President Faust & Bad Meat

Well, my day has been a little weird.

This morning, Paige found some meat on the floor. Oops, we forgot to sweep last night, and she had a heyday with the mock veal parmesan we ate. Yep, I found it in her little mouth - YUCK! Luckily, she still isn't sick, and I think she would have been by now. Kids really are resilient. Well, I took it right out of her mouth, and threw it in the general direction of the sink, but my shot was bad and it rebounded off the wall and into a cup!

So, this morning we told Parker and Stewart about President Hinckley. I told them that he'd worked so hard that his body was just really old and worn out, and that he was helping Heavenly Father in a special way now. I was so sad to hear last night that he'd died, and at the same time I know he was so happy -- happy to see Marjorie, happy to meet with all his family and great friends who have already crossed over to the other side. Apparently Parker was remembering the last apostle's death, as well, because he asked me, "Mama, did President Faust work hard?" I told him yes, but that he was a lot sicker in his body than President Hinckley, and so his body wore out a little sooner. Parker processed that for a minute, and then his eyes just lit up. "But Mama, now President Hinckley can see President Faust!" Oh, yes, my son -- and that's why death can be sweet. I started thinking about some of my favorite apostles that have died, and I know President Hinckley is having such a wonderful time seeing all those people he hasn't seen for so long -- Elder Maxwell, and Elder Ashton, and President Kimball and all the other prophets, not to mention his parents and siblings that have already passed away. What good company to meet you on the other side!

Well, after that touching moment, it was time to go outside, and we had a good time shoveling off our driveway with our neighbors the Kellys, just before a storm rolled through again. And roll in it did -- 10 minutes before I had hail blowing into my ear (and yes, that really is as unpleasasnt as it sounds!), the sun was shining and melting that ice pretty good. It really reminded me of two things -- chipping off ice on the driveway in Evanston, and that it's such a blessing to be so healthy and strong! Well, all my hard work made me pretty thirsty, so I took a huge swallow of water... and mock veal parmesan. Yep, friends, I totally drank out of the cup the meat went into. Yuck, yuck, yuck! So, so gross. As that meat went into the cup, I had the thought, "I should really move that cup so I don't use it." But, we were just getting started with our scripture study, and I thought it was important to continue. The sacrifices we make for obedience!! :)

Luckily, I'm feeling okay, too.