The Value of a Smile

They might not need me;
but they might.
I'll let my head be just in sight.
A smile as small as mine might be
precisely their necessity.
(Emily Dickinson)

I was leading the music today in Relief Society. (I lead the music every week in Relief Society.) Anyway, we were singing a hymn called "We Are All Enlisted." It is an exuberant song full of encouragement and enthusiasm and hope. Over and over it repeats the words "happy are we, happy are we." The song is full of words like "there's a bright crown in store" and "glad to join" and "sing as we go" and "we're joyfully marching." I purposely choose songs like this one each week to lighten the mood and draw attention to the blessing we enjoy of being a part of this great organization and to help us feel the joy the gospel brings into our lives.

But today I looked out over a room full of my dear sisters and realized that few, if any, were smiling. Heads were down. Many didn't sing at first. Several women seemed distracted, even distressed, somewhere else. I doubled my efforts. I tried to look at each sister individually and smile my love to them. I was rewarded with smiles in return. More voices joined in. Faces looked up and countenances brightened.

By the time the song ended, I felt a change in the room. There was unity and a cheerful peace. We were ready to begin, ready to share and ready to learn. While I know there is power in the music itself, today I saw the value of a simple smile. It was precisely my necessity.

JURY DUTY

Yes. It was my turn this week. I've been called up several times over the years, but never actually served on a jury. This time was different.

The county court is 45 miles away in Kemmerer. My car is in the shop. It was snowing, of course. There were six people called up from Cokeville. So I figured I could catch a ride, and I did. They were looking for a six people jury and I was number 13 (yeah, I know...I should have known). After all the questioning and the attorneys using their challenges, etc., I was the last of the six to be picked, and the only one from Cokeville. A quick scramble resulted in one very generous soul leaving their vehicle for me to drive home later (THANK YOU REBEKAH) and I began an educational day as a member of a jury in a criminal case.

The details of the court are not particularly important and the entire court session was completed by evening that day (we stayed through the dinner hour to finish deliberations so we wouldn't need to come back the next day). But I learned a lot...about Wyoming law, about jury responsibility, about court protocol, about "presumed innocence" and "reasonable doubt", about the limitations of our court system and also it's wonderful possibilities. I gained an appreciation for the tireless service given by police officers, judges, clerks and public defenders. I learned a bit about patience and attention to detail. I made some new friends of those others on the jury. I found a new place for lunch (The Busy Bee) and enjoyed the wares of the local bakery (great snickerdoodles).

Many people took care of business here at home to make my day in court possible. Bill gave me a ride to Kemmerer. BranDee not only cleaned rooms at the motel, but delivered my mail and took care of coordinating our wolf den setting up for the Pinewood Derby. Sarah took my place visiting teaching and then manned the office until that evening and she also directed the derby! Marlene manned the office after Sarah, until Mariah made it home and took over. Rebekah Roberts, bless her heart, donated her vehicle so I could get home.

All in all, it was an exhausting day I will long remember. If you get called to jury duty, just smile and go. We really are blessed to live in this great land and we all need to do our part to make our judicial system work.

Just a side note: I made it home before the derby was over. It was a fun time and our track survived again to be used another day. I'm getting pretty efficient at setting it up and taking it down, too.

Finding Joy

I bought myself a new daily thought calendar for the year. It is by Barbara Johnson and contains thoughts from her book "I Don't Suffer From Insanity...I Enjoy Every Minute of it." I knew it was the right one for me when I read the thought on January 1st: "Deliberately choose to look for joy in every step of your journey through life and to share it with others. When you do, you will be blessed with happiness no matter what your circumstances are." So I decided to use her upbeat ideas to inspire and motivate me throughout the coming year.

Yesterday this first thought proved to be very applicable. Mariah and I spent Friday afternoon searching for a prom dress in Utah County and then the night at Sandy's place visiting and sleeping on their couches. It was delightful. The next morning we shared breakfast with Jason, Aubrey, Mikayla and Mom and then went to the movies in an actual theater (as opposed to the usual ones where your feet stick to the floor and the seat is broken). This was also delightful.

As we left the theater, we got word that Sarah was again having early labor pains and was driving to Evanston Hospital. So we headed for home. All went smoothly until we were just out of the canyons about ten miles out of Evanston. We heard a noise; the temperature gauge dropped and the light came on; steam began streaming out of the hood. We immediately pulled over to assess the damage and determine our course.

Now here's where the "looking for joy in every step" part comes into play!

We were joyful that we were at an exit where we could get off the freeway. We were REALLY joyful that we actually had cell service (in this place that there is NEVER cell service). We rejoiced that we have AAA and they were able to send a tow truck. We found joy in all the people who stopped to offer assistance (one car staying a long time, just to make sure that we were not without help). We enjoyed the pleasant, efficient tow truck driver who came to our aid. We were happy that a hungry mechanic was still in his new shop late on a Saturday evening as the car was towed into town. We were especially joyful that Sarah had had some early labor (that they were able to stop again and give the baby time to grow a bit more), so that she and Jon were already in Evanston and able to give us a ride home to Cokeville.

Yes. We found joy in every step of that adventure and today have to smile about how it all happened. Now we just have to remember that advice when the mechanic calls this week with the damage report! But no matter what, I am determined to live that advice and "find joy in every step" of the year ahead.

Christmas

Christmas is always fun at our house. But it was especially fun to have little ones with us on Christmas this year, even though it took a Herculean effort on Melody's part to travel the distance with three little ones by herself.


Christmas Eve PJ's (Blake was already gone to bed!). We haven't been to bed so early on Christmas Eve before. It was great.

Santa Claus left stacks of presents. Braxton and Blake had to thoroughly enjoy each thing in their stocking before we moved on to the others. Madison preferred the wrappings!

Mariah got a new friend and some tunes for her ipod.







Rock Band and the new seesaw were the biggest hits with the kids. We had a great day visiting with each other and Jason's and Sarah's families. Phones calls between us and the rest of the family topped off the day. Merry Christmas to all.