Homeward Bound

Elder Jones will be home very soon. The past two years seem to have gone incredibly quickly.  This last week, I finally finished getting Elder Jones' room is ready to welcome him home this! I want my son's room to reflect the best parts of these past two years he has served in Mexico and to inspire him to keep the momentum going and to move forward with faith.

 This is Josh's bed. It has a new mattress and a Mexican blanket and Mexican flag pillow cases.

The picture of New York was something Josh had on his wall before his mission.  He has loved New York City since we visited there in 1999 when he was three. Since the two towers were standing then, Josh asked for the picture of the pre 9/11 skyline.  New additions to this wall are the collage with pictures from his mission, and the bulletin board for "Mission Memories."

Here is a close up of the biggest collage.  There are two other collages with pictures of his mission now hanging on his wall.  He has made so many wonderful memories.

This is one of two meaningful pictures of the Savior in his room now.  I love this picture of Jesus embracing a young man.

 This is the entrance to Josh's room. The "Enjoy the Journey" sign is new.

When Josh was in high school and went to visit his Grandma Jones one year, she told him that he reminded her of her husband, Josh's grandpa. Josh never met his Grandpa Jones.  He passed about four year before Josh was born, but Josh wanted these pictures on his wall to remind him that he is like his grandpa, who was a fine man -- a good husband and father to his family.  He was a great role model for my son.  I have added another mission college an picture of the Gilbert Temple to this wall. The other items are Josh's Eagle Scout Certificate, Josh's Senior Picture and a collage of the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration which Josh participated in before his mission.

This is the "center piece"  picture of Jesus I chose.  You will recall that I asked all of my blog friends to weigh in on which picture would be best for a young man's bedroom.  After Charly and my blog friend Rita of Soul Comfort's Corner suggested that I ask my son which picture he liked best, I emailed each of the pictures to him and asked which one he thought was most inspiring. Josh said he liked this one, so this is the one we went with.

The size of this print that I wanted to get was almost $400, so we settled for a 5x7 with a nice mat and I framed it myself.  It is such a beautiful print and reminds us that when we feel like we need help or feel like we are drowning, there is One who will rescue us.

 Because Josh will be home soon, tonight Charly hung the "Welcome Home" banner.

 Our house is Stucco and most of the places we can hang things from are up high.  

We used some landscaping wire to secure the banner to some hooks that were already in the stucco.  It doesn't look great close up, but the message is sincere...

..and hopefully will help Josh know that he is loved and appreciated!  A good friend asked me if she could come and decorate our yard the day he comes home, so we are hoping that will help things look a big more festive and welcoming.   

This is the banner we will be taking to the airport. I also have a t-shirt with the same picture on it and we will have balloons as well.  It will be a happy homecoming!

Here is Josh's last Monday email home today. We couldn't be more pleased with this guy and the choices he is making in life.

Hey Guys, 

I made it to the point of writing you for the last time...I certainly look forward to walking at Discovery Park and driving you to work mom. I can't be any more grateful for my time and the people I met and have helped me. They will always have a place in my heart. More than anything, I am grateful for the family I have and the family I will have. I love them more than I can ever say. And yes mom, the boy we were teaching got baptized - a special treat for me and my companion because he also leaves the area. I am looking forward to telling you guys everything in person about the hard, scary, funny, interesting times of my mission. Thank you so so much for everything. For dinner now that you are offering Logans Roadhouse possibly but we will see.

Love you!!
Elder Jones

Miracles Great and Small

This last week has been one of miracles great and small, some which accompanied truly frightening events.

The first scary event and little miracle followed a few hours I spent here at the Gilbert Temple on a Saturday afternoon last week.  As I was driving home from the temple, the truck right in front of me, ran a red left-turn arrow into oncoming traffic, and in so doing hit a motorcycle.  I was front and center to see the entire thing. When I saw the motorcycle go down, I feared the worst.  I know that when a motorcycle and a truck tangle, the motorcycle rider usually pays a heavy cost.  It felt like it was a miracle when the rider of the motorcycle immediately got up, obviously uninjured.  I thanked God and called the police to report the accident.  Everyone was OK, but the whole thing shook me up a bit.

A couple of hours later, after dinner when I was feeling calmed down after witnessing the afternoon's motorcycle accident, Charly and I went out for our usual evening walk.  We were on our way back home, when we heard a loud explosion in the sky and Charly pointed out an airplane that appeared to be on fire.   We watched in horror as a small plane exploded into a fireball and nose-dived from the sky into a nearby home.  Charly and I witnessed the whole thing.  We were at the burning home almost immediately, well before the firefighters got there.  

The plane was part of our town's Constitution Celebration and was carrying skydivers who jumped out of the plane just prior to the crash.  Miraculously, even the pilot was able to eject from the plane and other than some minor burns was OK.

Here is what was left of the home the next morning.  (I didn't take this aerial shot.  It was circulating on Face Book).

The plane plummeted right into the middle of the house. There were two people inside and to me it is a pretty significant miracle they got out of their home unhurt.  Even their dogs got out OK.

I took these pictures the next morning. This home is one my street, about a block and a half away from my home.

The home was a total loss...

...but miraculously, the lives of everyone involved were spared. This is something I never want to witness again. 

After a weekend filled with accidents, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I witnessed another accident early Monday morning. This time the accident was my own and it was on the stairs of my own home.  Long story short, I missed a step going downstairs and hurt and possibly broke my left foot.  The pain was intense on Monday, so I took the afternoon off and went to see my podiatrist. An x-ray and exam were inconclusive, but the doctor said that sometimes a fracture doesn't show up on an x-ray for a week or two. In the mean time, I am treating the foot as though it is broken, by wrapping it and wearing a boot.  To me the small miracle here is how quickly the foot seems to be recovering.  The pain and swelling from the injury has diminished each day.  The foot is still tender, but the pain is nothing at all like it was right after the injury.  

As this Sunday night comes to an end, I am grateful for blessings, tender mercies and miracles great and small that God sends into our lives. The hand of God is always in our lives - all we have to do is look for it.

Friday's Favorites and Request for Help

I have been absent from "Friday Fave Fives" for several weeks, due to the general business of my life right now, but that doesn't mean I haven't had my share of blessings.  Here are some of my favorite things from the past little while:

Christmas in September -  That's right - I have been participating in a service project to purchase and send a few items to missionaries serving in the Philippians.  The gifts are modest - a white shirt, a pair of socks, a set of scriptures and a pocket hymnal, but they will surely be appreciated by missionaries serving without family and financial support.  I am happy I am able to help out with this service for some young missionaries in need.

Clean Carpets - We had an extra day off this wee since Monday was Labor Day, so Charly and I sent the day cleaning all the carpets in our home.  It was a big, exhausting job, but it was something that really needed to be done, and now the carpets look so nice and fresh. Charly did all of the heavy lifting and pushing the carpet cleaner.  I kept the machine full of clean water.  I am thankful for my hard-working husband who always pitches in to help.

New Car - I don't enjoy shopping for, deciding on and paying for a new car, but we currently have two older cars and will soon have our third driver (Josh) back home, so it was time to get another car. This is the 1996 Toyota Corolla that Charly currently drives to work. My mom purchased it a short time before she passed almost 18 years ago.  It has over 250,000 miles on it and is still running fine. This will be Josh's transportation when he gets home from his mission.

I drive this 2010 Kia Optima which we bought brand new.  It has about 71,000 miles on it and has been pretty reliable.  I will keep driving this car.

This is the new vehicle we will be buying this Saturday.  It is a 2015 Honda CRV with less than 5,000 miles on it.  It is not brand new, but is just as good as, and we are buying it from a friend who owns a car lot and gave us a truly "smokin' deal."  Charly will be driving it to and from work. I am thankful that we found the kind of car we want and that we got a great deal and have the means to pay for it, without too much of a hardship.

Cancer Fighters - My grandson Thomas has been doing well after his last round of Chemo.  As of yesterday, his "numbers" are good. Yesterday, his mom (my oldest daughter) posted, "We're very blessed, it could be so much worse. Sometimes we can even forget about cancer in between appointments." We are so grateful that Thomas' little body is staying strong in his fight against cancer. I have joined with my daughter as part of "Team Thomas" which is a million mile run, walk, bike to benefit childhood cancer research through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. If you would like to join the Team Thomas and log your running, walking or biking miles, or if you can donate any amount to help fight childhood cancer, please click here and become part of the team fighting this horrible life-stealing disease. 

Home Spruce Up - In addition to cleaning the carpets, we have been updating some of the decor in our home. The beautiful canvas wrap of the Salt Lake Temple, where Charly and I were married, is now in the entryway to our home.  

I am updating Josh's room a bit and want to hang a nice picture of Jesus in his space.  I have several choices in the right size and prize range.  I am having a hard time deciding which one would be best for a young man's room.  Which do you like best?  The one above is called "Abide with Me."

This one is "Be Still My Soul."

This one is "Lead Kindly Light."

This one is called "Against the Waves." Thanks for sharing your thoughts and helping me decided which of all of these awesome paintings to hang in my son's room.

I will end today with this thought for the week and dedicate to all the moms who read my blog:

Joining again with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for..