Mr. Jewels' Message for April

We have been blessed this last weekend to hear from our Prophet. We were further blessed with words from the other great leaders of our Church. I am grateful for the Spirit that I felt and the urgency He put into my soul for improving myself. There were many awesome discourses and wonderful truths shared. But, for some reason, the message that resonated most with me was a line from one of the hymns. I have always liked the hymn and have always enjoyed this particular line. But, again, it really hit home with me this time. So, I feel impressed to share it with you: "and [I will] cause thee to stand..." (How Firm a Foundation, Hymn #85)

The leaders of the church repeatedly reminded us throughout the Conference of the difficult times we are facing. I feel for those that are experiencing hard times and my heart truly goes out to you. I know that for some the trials of this life can knock you off your feet. I know that sometimes you just want to let the lashings envelop you and submit yourself to defeat.

You all knew it was coming eventually. Here it is. I liken these difficulties that we call life to a workout. There are times during the workout when you have 40 more reps of a heavy dead lift or 1 more mile to run. You are completely out of breath, your lungs are on fire, your legs are shaking, and you want to sit or kneel down and never get up again. Every ounce of your concentration is put into just keeping yourself upright.

This is what is called "hitting the wall". It is a crucial part of the workout and of our lives. We can make a choice to sit down and give up or we can stay standing. The reason this choice is so crucial is the feet. Once your feet are removed from a planted position on the ground, you have to invest a lot of energy to get them back. (One of the reasons, I feel, that we pray while kneeling - a sign of humility to the Lord.) And, in my workouts, every second counts. So, stay on your feet!

So it is with our lives. We have so much depending on us - although some of us may not immediately see what it is: family, friends, coworkers, colleagues. These people look to us and love us and depend on our faith as we do theirs. To make things worse, the amount of love and appreciation we have for these good people is directly proportional to the load being placed on our backs. But, don't give up the faith.

In that moment of despair, when you can no longer move forward, or lift anymore, or get out of bed in the morning, or write another report, when you are about to let the darkness consume you, the Lord steps in and "causes thee to stand." Does this mean that it's over? Does this mean that it will all be resolved automatically? No. But, as least you're still on your feet. You can continue forward and finish the task at hand.

The miracles of the Atonement are infinite. The crown jewel of them is the Resurrection. We will all one day see our Father in Heaven again. Without the Resurrection, this would not be possible. The Resurrection of the Savior allows us to "stand" in his presence one day. But, first we must "stand" in this life and not give up. In spite of your trials and hard times, I know the Lord loves and is aware of you and will evermore "cause thee to stand."

The Finished Pieces

Of course it didn't take long for Eme to make a new home for all her stuff in this piece as soon as it was dry.


I really love how they both turned out. Now on to the next project. Whatever that will be I'm not sure.

She caught the bug

Emeline and I had a lovely weekend a few weeks ago of moving the furniture, cleaning the furniture, lightly sanding the furniture and finally painting the furniture. We chose a brilliant blue color for this piece that my mother was giving away and a beautiful blue color that I borrowed from a friend for this little dresser that we found at a thrift store awhile ago. Emeline loved painting. I told her she had to wait at least 30 minutes for the first coat to dry before she could put on the second coat. She went and set the timer for exactly 30 minutes and when it went off she ran into the room to get started on the second coat. It turned out beautiful. I think I have myself a paint partner for life.

Marshmallow Mother

I am trying to be a marshmallow mother and teach my kids to wait, not only wait, but wait patiently.

In the late 1960's Walter Mischel devises the "marshmallow test" when he was at Stanford. In this experiment a teacher leads four and five year olds into a room where there is a marshmallow on a table. The teacher tells the child that he's going to leave the room for a while and he tells the child that if he can wait to eat the marshmallow then when the teacher comes back he can have two marshmallows, but if he eats the marshmallow then he only gets one. They tested 653 and only one in three managed to resist eating the marshmallow for the whole fifteen minute wait. When the video of these kids was studied he noticed that the kids who ate before the teacher came back only focused on the marshmallow, but those who waited distracted themselves by singing songs, playing with their toes or ears in an interesting way. Mischel says "having the willpower to wait isn't about being stoic. It's about learning techniques that make waiting less frustrating. There are many ways of doing that, of which the most direct and the simplest is to self-distract."

There are so many things that as a mother I want to educate my children with and among those it is the ability to wait. I find it best that if the parents have to wait for things, it is much easier for my children to wait for things also. We just have to occupy our minds with other things of a more important nature.

Usually I just get looked at like this when I tell him to wait. We still have a ways to go before I can call myself a marshmallow mom.


I have loved reading Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. It has given me reason to keep on trying.