Family, Family History, and Family Photos

 

If any of you have stopped by my blog before, you've probably noticed that I write a lot about my family.  Yes, I count my family as among my greatest blessings, and I do have A LOT of family!!  And I miss them!! Many live out of state, and of course we haven't gathered in person with almost any of them during this past year.  We keep in touch via  phone and text and email and Facebook, etc, but I wish I could do more with them and for them.   If any of you are familiar with "The Work and The Glory" book series, you might remember several times in the books when different families in the Steed extended family were able to build and/or live in homes near each other on "Steed Row".  Sometimes they were crowded together in sharing a home or shelter, but they were often close to one another to support and help each other.  That type of living, with all of my children and/or other relatives living close to one another might not sound too inviting too some, but to me that would be pretty close to my idea of Heaven!

First of course is my DH (Dear Husband) of nearly 38 years, my two DS's (Dear Sons), four DD's (Dear Daughters), two DDIL's (Dear Daughters in Law) and 3 going on 4 DGC (Dear Grand Children).   My wonderful angel parents, along with my in-laws, three sisters, two brothers, and their families . . . and don't even get me started on all of my cousins.  We don't always agree on everything, but I know that they are all there for me, and we all try to support each other in whatever ways we can.

Then of course there is the church family, the neighborhood family, the work family . . . and all of the family that has passed on before, sacrificed, worked and lived in such a way that my family and I can enjoy the blessings of freedom, prosperity and education that we have today.   We aren't millionaires or anything like that, but I must admit that we have so much more than any generation in history.   I love learning about my family and our history.  One of my favorite places to learn more is the Family Search website, where thanks to many wonderful extended family members I can find new photos, stories, histories, and other memories almost every single day.  If you haven't created a free account, why don't you try it out?  Who knows, you might find some family that you never knew about!  Ever wonder where you got your good looks?  You can even compare your own photo to photos of your ancestors and see who you most look like.  My most recently submitted photo says that I look most like my dear mother:

And next most like her mother:

Other photos tell me that I look most like my grandmother's mother:

Personally, I'm very happy to claim them all, and hope that they feel at least somewhat the same way about me.  

Here are a two other fun photos of some of my wonderful extended family that back in the day when I was just a toddler:

With my maternal grandparents and family (I'm third from the right on the front row)

With my paternal grandparents and family (I think I'm fifth from the left on the front row here -- with the sun in my eyes!)

Going through old photos is addicting for me!

Education

 

I don't consider myself to be an extremely educated person, but I do recognize that I have been blessed with the advantage that many people throughout history, and even in our world and country today have not had . . . a college degree.  Of course a college degree  and an education cannot be just given out randomly to anyone.  It requires work and sacrifice on the part of the recipient, no matter who they are.  That being said, I was born into a family that values education, and though my parents never mandated or forced any of their children to attend college, they did make it clear that we were expected to work hard, study, and do our best throughout our school careers, and they did all they could do to support us in our decisions to further our education.  I was able to earn a scholarship to pay the tuition for my first year of college, and I worked part time to pay my rent and other expenses.  After my scholarship ran out, my parents were kind enough, and able at that time to continue paying my tuition until I married. At that point I was able to cash in a savings bond that they had purchased for me many years earlier to pay my final year of tuition.  I'm sure there are many other things that my parents could have done with that tuition money, and I'm very grateful for their sacrifices in my behalf. 

Of course earning a degree, whether it be high school, college, or graduate school, should never be considered the end of one's education.  Education doesn't only come from completing classes and earning a degree, but taking advantage of opportunities to learn through reading, interacting and listening to others around us who have experiences and knowledge that we do not.  Today most of us have a wealth of knowledge available to us through the internet, computers, and even our phones.  Even our day to day experiences at work, travel  through hobbies and other activities contribute to our on-going education. 

 Education is also learning from our mistakes, and I'll be the first to admit that I've made plenty of mistakes through the years.  Hopefully I have learned something from at least some of my mistakes, and hopefully I will never stop learning!

My much younger self with my Dear Husband on my University graduation day, April 1984

"And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith."

Doctrine and Covenants 109:7

Discernment

 

Discernment is the trait of judging wisely and objectively.  The trait of using knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.  In the Christian faith, it is a gift bestowed by the Holy Ghost.  I believe that we are all born with the light of Christ, or the a ability to distinguish between truth and error.  As we continue to seek for truth, the spirit of God will help us to recognize what is right and wrong.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, after being baptized, a new member of the church is blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Though I am far from being perfect, I know that the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost have helped me many times in my life to distinguish between good and evil, truth and error, and right and wrong.  I have learned to trust in the promptings and feelings that I have received from the Holy Ghost. 

One of the greatest blessings or tender mercies I enjoy each April is listening to the words of our living prophet during the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is broadcast world wide over many different mediums.    In one of the recent General Conferences, our prophet, President Russell M Nelson invoked a blessing of Discernment upon all who were listening:

Source: Facebook Meme

Can you think of a greater blessing to receive during this past year that was filled with so much confusion and trouble?  May we all continue to be blessed with discernment, the ability to know and feel of God's perfect love for us, and God's direction for each of us in our own personal circumstances.   May we all be blessed with the gift of discernment as we continue to face choices and challenges in the days and years that lie ahead.

Join Us In Worshiping Jesus Christ

 Easter General Conference 

Of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Sessions Streaming Live Saturday April 3, and Sunday April 4, 2021

General conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take place every six months.  The April 2021 conference (April 3-4,. 2021) is digital only and being broadcast from Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  

This page provides a summary of the conference's sermons, news and announcements.

Please join with us this Easter weekend for messages of hope and peace and inspiration.

President Russell M Nelson speaking at leadership meeting April 1, 2021

Photo source

Children

 I've always wanted to be a Mother! Among the greatest blessings God has given me are each one of my wonderful children.   In 2016 my A to Z challenge them was all about being Mom of Six to these amazing individuals.  God has blessed me in my life with six fairly uneventful pregnancies and six healthy birth stories, and six incredible people who are still one of the main focuses and greatest joys of my life.

Back in April 2018 I blogged about their growing years every day of the challenge:

Blogging from A to Z Mom of Six

The past 25 years have brought some real changes to our lives and each of these youngsters is now a successful amazing adult doing much good in this world with their own talents; showing love and kindness to others all around.  We haven't been all together since the summer of 2019, but enjoy gathering virtually every few weeks.  My children and my three going on four grandchildren bring me some of the greatest joys of my life!

Baptism, Book of Mormon

 

Baptism

"Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God"

 John 3:5

Shortly after my eighth birthday, I was baptized by immersion by my Daddy in the font in my local chapel.  After eight years of being taught about Jesus Christ in Sunday School and Primary classes at church, and by my Mom and Dad and other family members at home, I was excited to be baptized to show our Savior that I was willing to follow his example, keep his commandments, serve and help others, and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Being baptized into Christ's church has given me a life long knowledge of who I am -- a daughter of my Heavenly Father who has a plan for me and my life.  Along with baptism, I was blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, a guide and a comfort to me throughout my life as I have faced difficult challenges and decisions.  I am very grateful to have had these blessings in my life now for many years.

Book of Mormon

One of the gifts that I received for my eighth birthday was a copy of The Book of Mormon, a gift from my grandma and grandpa that lived next door to us on the family farm.  I own quite a few different copies of The Book of Mormon now, but this copy will always be very special to me, with its personal inscription to my from my sweet grandmother.  She was only with us for four more years after my eighth birthday, but her life as a teacher, and then the hard work and service to her family in the home and on the farm and to others in the church and community and extended family will always be an example and an inspiration to me, as is the life of my dear grandfather.  I started studying that Book of Mormon with my family and on my own, and am grateful for the habit I have of reading from these sacred scriptures and teachings of Jesus Christ almost daily.  The Book Of Mormon is a blessing and a comfort to me and brings me peace and hope for a better, kinder, and happier world.  I'm grateful for the blessing of The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Accident

 

 

When I was not yet three years old, I had an accident on the farm, that though not necessarily life threatening, had quite an impact on me.  My mother had a new baby and it was in the middle of canning season.  My father and older siblings were in the middle of haying season.  That morning it was decided that I would spend the day in the hayfield with my dad and brothers and sisters in order to give my mother a bit of time to work with the fruit that needed to be bottled.  With two older brothers and two older sisters to entertain me by the haystack, everything should turn out ok, right?  Well, at some point I decided that I wanted to be on the top of the haystack with my Daddy rather than down below with my brother, so climbed up onto the fork of the derrick that was used to lift loads of the loose meadow hay to the top of the stack.  I don't really remember the accident, so we can only assume that I had figured out that riding the forklift would get me up on top of the haystack.  Unfortunately, as the my brother started leading the horse that pulled the cable that lifted the forklift of the derrick, I grabbed hold of the metal cable with my little two year old right hand.  The cable sliced into the flesh of my palm and 3rd and 4th fingers, severing the tendons of those fingers. 

So why was this accident that caused several successive surgeries and hospitalizations on a little girl's right hand and fingers a tender mercy?  

For starters, the accident could have been much worse.  I could have suffered even worse injuries or even death that day.  

Probably the greatest tender mercy from that accident is the fact that the experiences I went through as a very young child, alone in the hospital for the first time ever away from loving parents and family learned to have faith in a loving God, a Heavenly Father.  I learned that he hears and answers our prayers and can provide us with comfort and peace.  Yes, I was alone and sad and afraid, and probably in pain, but my Mother had taught me that I could pray, even in a hospital crib far away from my family.  And my loving Heavenly Father brought me comfort and peace.

This may be the very hay derrick that I injured myself on . . . photo taken about 40 years after the accident.