Moving Dirt

Monday, September 23rd, 2024, I received another birthday gift!

Today was the day they began the construction of our future home!

We have been working on this for SO long, and to have it becoming a reality almost feels unreal! I almost started crying happy tears when I saw the text message come through from Blair with this picture of them moving dirt!

Whoever would have thought that a picture of "moving dirt" could make a girl so happy?? ;)

Well, along with "moving dirt" I had a family home evening lesson planned for the girls that night that went along SO perfectly with the events of the day. You see, I have prayed about, thought about, and imagined all the things that I want to teach the girls about as we build this home and prepare our family for the good things that lie ahead...more traditions, more growth, more time together with our ever growing family...and there is SO much that goes into us building...

We started out by singing this primary song "I Will Be What I Believe."

We talked about becoming and being what we want to be as daughters of God and disciples of Christ. Then we read 1 Corinthians 3:9-10 which says:

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a WISE MASTERBUILDER, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

We talked about being a "wise masterbuilder" and clearing away the "dirt" in our lives so that we can have a clean space to build our foundation...

There were so many good ways we tied in the gospel to what is actually happening in our lives right now...

We also read through Proverbs 31:10-31 and talked about building a strong home by being women of virtue...

Verse 16 was so fitting...

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

We considered the field, and we bought it! And now we are building on it to plant our "vineyard" where all the fruits of the spirit can grow!

I also loved verse 18:

18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

...her candle goeth not out by night...

As a woman of faith, and a mother in Zion, I work hard to strengthen my testimony so that my "candle" won't go out when life gets dark, and when trials and the storms of life are raging...

As we finished our little lesson, we again sang the song "I Will Be What I Believe" but this time, we listened to the words that applied to our lesson...I loved when it said, "...But with the prophets' words, I'll stand on solid ground...

As we are preparing for general conference, I am laser focused on studying the talks from the last conference and trying hard to get my heart soft enough to absorb whatever it is that Heavenly Father wants me to learn...

 And one last thing that I shared with the girls and dad during our FHE lesson was a story that I heard from Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President.

In Jewish tradition, the mother of the home lights 2 candles on the eve of the Sabbath (in Israel that is on Friday night) exactly 8 minutes after the sun goes down, and keeps the candle burning throughout the Sabbath. The 1st candle is a reminder to KEEP...to keep the Sabbath. The 2nd candle is to REMEMBER...to remember to keep the Sabbath day holy. I LOVED this idea, and took a 3 wick candle that I had, and lit two of the wicks, to KEEP, and to REMEMBER, and added the 3rd candle wick as a reminder to ALWAYS have His spirit with us. Just like the three things we promise in the sacrament, we can be reminded by these 3 "lights"...Keep His commandments, always REMEMBER Him, and have His spirit to be with us!

As we continually work on building our testimonies strong, we can also build good around us in our lives. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so thankful for my relationship with my Savior and my Heavenly Father. As I continue to move the "dirt" out of my life, I will become more ready to build my foundation upon the Rock of our Savior Jesus Christ!