Happy Father’s Day + 2 Birthdays
Today we celebrated Fathers plus Ruthie’s Birthday and Porter’s Birthday. Ruthie turned 9 today. Porter turns 15 tomorrow, but Evelyn will be at girl’s camp so we had a party for him today too. I am so grateful Porter is back from his camping trip. One of the first things Amos said to Porter when returning home was, “We haven’t had an actual dinner since you left.” Thankfully, I take no offense at that and thankfully Porter is making a wonderful dinner now – Curry Coconut Quinoa with Greens and Cauliflower. He’s crying right now because of the onions but it smells delicious. I’m so glad he is getting us back on track after a day of sugar overload. We took a holiday from our “no sugar ” rule and everyone seems to have a tummy ache. Amos says this vegan/no sugar diet is really helping lessen his stomach pain and he will most likely continue it after this month.
He will have another CT scan after two more rounds of chemo so we can find out how effective our fight has been.
Today was a good day for Amos. No side effects except fatigue. He said his day was filled with the Spirit and he thought it was neat to sit next to Elder Nattress on the stand during church. Elder K. Brett Nattress was serving as president of the Arizona Gilbert Mission when he was called to be a General Authority Seventy at the last general conference. He said he was there for a convert confirmation – still acting as the mission president. A 10 year old in our ward, Ruby, was confirmed today after her baptism yesterday. She is friends with my girls and Kirra sang at her baptism yesterday. Sadly, we were at the hospital yesterday and couldn’t attend. Thank you to the Staman’s for getting her there and back.
I want to talk about fathers to end the post today. I have been thinking about Amos and the wonderful father he is and my 3 fathers; William, Evan and Dean. They have each blessed our lives in different ways and we love them each for so many reasons. I hope they know how special they are to us. I have another Father. My Father in Heaven, and yours, has perfect love for us. Dads have their jobs and their family. Some balance them well and some don’t – spending too much time focused on work while neglecting their families. What an example we can take from a Heavenly Father, as important as He, who takes time and energy to listen and respond to and guide His children – all of us. A friend, Nick Sales posted today, “God isn’t the creator of the universe first and our father second, He is first and foremost our father and everything else falls behind that.” I hope you all feel the love of your Eternal Father this Father’s Day. He knows what trials we need to strengthen us and He is always there to welcome us back home; even when we have been gone a while. Some have challenges to help show His power and help Him lead others back. We’ve seen our trial as an opportunity for Him to show His love for us and provide us opportunities to learn and grow.