Enormous Miracles, Small Packages

On January 31 our dear friends Annie and Jeremy asked to come over to talk to us about something so we invited them for Sunday dinner. Jeremy is our dedicated home teacher, and Annie my 2nd Counselor in YW and over the past year they've become family. No really, they are family.

I didn't want to ask if it was about any breaks in their adoption process but it was the first thing on my mind. We started dinner when Jeremy finally broke the news- They had been contacted by a birth mother and she and Annie had been texting regularly. We had been praying as a family for them for quite some time but never told the girls exactly why. I didn't want one of the girls to unwittingly say something insensitive like, "Do you have a baby yet?" Now they knew and our prayers for Annie and Jeremy and this birth mother intensified.

We've had other friends go through the adoption process (even the words make me cringe) so we relied heavily on that cautious optimism that is required. Everything was looking good... too good almost, and I couldn't bear to see their hearts break if everything didn't go through. Oddly enough, I needn't have worried. They met the birth mom on February 11th. She told Annie she was worried about people judging her and Annie texted me that if anyone judged her for placing a baby Annie would punch them in the throat... something like that. I texted back joking that I could slash some tires and since I have no prior police record the po po would probably go easy on me. "I would go to jail for you and your baby, just sayin'."

The next morning while I was in the shower I had the strong impression Annie and Jeremy's baby was going to be born that day and she would be a girl. I told myself that was ridiculous since 1- it was way early, the birth mom wasn't due for a few weeks, 2- the birth mom was confident it was a boy, and 3- I have no stewardship in Annie and Jeremy's family whatsoever and therefore would not receive impressions on their behalf. I grabbed my phone to text Annie anyway because I thought my shower thought would make her laugh. Then I read that last x-mit about going to jail for them and decided maybe I was getting a little intense about this whole thing and put my phone down. Turns out Sabrina Ashlyn was coming into this world right at that moment. Just 4 lbs 9 oz and 18 inches long. A tiny yet huge miracle.

A life can change in a New York minute, and Annie and Jeremy's had just been turned upside down in the absolute best of ways within the space of 3 weeks. In adoption terms, that's approaching the speed of light on a Red Bull. The day after Sabrina was born, I told Brent I had to go shopping for a baby gift and he didn't even try to challenge me on it. I wasn't sure what style Annie would prefer for her little one. Princessy? Organic? Bright? Pastel? Cartoony? I knew Annie's personal style pretty well so when I spotted a new but vintage-looking dress at Janie and Jack along with sweet shoes, I knew it was winner, winner chicken dinner.

I'll never forget the Sunday following Sabrina's birth. Annie and Jeremy were still at the hospital and weren't present for it. One of the counselors announced the birth and the whole congregation collectively gasped and smiled. The air was suddenly so thick with love for this little girl and her newfound family. Friends peppered Brent and I with questions, correctly assuming we had some more details and it was SO nice to finally be able to talk in open what we had been discussing and praying about in secret. Plans were already underway for a baby shower. In Young Women we have a good news minute and every girl said they were happy about the birth as part of their minute. It was so sweet.

Yes, Brent and I were obnoxious enough to stop by the day they came home with her. Family is obnoxious like that and again, Annie and Jeremy are family. We also had to give them Sabrina's gift! As luck would have it, my parents were in town and were happy to watch the girls for us. Annie and Jeremy let me hold her which still surprises me. She was impossibly tiny and the lightest baby I've ever held. When she started to fuss, I gave her back to Jeremy. Watching him expertly hold her and seeing them as a family made absolutely everything right with the world. I think we floated home in the Pilot.

Sorry, I can't help another photo!

The baby shower was unbelievable, starting with the invitation. I throw everything away but I can't bear to let this sweet thing go... too many happy memories!

When I saw Annie had registered for aden + anais swaddle blankets I knew I wanted to try this packaging idea out I'd seen on Pinterest. I actually went to Starbucks twice that day because I forgot to ask for cups, straws and a carrier the first time around. Not that I mind getting two delicious hot chocolates in a day!

Annie was so happy, everyone there was so happy and it was just a beautiful, beautiful shower all around.

We also gave her a copy of the book On the Night You Were Born which all the girls signed.

One of the last gifts was from Jaci and she hesitantly explained that she had told her mother about Sabrina and even though she's never even met Annie and Jeremy, she whipped up a quilt for them. I had to smile because we had told our friends about them too and had well-wishes pouring in for them as well.

 Annie and Jeremy have slipped into parenthood so easily, it makes me a bit embarrassed to think of how I bumbled initially with Liesel. I shouldn't be surprised, they've been preparing for it for years and years. Sabrina has been a blessing in everyone's life and the girls have taken her up easily as a little sister. I'm so grateful for miracles! I'm grateful for a birth mother with the love and courage to place. I'm grateful for amazing parents like Annie and Jeremy who will shower this child with love. I'm grateful for families and I'm grateful that we could watch Annie and Jeremy's grow.

One final pic of Sabrina in the outfit we gave her. The shoes just kill me they are so stinkin' cute!

New Beginnings

Fair warning: this is going to be a really looong post. However, a lot of work went into it so that's only fitting. It seems like New Beginnings comes right on the heels of Young Women in Excellence. I felt the need to simplify and so our theme was simply the youth theme for the year: 

 

Our decorations were the colors of the Young Women values. Food was a fruit and veggie with dip. There were also the most fabulous sugar cookies with colored icing. I need to get that recipe...

We had a laptop near the entrance so as people came into the cultural hall, we registered the girls for camp. I wanted people to be able to nosh during the program... kind of like the Golden Globes or the White House Correspondent's Dinner. It kept the evening from being drawn out by doing a program then refreshments. It was about an hour- easy peasy.

Each of the 8 tables had a color with tulle tied around the back and mason jars painted to match. Pretty flowers made it cheery. The best part? The ward that shares our building had their New Beginnings the next evening and so we were able to leave it set up for them which means we didn't have to worry about tearing down. Our Relief Society ended up using the tulle for one of their activities a few weeks later. It makes my heart sing when we can make decorations cost-effective and multi-functional!

The stage had Christmas lights and different pictures and statuettes of Christ. It was breathtaking when we lowered the lights for the video. The whole stage just glowed.

Speaking of the video, here it is:

Can I brag about my presidency for a moment? Every single task was taken up by someone who followed it through perfectly. No one had to be reminded, no one shirked or forgot. Everything came together like clockwork. I'm so blessed to work alongside these women who have such a sense of duty and commitment to their callings. The give-aways were these little charms which could be used as a zipper pull:

I spoke about the value of the YW program (get the play on words?). I had an idea of what I wanted to talk about a few weeks before the program, but honed and refined it right up until the end. Many thanks to family and friends who let me practice my delivery over and over. Here it is in full:

In the summer of 1942, a young girl spied a book in an Amsterdam shop window. It was covered in a pretty red, green and white plaid, and it even had a lock. The book was meant to be used for collecting autographs, but when it was gifted to this particular girl on the occasion of her 13th birthday, she resolved to use it as a diary and dubbed it “Kitty”. Just a few weeks later, Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in a secret annex above her father’s company. One week later, they were joined by the van Daans, with their teenage son, Peter. In the fall, a friend of the family also sought refuge in that space behind the swinging bookcase. For two years they were completely confined to the secret annex, with just a few helpers as their only connection to the outside world.

During these years, Anne wrote. She wrote about the restrictions that had been imposed on Jews at that time. She wrote about her struggles with her family- her mother and sister in particular. She wrote about the challenges of living in such close quarters with so many people. She wrote about the budding romance between herself and Peter. She wrote about her feelings and ambitions- initially to be a movie star but ultimately she settled on a journalist. She wrote about God and human nature.
In her entry dated 5 April 1944 she wrote: I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that's inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?

From an outside perspective, it may seem the many, many facets of the YW program are a bit much: we have our Sunday lessons (which are in addition to Sunday School and for the older girls, Seminary), we have Mutual activities during the week, Temple trips, volleyball tournaments, summer Girl’s Camp and then events like this New Beginnings and YWIE. Why do we do it? Why so many activities for girls who are already over-scheduled and over-tired? It’s because at its core, the Young Women organization is about a girl, and her diary.

Personal Progress breaks down the 8 YW values into required value experiences, additional value experiences and a value project. A key part of each of those components is for the YW to record their experiences, thoughts, feelings, and testimony. We do not want your daughters simply to pass off requirements and go along their merry way. Rather, we hope these values will become very personal to them, as they progress in their learning of the gospel. Hence, Personal Progress. As leaders, we strive to make every lesson, and every activity something that leads your daughter closer to the Savior. We strive to make everything we do worthy of a diary entry.

Given the buffetings of Satan these girls face every day, a diary entry may not seem like much. Similarly, faced with the oppression of the Nazi regime- the single most powerful entity on earth at the time, Anne and her little diary didn’t seem like much of a force. She herself wrote, nobody will be interested in the outpourings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Time and the hard lessons of history have proven that sentiment to be quite false, as the Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most well-known books world-wide, and is even required reading in many school curriculums today. Anne has gone on living after her death, and she is now a critically acclaimed, famous writer. The pen is mightier than the sword. Anne Frank taught us that.

In 1975 during the October General Conference, the prophet Spencer W. Kimball said, Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. In terms of your daughter’s YW experience, there is no better way to “accept and act upon these principles” than to make a record of it.

One of the great questions of history is how the Nazi party could have gained so much popularity, recruited such a powerful army, and murdered so many people. We may never know the true answer, but I’d like to mention one that was suggested to me by Dr. Victor Ludlow, a religion professor at BYU. The prophets have written that one of the signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is that the Jews would return to Jerusalem. Dr. Ludlow postulated that Satan made a concerted effort to prevent that from happening by attempting to annihilate that race of people so there would be no Jews. After all, if there were no Jews to return to Jerusalem, there could be no Second Coming.

As you are driving your daughters to Mutual during a busy school week, as you are packing them and all their gear for Girl’s Camp, and as you encourage them to work on their Personal Progress, you are laying the groundwork for them to meet their Savior. He has come, and he will come again. The best preparation we, as leaders and parents, can give these girls for that miraculous event, is a diary.

Just a couple of weeks before Anne and all those hiding in the secret annex were betrayed and arrested, she wrote the following entry: It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.

Is your daughter a bad person if she doesn’t complete her Personal Progress? Certainly not. In my completely unbiased opinion, we have the best youth right here in this room. I am privileged to observe these YW who are who are naturally endowed with a graciousness, a kindness, an enthusiasm, and a unique spirituality. But will completing Personal Progress help your daughter to become better? Absolutely. I testify that this program will bring peace and tranquility amidst the chaos. This is the value of the YW program.

It wasn't until I finished speaking that I realized my subject matter was a bit heavy, and most of the YW are the sweet, innocent little Beehives. Luckily, the value presentation was fun and lighthearted. The girls were superheros. We had Fantastic Faith:

 Divine Nature Diva:

 Individual Worth Woman:

 Lady of Knowledge:

 Captain Choice & Accountability:

 Good Works Girl:

 Commander Integrity:

 Victorious Virtue:

Those capes are also tablecloths we use throughout the year, and the t-shirts and costume items will make a showing again during skit night at Girl's Camp.

In lieu of a closing hymn, the girls voted on a song from the 2016 Youth Album to learn and perform. The only glitch is I was playing the music off of my iPhone and through a speaker which connects via bluetooth. The wireless connection in our ward building leaves a lot to be desired so while I was up front figuring that out with my back turned, the girls had kind of cornered me in. Once the music was playing and I had turned around, I realized I'd either have to make a really embarrassing exit mid-song, or I could just stay put and go with it. Since this calling is all about rolling with the punches, I stayed and sang along.

In the end, it felt right to be up there with my girls. They sounded amazing and many parents teared up. Ours may not be the most Pinterest-worthy New Beginnings, but it had the right focus, and the right Spirit so I'm putting this one down in the books as a win.

Daddy Daughter Sock Hop

From the moment we moved here, Liesel and Ireland became fast friends with the most adorable strawberry blonde named Brooke. They are three little peas in a pod and Brooke's mom Lindsey is one of those fantastic women you just want to rub shoulders with. She's funny, honest and tough with a profound testimony of the gospel. Any time we get a chance to hang out with them, we jump on it. Lindsey told me about the Daddy Daughter Sock Hop through the park district and after a bit of convincing Brent, we signed them up. I'm really glad we did.

As time goes by, it seems like it gets tougher and tougher to get some one on one time with the girls. We mostly end up doing crowd control and I feel like we need to do better at taking them as individuals. Brent had a lot of fun focusing on these two for a night. I thought the menu was pretty darn cute:

With New Beginnings demanding much of my attention, there was no way I was going to get around to making poodle skirts so what we had in the closet just had to do. I had the brilliant idea to do victory rolls in Liesel's hair but when I proudly showed my mother how she looked via facetime, she gently pointed out that was the wrong decade. Out came the victory rolls, and into a high pony tail with a scarf. At least we had the cardigans and bobby socks on hand! It was just going to have to do.

I know this isn't the best photo- a little blurry and cut off a bit there in the corner, but every girl should have a photo dancing with their daddy.

I love seeing Brent have fun with the girls. Such a good dad! He told me there were times he was slow dancing with both of his girls. It is his lot in life to always be surrounded by beautiful women.

Liesel and Ireland really got into the props.

I really love the jeweled glasses they decorated! So clever.

Not to rhapsodize, but I'm so grateful the girls have good friends like sweet Brooke. They make each other better, closer, and happier. I hope they continue to enjoy and support each other as they grow up. Life is tough, but it's not so bad with good friends at your side.