A Peaceful Moment

  

Tonight we sat on our front lawn to read "the streak" (our daily reading of the scriptures as a family, now going on two plus years without interruption), as well as a talk from the last general conference of the Church (Mountains to Climb, by President Henry B. Eyring). The sun was setting, a fiery red, as we talked about choosing the right to build faith, and the vital need for faith in trials that always come -- such as the very fires that made our sunset so red and amazing, yet devastated so many people.

How grateful I am for these little moments.  I have long-learned that every single material thing around us is so temporary, and was reminded of that again by the sooty sunset tonight.  But never do we feel so connected and permanent, so much like a family, as we do when we read the scriptures together. There is just a timelessness to it that seems to stretch beyond almost anything else we do.  In these small moments I really feel there is something more; my testimony of the gospel grows, and I feel some peace in my life.  Very grateful to my kids for being willing to endure it, and my sweet wife who got it all started. It is not without challenges (e.g. the nightly "are we done yet?" mantra), but so worth it.

There may be one or two of you out there asking -- why now? Why start this blogging thing up again so suddenly after all this time?  The answer is I don't know, except it feels wrong to abandon this blog.  So we  begin one more time. Wish me luck.