Nearly forty years ago, as I walked home from our date, I asked the Lord if this girl I'd spent the evening with was the girl my patriarch spoke of as he talked of the girl, who would be a sweet daughter of Mother Eve, that the Lord had in store for me to marry. Imagine my surprise when He said yes. Of course, I must confess, I was hoping that would happen.
The first time I saw her was at a dance just a few weeks after I'd returned from my mission. I saw her with one of her friends and I thought that there, of all the girls I'd seen that evening, was a girl I could dance with. But I was slow working up the courage to ask her to dance and by the time I'd determined to ask her she'd left the dance. I was both disappointed and relieved. The next day was the first day of classes and I was delighted to walk into one of my classes and see her there, and with an empty seat beside her no less. You can guess where I choose to sit. I spent the next three months slowly getting to know her, a little each class. We ended up with another class together the next quarter and spring quarter I was finally able to ask her out on a date. And so the adventure began.
Life moves at its own pace whether we're ready or not. All we can do is hold on for the ride, trying to anticipate and prepare for what's coming. If we're smart we find the wise, inspired voices who work so diligently to warn and prepare us for what's coming. But whether we're ready or not, life comes charging at us at full speed. The adventure unfolds, kids come into the home, they grow, they learn, they do and sometimes they don't, but life keeps coming, always at the same speed, always without pause or break. There are happy times, there are sad times, there are successes, there are disappointments, there are things that are unexpectedly easy, there are trials, there are joys indescribable, there are hurts deep and so painful you wonder how you can keep going. It is at those time we learn to heed the inspired counsel to "... let the afflictions of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever." And sometimes, with no warning, effort or compulsion, happy things happen. Little things that make you smile, bigger things that make you wonder how you can contain the joy. Unexpected mercy from the Source of all Good and you are reminded yet again that He is and ever has been watching over you.
Our adventure is so uniquely ours that it sometimes feels like we're making it up as we go along. We have learned to live without always knowing all the answers in advance, to trust those wise, inspired voices and live in hope. We have learned to trust our own judgment, as our own judgment has improved as we've moved ever onward. Occasionally we are able to recognize what's happening as we move from one act into the next in this play that is our life. More often, though, we come to gradually realize, as when the light gradually increases as the day dawns, that a change has come to our life and things are different now. The adventure continues, a little different now than in the past, but always moving forward.
I do not have the words to express how grateful I am that I have been able to live this adventure with that dear, sweet, pure daughter of Mother Eve of whom my patriarch foretold. I know for certain that except for perhaps the Gospel itself, she is the greatest blessing I've ever received from my Lord and if I do somehow manage to accomplish what I came to this earth to do, it will be because of her presence in my life as we've lived out this adventure together. I am grateful for each moment I have by her side and the promise we have from the Lord that there need be no end.
Blaubeere and her kids came over today. That's always a happy thing. A friend of Brombeere's had told her recently where an eagle's nest was so we decided to take a drive out and see if we could find it. So we all piled into Blaubeere's car and took off. We'd been told the spot where the nest was had been marked with a tent peg, hanging from a tree. A green tent peg. Not really helpful considering all the trees that were around. But it turned out it was not a tent peg - it was a tent pole bag and it was blue. But it was hanging from a tree. One out of three? Good enough. We managed to find it, though we did drive by it the first time. We'd seen the bag but were looking for a peg. Anyway, we found it. The nest is huge, way up in a big old pine tree several yards off the road. So we stood in the road and looked off through the trees and there it was. Unfortunately, none of the eagles were there at the time. In fact, after Brombeere posted that we'd found it and were looking at it, one of her friends responded that the mother eagle was sitting in a tree near her house at that moment. But the nest was still cool. It was massive. I would guess that it had been there for a number of years, getting added to a bit each year.
On the way to where the nest was we passed a buffalo farm. That was fun. There were several buffalo out in a pasture, including a couple of calves. They were fun to watch. One was in a playful mood and kept trying to engage the other. But the other wasn't too interested at the moment. And hanging around the buffalo were a bunch of cow birds. It was a fun excursion. In fact, it was really good. The only distraction was the ticks. They apparently are really bad this year. After we got back in the car to head home we found three of them. So we stopped to do a thorough tick check. But it still left everyone feeling a little creepy-crawly. But that wasn't enough to ruin the trip - it was a fun time.
