Nilsson News

We too, enjoyed a short but welcome UEA break.  I did yard clean up until our garbage can was full to overflowing  and then I was forced to stop because I couldn't put the weeds and grass anywhere else.  We are in the process of trying to exterminate this bermuda grass that is overtaking our yard.  Hold tight to your hats folks, but I have found something that is far worse than bind weed - bermuda grass.  Horrendous stuff!  It doesn't exist in places like Cache Valley and Idaho Falls because of the cooler climate.  It must mean those places are a little higher on the level of celestialization.
The kids are getting excited for Halloween and I'm trying to envision how I'm going to make their costumes.  I think for the first time in about eight years, Garrett and I are going to "dress up," or at least we have a costume idea.  We will definitely take pictures!
Garrett went to the Utah Rehabilitation Conference in Sandy on Friday.  There was a family from Salt Lake that had been invited to be the guest speakers. Both of the children have an extremely rare syndrome.  The arms never fully develop and they only have four fingers and toes on each limb.  It is rare to have one child with this but the chances to have two in the same family is one in 10 billion.  There is only one other family in the world with this same case.  Anyway, it was a very uplifting conference that inspired overcoming any challenge that you face.  That brings me to my ponderizing quote for the week by Richard G. Scott:

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are ready to grow more.  He therefore gives you experiences which stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which help polish you for your everlasting benefit.
To get you from where you are to where he wants you to be requires a lot of stretching and that generally entails discomfort and pain...This life is a great lesson in trust - trust in the Lord Jesus Christ."

I wish I could see how the Lord is polishing me because most of the time I feel pretty battered and worn down.  I have to tell you of an experience I had this week.  So, our finances seem to go up and down pretty regularly and we found ourselves in a pretty tight spot.  After looking at the numbers, Garrett and I came to the conclusion it was not going to end good (well actually, Garrett had more faith than I did). I was so upset about the whole situation and quite bitter, but the Lord saw it was time to humble me.  When the deadlines came and went, it all worked without there being any negative results.  When I was looking through our bank statement, it did not make sense, until my eyes fell on our tithing check.  That is the only reason it could have worked.  Tithing has some amazing promises attached to it and I was reminded of them through this experience.  The Lord is very aware of us, even down to our small temporal needs.