successes!

Life is interesting

God has a sense of humor. He obviously knows us, our strengths, our weaknesses, and everything in between. While we still have not found a renter for our house in Maryland, I have this feeling that I just need to have faith and wait and God will swoop in at the last minute and fix everything. He seems to do that to me a lot. He knows I have little patience and little faith and waits until I am about to lose all hope, THEN steps in and saves the day. I do not mean this to be rude at all! I just find it to be interesting. He doesn't make it easy...yet He does! It would be SOOO much easier if I would just trust Him! It's laughable actually. So what happened? Ok, Gary got on unemployment when he left the military. He thought he would lose it once he became a full time student. After speaking with Job and Family Services, they said he was eligible for a whole year due to him being military. AWESOME! I had saved money to help us survive our first semester of school without getting into debt until things starting going wrong with the house in Maryland. After a heat exchange break in July and a denial to fix it by our home warranty company (what good ARE they?!?) We shelled out $3,000 of our savings to fix it. Due to our renter's negligence, I shelled out $1,700 to fix landscaping on my yard. Due to her breaking her lease we have to date spent over $3,000 covering the mortgage until we can get a renter in. ALL this time, Gary was supposed to be receiving unemployment but kept getting denied. All this money was coming out of my savings account. As of the 1st of November, we would be completely out of money and have no way to get a loan so late in the semester. I was freaking out!!! All the sudden, someone with a brain and compassion at Job and Family Services fixed everything and we got a lump sum payment today for the last 6 weeks. This money plus my savings will float us until the end of the year. I am relieved. I am overjoyed. I am comically amused by my sweet Father in Heaven. He certainly knows how to bring me to my knees. He much like me and want to hear from me more because it seems like the only time I collapse to my knees in pleas and supplication is when I am about to lose it.

The Relief Society conference was AMAZING on Saturday. I know President Monson was talking straight to me when he said,

"There will be times when you will walk a path strewn with thorns and marked by struggle. There may be times when you feel detached—even isolated—from the Giver of every good gift. You worry that you walk alone. Fear replaces faith.

When you find yourself in such circumstances, I plead with you to remember prayer. I love the words of President Ezra Taft Benson concerning prayer. Said he:

“All through my life the counsel to depend on prayer has been prized above almost any other advice I have … received. It has become an integral part of me—an anchor, a constant source of strength, and the basis of my knowledge of things divine. …

“… Though reverses come, in prayer we can find reassurance, for God will speak peace to the soul. That peace, that spirit of serenity, is life’s greatest bless^ing."

   ^{My favorite of the whole night was when he said this,}

"We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. What an amazing source of power, of strength, and of comfort is available to each of us. He who knows us better than we know ourselves, He who sees the larger picture and who knows the end from the beginning, has assured us that He will be there for us to provide help if we but ask. We have the promise: “Pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.”

What a wonderful man and message. He is truly a man who walks and talks with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so happy to be able to be part of this restored gospel. I am blessed to be part of true happiness and joy. I look forward to this weekend to hear more from God's anointed servants as they speak with us at General Conference. Check it out here.