OK, So I'm a Little Bit Late...

... but it was a great Mother's Day.

Life has been incredibly busy these days. It seems like everytime I get a chance to sit down and blog, something (or someone) else is needing attention. However, there's been an event in our family that should not go unheeded in the scope of this blog since it is about families and loving each other and doing those things that need to be done to be together forever as a family... you know, all that stuff. It's always much easier to write about the kids than to write about myself but here goes.



On Sunday, May 11, 2008 I had the opportunity to have my long time friend take me back into the waters of baptism so that I could again make those covenants that I had thrown away in anger several years ago. I cannot say enough about the dedication and genuine love this friend has shown for my family and me over this past year, but he has been a trooper in making sure the required teaching was done, making sure that I received various priesthood blessings and helps along the way, and being so very humble that you cannot doubt for a moment his sincerity or his testimony.

Many things have happened over the course of this past year and not all of them get shared for public consumption, but this step was huge for my family and I. My children were able to see that not only do I support their religious endeavors, I also believe and live the same principles as they are being taught. It's the first step of several in making sure that when this life is said and done we have the opportunity to be a forever family.

The day was incredibly special as well because I had the opportunity to realize just how much love and support I have from people that I pass ever so casually in the hallways or in meetings every other week (because I attend church with the kids in their ward on alternate weeks). In addition, I was greatly honored to have in attendance 4 gentlemen whom I have come to admire and respect even more over the course of this year than I have in the past. Bishop O who started with me down my path of self sabatoge and anger, Bishop N who was put in a position of having to excommuniate me from the Church, Bishop W who is the bishop in my children's ward and Bishop M who walked me through each step of the reactivation process and made sure that I was truly ready to accept the responsibility that comes with the convenants - these 4 gentlemen were all there to show that not only do they not only serve as Judges in Isreal, they also serve as men of extreme faith and support. I was doing alright emotionally that day until I saw Bishop W - the fact that he left his own ward during a block of meetings to be at my baptism (as much for the support of my children as it was to support me) was so very touching. However, when I also saw Bishop N I lost it and had a good cry right then and there. Bishop O and Bishop M were also participating in my baptismal service so I wasn't surprised to see them there, but was honored, none the less, at their service that day.

So, I can officially say, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am not a perfect person, but I know that there is a plan in place that can allow me (and you) to be perfected. I know, without a doubt, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, our elder brother and the head of this church and that his atoning sacrifice is something that is on one level very simple to understand (he died a physical death AND a spiritual death so that our sins could be forgiven and we could return to the presence of our Heavenly Father) and yet so very complex (why would he do that for me?) that we must make daily effort to understand it and never take it for granted. I know that I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and knows me as an individual. And I know that I made the right decision in accepting Christ's gift by following Him into the waters of baptism. When we self sabatoge, we don't always get a second chance to get things right. Luckily, I was able to have a second chance this time.

I love my children in ways that are indescribable. The least I can do for them - for us really - is to Choose The Right.