When the cats away, the mice will play... dress-up ;)

 Adam is so lucky!  Ernst and Young paid for him to fly to Utah this weekend to help recruit students in BYU's accounting program.  In other words, he got to visit family ;).  How awesome is that?!  I'm so happy he was able to go.  He works so dang hard.  He deserved it.  Meanwhile, I spoiled myself and watched 2 chick-flicks, baked a cake, and played dress-up.  Who says you can't play dress up when you're older?  I think all girls need to and should do it every once in a while. It reminds you that being a girl is fun... which, I admit, can be hard to remember sometimes haha.  

(Me after playing dress-up)

Oh!  And since today is Sunday, I thought I'd share a really good line that I heard in one of the talks given today in church.  My friend Ah-Ling (don't know if that's how it's spelled, but that's how it sounds haha) spoke about trials and how they help us to learn and grow.  She said,

"If there are no challenges in our lives, there is no meaning in our lives."

How powerful is that? I never really thought of challenges, or trials for that matter, as the thing that gives my life meaning, but when Ah-Ling shared this in her testimony I felt the spirit so strongly that I knew it was true.  I hope I can remember this when life seems crazy and I question "why me?"  

Hope you enjoyed this message as much as I did!

Since time has been whizzing by, I have been having feelings of nostalgia... 

I remember sitting in the back yard on my Dad's knee as he told me and all of the other neighborhood kids a scary story.  I remember being woken up by my Mom to go for an early morning run/walk before school.  I remember racing to "King of the Mountain Rock" with my brothers to watch all of the hot air balloons float weightlessly on the air above.  I remember walking through crinkling leaves as I embraced the smell of roasting green chilies on my way home from X-Country practice.  I remember the feeling of absolute freedom as I drove home from high-school to be home just because I could:).  I remember singing my heart out to Taylor Swift in the white van as my mom drove me to my first day of college.  I remember being overwhelmed by butterflies as I first chatted with the handsome man that I would eventually marry.  I remember glancing out the plane window to see my introductory view of NYC. 

  As I have reflected on all of these experiences in my life, I am reminded of how many blessings the Lord has poured down on me.  I am so grateful for all of life's experiences and look forward to making more wonderful memories...

IF YOU LOVE ME, FEED MY SHEEPS.

(You can't see it in this picture, but that same little girl tagged, in pencil, an S onto my "sheep")  

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to teach the 4-7 year olds in primary. I taught the kids about service.  I had the children read the scripture that talks about "...If you love me, feed my sheep..."After that, I gave each child a piece of paper and asked them to draw a picture of an act of service they had done that week.  After they drew their cute, stick-figured pictures, I had them write the scripture on it too.  When the first child wrote the scripture on her paper, she said, "See Sister McKell!  This is how it SHOULD be written."  She then proceded to show me her paper which had the scripture written out like this...

"If you love me, feed my sheepS."

After proudly showing me her picture, she said, "Sister McKell, Jesus wants us to serve EVERYONE! He doesn't just want us to serve ONE person.  That's why you have to put an S on the end of sheep!" haha, I didn't have the heart to tell her that sheep is already plural. ;) 

Even though the wording wasn't exactly correct, this little girl taught me a profound message.  How often do we do a small act of service for one person and then say to ourselves, "Hey!  That was nice of me to open that door for that old, tired woman!" and then call it good? Or we help someone out and say to them, "It's okay that I helped!  That'll be my act of service for the day."  

As I have been reading the New Testament I have realized just how much Jesus gave, gave, gave.  He was always serving and loving others.  Not just some of the people some of the time, but ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME.   

This is one thing that I want to really work on... 

recognizing and acting on opportunities to serve.

I will never read this scripture again without reading it like the little girl read it in our class that Sunday. 

"If you love me, feed my sheepS."

(Who said adults can't learn from children? :)) 

Since I make a living off of being a hair stylist, I couldn't help but laugh when i saw this picture.  

SEE!  A person's hair style DOES make a difference;)

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.