One Step Report #17

It’s Sunday night.  The children are in bed, the baby is asleep and the only sounds I hear are the clicking of the keys on my computer.  I love the sound of a quiet house.  I love the way I can slow down and ponder when there is quiet in my world.

It’s hard to believe that May is already here.  April came and went in a blur and I stand poised at the beginning of this month, half hoping that it will also fly by and half hoping that I will be able to make it count, set some things in motion for summer and accomplish a lot.

My report for this week:  55 steps.  I’m happy with that.  I was taught some good lessons this week through both positive and negative experiences and I really want to implement them.

This week also saw the end of another month, so my summary for April is a total of 251 steps.  On April 29th I passed the 1,000 step mark.  Kind of neat!  It feels good to know that I’ve recorded more than 1,000 positive, albeit small, things I’ve done so far this year.

About a year ago a friend offered us some little peach tree starts.  They were free and we want to grow peaches so as a family we dug them up and transplanted them to our yard.  Our children enjoyed watering them throughout the summer.  They are between 2-3 feet tall and we wondered if they would survive the winter.  Imagine how happy we were to discover these little leaves on all of them.


I am trying to remember that growth is slow but steady if we work at it, and that my efforts will eventually yield the results I am seeking just as we expect these little trees to grow and bring forth fruit someday.  It is so comforting to have reminders.  I’m learning a lot from my trees.

I’m also learning a lot from life’s bumps and bruises.  I am grateful for those moments of illumination when I am able to see clearly and perceive how I need to improve.  I’ve had A LOT of opportunities to face my faults this week but I’m encouraged by the ideas I have for positive change.  The words I keep thinking of are:  deliberate, intentional, purposeful.  In all the little things I’m doing, I want to be guided by a stronger sense of vision that cuts through the mundane frustrations and tasks of everyday and helps me be undaunted by the work at hand.

This week’s highlights:

1.  I was able to track down a UPS package that was sent to one of our old addresses,  which was a relief to my sister-in-law and means a fun new project for me to tackle this month.  I’m a bit nervous about it but will do my best.

2.  At 7:30 pm this evening I told my parents that we hadn’t needed to use any first aid skills all week.  Hooray!  Before bedtime we had a cut lip and a swollen eye, but all is well and I had to laugh.

3.  My husband and I had a great planning/brainstorming/goal setting session this afternoon.  It feels good to have a plan for the coming months and to be on the same page.

4.  I started a new book.

5.  I stayed up way too late on Friday night and the quilting is now 2/3 of the way done on my Wild Thing quilt.  It’s slow going but I am SO excited about finishing.

6.  We saw the fulfillment of a promise in a Father’s blessing in the life of our four year old this week.  He saw the baby put a lego in her mouth and got help before she choked on it.

7.  Today I learned that having the power out during Sacrament meeting does NOT help the youngest children to be quiet in Church.  With no power and no microphone I heard nothing from the foyer today, but am told that the meeting was a really neat one, in part BECAUSE there was no power.  It certainly created a memory for the older children and reminded me of a memory from my mission.

8.  Thanks to the comment of my neighbor in Sunday School, I learned a new meaning to the phrase “charity never faileth.”  I’ve got a lot to ponder and I feel grateful for the new ideas I get to explore as a result of someone else’s insight.

Life is good.  Full of challenges, but good.
I hope you have a great week!

Jennifer

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