I haven’t posted in here for a while now – and my friends, so much has happened since the last time I wrote. No, we didn’t add another kid to the mix! lol We have however, added unwanted inches to our waistline; made [new] life long friends; changed careers; and traveled across country to see some of the most beautiful parts of America.

Were currently here in Detroit, Michigan for Paane’s work training until the end of July and then we get to relocate again to Arizona where hopefully we get to settle down for a little while. Anyways, on Monday I got a phone call from one of the Relief Society Presidencies asking me if I could become a substitute teacher and teach this upcoming 3rd Sunday. I mean, last Sunday was the first time we attended our ‘ward’ so I must’ve left a really [bad] good first impression to be given the opportunity to teach, right?! lol

As I was reading the lesson, it became apparent to me WHY I needed to teach this particular lesson. Heavenly Father was really rebuking me for neglecting to remember the ‘simple’ things. Right at the beginning of the lesson it says, “The more surely you rear your children in the ways of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with love and high expectation, the more likely that there will be peace in our lives.” I mean, WOW! I will admit that I am the type of mother that at the end of the day, if we survived it with just the ‘bare minimum[s]’ then I’m good with that… bare minimum[s] like, if the kids get to brush their teeth for the day – that’s a miracle in itself! lol If we get to go outside and enjoy the sunshine in the heat – even for just 5 minutes, I’m counting that as a slam dunk! If by the end of the night my kids are already in bed and it took me hours to get them down [and somehow amiss the chaos we forgot to say prayer], I’m not going to wake them up JUST to say prayers… like you know?! Anyways, then I read about the kind of ‘peace’ Heavenly Father blesses our lives with if we live simply the ways of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I felt like a total failure again.

I know Heavenly Father blesses my life – even when I try to just get by with the bare minimum[s].

I remember one time, Sosaia got a rock stuck up his nose. I was in the kitchen making breakfast when he ran in opening the drawers, picking up a fork and then casually inserting it through his nostrils. Shocked by what I was just seeing, I asked him what he was doing. He said he was trying to get the rock out. I looked inside his nose and sure enough, lodged right inside his left nostril was this huge pebble! I tried not to panic – so I grabbed my tweezers [I know lol] and tried to take it out. It didn’t work. So I panicked. I ran into the gym to call on Paane and frantically told him what had happened. We tried EVERYTHING, but to no avail. Paane suggested we take him to the hospital.

We had no insurance at the time, our car was sitting on empty with no gas money, and we had just depleted whatever money we had saved to fix the AC in our car – so we really had no money. I remember, that past Sunday I was contemplating on paying our tithing because it meant that I had no ‘cushion’ to fall back on if we had any emergency during the week [and it would be my luck that I would have an emergency during the week lol].

When Paane suggested we go to the urgent care, I told him “that’s fine, but will we make it with the gas we have?” He suggested that we go anyways. We said a quick prayer, and I remember specifically asking for comfort that things will be okay but that he also provides a way for us to just get by. Nothing major. At the local urgent care, they told us that because of the severity of the situation, we needed to go to the Children’s hospital in Downtown and see an ENT Specialist. We barely made it to the Hospital with the gas we had. Because we had no cash on hand and couldn’t afford parking, I dropped off Sosaia and Paane to the front door of the ER and then drove to the nearest neighborhood block to park the car for free. I remember it was a really hot day! Luna and I sat in the car for a good 15 minutes before we left to walk to the hospital. I was realllllllly feeling alone, terrified and depressed that I was in such a predicament. But, I knew I needed to go check on Sosaia, so I got out and started pushing Luna in the stroller.

Feeling so depressed, I just let my head hang low and kept saying to myself, “it’s going to be OKAY! it’s going to be OKAY…” I just remember thinking to myself that, for a very busy hospital – no one was walking around, except for a few cars driving by – but there really wasn’t anyone around! As I was walking, I noticed $10 by my feet. Such an under statement, but imagine my surprise! I stopped, looked around [no one], then slowly looked UP as if to say to Him, really?!! I slowly picked up the money and continued walking. A few steps further, I notice $20 and then another, and another, and some more further down… I just kept collecting the money – and gripping it so tightly! I picked up several more by the curb sidewalk. I looked around again, and still NO ONE was within sight! I was trembling, and if you had seen me at that VERY moment, you would’ve thought I saw a ghost.

When I got to the hospital room to Paane and Sosaia, I immediately burst into tears telling Paane what had just happened. We counted the money and we had a total of $160. We were able to put gas in our car to take us home – and more than enough to buy groceries for the week.

I know for a fact Heavenly Father gave us that experience to teach ME [if not, Paane and I] a few lessons. I was so content with just the bare minimum of things that it had begun to seep through the spiritual aspects of my life. I was content with paying tithing JUST BECAUSE, but never with the full expectation of the blessings I could receive. I was content with just saying our prayers when we remembered [and when it was convenient for us] but never made the effort to do it frequently. I was okay with the fact that if I ‘supposedly’ forgot to pay my tithing on Sunday, I can use it during the week for emergencies. That gave me peace, or so I thought! But real peace comes only from Him when we live the ways of the gospel of Jesus Christ.