Room For Jesus

'Only greater consecration will cure ambivalence and casualness in any of us! As already noted, the tutoring challenges arising from increased consecration may be severe but reflect the divine mercy necessary to induce further consecration. (See Hel. 12:3.) If we have grown soft, hard times may be necessary. Deprivation may prepare us for further consecration, though we shudder at the thought. If we are too easily contented, God may administer a dose of divine discontent. His long-suffering thus becomes very necessary to maximize our agency and development. But He is not an indulgent Father.

We “cannot bear all things now,” but the Lord “will lead [us] along,” as we “give place” in our thoughts and schedules and “give away” our sins, which are the only ways we can begin to make room to receive all that God can give us. (D&C 78:18; D&C 50:4; Alma 32:27, 28; Alma 22:18.)

Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!

Consecration is the only surrender which is also a victory. It brings release from the raucous, overpopulated cell block of selfishness and emancipation from the dark prison of pride.'

I love that each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.  This is a marvelous talk given by Neal A. Maxwell.  

Laboring

In my morning study of a talk given in General Conference 1987, I read this by Robert D. Hales, who was then Presiding Bishop in the church:

May the prayer of Alma also be our prayer:

“O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me. …

“Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them. …

“O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

“Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee” (Alma 31:32–35).

“We love you; we miss you; we need you. Please come back.” Come back to go to the temple, enter into the covenants, and receive the ordinances of eternal salvation.


It got me to thinking about how to reach out to lost souls and who is in my circle of influence who needs reaching out to.  I have learned that it is sacred work to reach out and in that process we strengthen our own spiritual underpinnings.

It is one of my favorite things in the scriptures to read others' prayers.  

It is also interesting to note that the title of this post is laboring.  When you think of a woman who is laboring to bring a new life into this world, it is work indeed.  It is hard.  It requires focus and determination.  But it is worth every effort because the new life that is brought into the world is so innocent and beautiful!

The Kids

Valentines Day was nice.  When the kids got home from school, Jared and I had filled little sacks with candy and treats and had hidden them around the house.  The kids had to go searching like a treasure hunt for their sack.  Once they found a sack, they had to look on the outside of the sack to see if was their name on it.  Joseph found 4 of the sacks.  It was really fun.

Vanessa is in 8th grade and they had a dance over at the school.  Vanessa got asked to dance by a boy that she really likes.  She was pretty happy about that.  The girls in our neighborhood love and look up to her.  She never has a hard time finding a friend to do something with.  She is 13 years 9 months old.

Bruce is becoming more independent and able to entertain himself and play by himself better recently.  He is 3 and a half years old.

Rex has been arguing more with us lately.  He wants his way and has been having a hard time just obeying.  He loves healthy foods and is easy to please.  He has a large group of friends at school and in our neighborhood.  Kids love him.  He is 7 years old.

Joseph is a very helpful child.  He is motivated by rewards.  He likes to tell his side to every situation, and wants to be right even when he isn't right.  There aren't many kids his age in our neighborhood that are his age.  He is 10 years 7 months old.

Eric is in the famous grumpy pre-pubescence stage.  He is very sensitive to how his body looks and how he is different than a lot of the other kids at his school.  He has a lot friends too.  He is 12 years 7 months old.

                                               
About 18 months ago!  The whole group!

Vanessa is such a sweetheart.

Vanessa and Eric are good friends.  They are 14 months apart.

Pretzel

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 T sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

2 c. boiling water

1/4 C. baking soda

4 ounces butter, melted

Combine the water, sugar, salt, yeast, and flour in a stand mixer and beat until they form a soft, not-too-sticky dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes in the mixer or by hand. [We always do the last couple minutes by hand; I love to knead and so do ALL the children, who each have to have their turns]. Then let it rise for an hour. [The KAF recipe says just to let it "rest" for 30 minutes, but we went ahead with the longer rise.]

*NOTE: Some recipes have you immerse the pretzels in a boiling water/baking soda solution for a minute or two, and others use just hot water---but the KAF recipe is the only one I've seen that actually calls for a "soak" in the soda bath---not boiling, just lukewarm.  I've used the boiling-water-dip in the past, but with kids helping, the soaking option seemed easier, so we gave that a try. And I was very pleased with the results! So I think I'll use that method from now on.

While the dough is rising, prepare the soda bath. Mix 2 cups boiling water with 1/4 c baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler). Then pour it into a cake pan or other shallow pan.

When the dough is puffy, divide it into pieces and roll out each piece into a long snake. Let the "snake" rest for 5 minutes (to let the gluten relax) and then twist it into a pretzel shape.

In batches of 6-7 at a time (however many you can fit in the soda-bath pan), put the shaped pretzels into the soda bath. Spoon the solution over them so their tops and bottoms are covered, then let them sit for 2 minutes. Remove them from the bath, place them on a greased baking sheet [they say use parchment paper, but that didn't work well at ALL for us---it stuck to their bottoms terribly!], and sprinkle them with kosher salt. Let them rest for 10 minutes, and then bake them at 450 for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown.

When the pretzels come out of the oven, brush them immediately with melted butter. Then eat them while warm. They are SO GOOD!

Doesn't this look like a yummy recipe?  I am going to try it!  I got it from this website:  

http://nielsonschool.blogspot.com/

Dad's Heart Attack

My Dad is doing alright.  He is weak and will need some rehab.  I am so glad that he didn't die because there is some repair work that needs to happen in our relationship and I would have been VERY sad not to have had the chance to do that.

In his own words in his recent email letter to our family:

'The story about me goes: Last Sunday, I lived through something that I should have died from. After 7 years of dealing with two stage four cancer tumors and now a massive heart attack that has left me with 3/4 of a heart that works, I am well adjusted to my own mortality. You don't need to tippy toe around me. We can joke about me and discuss it any time you want. Just don't ask me how I am doing. I mean I am a double stage four cancer guy who just had a massive heart attack. I am doing terrible as far as normal is concerned. But, I am having a ball in most other ways..

Here is my history leading up to the MI (Myocardial Infarction or heart attack). Three or four years ago when my total cholesterol was in the 240 range, triglycerides 350, I felt a heavy feeling, not actual pain, around my heart in my chest after eating burger king hamburgers. And, I still love them. This feeling was broadened to include brownies made with butter, beef roast, five or six broiled pieces of chicken breast which I loved the spices on them and ice cream by the 1/2 gallon. Any fat filled food gave me that feeling. The heavy feeling would go away after an hour or so and if I drank a few glasses of water.

One week ago Friday, as I was shoveling snow, I couldn't lift the shovel like normal. There was pain around the heart which I discounted and drank some water and took an aspirin. The pain went away. Then a few hours later, it came back.  Both arms ached like bad. The same through Saturday, every 5-6 hours an episode of pain that didn't go away for 30 minutes or so.. Sunday morning at 0500 in my little bathroom the pain was so severe and unrelenting that I knew it wasn't going away. I yelled to Myra, "Call 911." She panicked and said, "Are you sure? I don't know how." I yelled  back, "Figure it out and hurry." The pain was crushing in the upper chest. I started sweating on the forehead and neck. I walked to the living room and collapsed on the sofa. The EMT team arrived in a few minutes, two ambulances and a fire truck and we sped away to the hospital. 

They ran an EKG which was normal and drew cardiac blood tests which were normal. This was a huge puzzle as I was moaning in very severe pain. Finally, an older doctor came to me and said, There is a little spot on the last EKG that shouldn't be there. I FEEL as if you are having a heart attack. If it is what I think it is you need a stent right away. We are sending you directly to the front of the line in the cardiac catheter lab. (There were four other old men snow shovellers who were being worked up for stents). On the table upstairs the doctor came to me and said, "Mr Taylor, you are having a heart attack as we speak. We will insert the stent right now." They ran the tube through the femoral artery starting in the groin up to the center of the heart, dissolved the clot with blood thinners, placed the double stents and finally relief of the horrible pain. The rest is boring. The crisis was resolved. I haven't felt any pain since and I don't expect I will. That old heavy feeling is also gone. I believe I am more healthy than I have been in many years since my veins are clear. I hope my heart will recover to at least 90% which they said might happen after several months.'

Love and Chili

Jared has become quite the cook.  He loves to make us chili.  He loves experimenting with different spices.  The chili is delicious!  The kids don't like it as much as the canned stuff, but I do.

I feel so blessed!  Heavenly Father has been so good to our family.  We have made several changes over the last few years and they have seriously tried our marriage.  But, we have come through it and are not only just surviving this life together as a married couple, we are thriving in it.  Jared continues to find dignity and respect at his new job.  And we both continue to find out what a marriage filled with love is all about.

Heart Attack

My Dad had a heart attack on Sunday, and has been in the hospital for the last 3 days.  I had Jared text my Mom and ask how he is doing.  She said he has been through a lot and the doctors said that he is weak and shouldn't have visitors like us right now.  He is 71 years old.

Violin and Basketball

Vanessa is on to her next item in her bucket list of things she wants done.  She got braces a couple of weeks ago.  The orthodontist told her she'll have them on for about 16 months.  She only has them on the top because the bottom teeth are fine.  Hopefully, by putting them only on the top it won't ruin her bite, thereby needing to put them on the bottom as well.

Vanessa is also working on a violin piece by Lindsey Stirling.  She is working on perfecting it to perform at an audition on February 9th.  If she gets chosen, she'll get to be part of an orchestra that will perform somewhere, I'm not sure where though.  She is getting really good at the Lindsey Stirling piece called Crystallize.

Eric is playing basketball at the church with the Deacons Quorum.  The Bishopric asked Jared to be the coach.  It is fun watching Eric play.  He isn't very good, but he has had hardly any exposure to basketball.

Birth

We have spent the last several weeks catching one sickness after another.  It is our Stake Conference today and we are missing it because of fevers and tummy bugs.  We thought Rex had strep throat again, after his bout of it 2 months ago, but his fever went down and he is looking better today.

I have been thinking a lot lately about having another child.  It has been on my mind more and more lately and since I just turned 38, I realize that I'm getting closer and closer to that window closing on me forever.  As I've thought of bringing children into this world, it occurs to me more and more that there is a connection between the desire of bringing children into this world and allowing new life to come into my heart.  The Lord has worked a wonderful work in my life and he continues to do so.  But, like birth control or the barriers we can place in order to prevent conception, we can also place barriers in our lives that prevent the Lord from being able to put new life into us.

I'm studying about this right now and learning that I don't trust the Lord as much as I should.  I think of my own children and it offends me when they don't trust me.  I can imagine how the Lord feels when I don't trust Him.

Furthermore, as I have been yearning to trust Heavenly Father more, I have been thinking of the birth process and how I haven't trusted that process.  I have been studying midwifery and considering the idea of going to school to become a midwife.