He is My Best Friend

Dictionary.com defines “friend”…

1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter.

I have been blessed with lots of friends in my life time. I have been blessed also, with a great talent in keeping in touch with friends over a long period of time, no matter the distance. Friends from elementary school, high school, youth conferences, internet, summer camps, old neighborhoods… the list goes on. Many of them I have not seen for a very long time, yet we remain close. Oft times, I come across the getting-to-know you question, “Who is your best friend?” and in response, I always think of five or six people (most of which I have not seen in quite a while).

Well today, someone else came to my mind.

I really wonder what it will be like when I get to the next life.

I cannot even imagine the reunion I will have with my Savior. If he is my best friend now, how close were we in the preexistence? If he is my best friend now, how glorious will that reunion be in the life after? Will we talk of how much we missed each other? Will we talk of memories from the past?

Will I say, “Remember when I was so frustrated with this, and then you came a long and made it all better?”

Will he say, “Melody, remember when you went through that? I wanted to do so much more for you, but I had to let you learn. And though it may not seem so, I never left your side. Now look how far you’ve come. It is so good to see you again!”


D&C 121:7-9

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Being Content

The sunset from Main Street, here in town.

A couple of weeks ago, our Relief Society president gave a lesson in Relief Society about being content. She proposed a lot of questions about what makes us content in the world we live in. Life is full of so many dramatics and business, that a lot of times, we don't get time for us and end up running around like crazy chickens running from a puppy in the chicken coupe.

Simplicity. More often than not, the things that make us happy are simple things. She gave us fridge magnets with a blank list on it to fill in what makes us content so that we can write them down, and use them when we need a break. She pointed out that there are spiritual things, and non spiritual things that make us content.

I have been wondering around my house all morning. I realized one of the things that really does make me massively content is music. I have had my ipod on, litterally for hours now, and I am listening to Michael McLean. I have been completely able to block out the rest of the world and just indulge in his music. I don't know if it is how I was raised, or not. I do know that I used to spend hours in my room as a teen and lay on my bed and just listen to music.

When I was in high school, and I had a really bad day, I was dealing with the death of a friend, my parents divorce and keeping up on school work. I was completely distraught. I went and talked to my mom and the first thing she did was send me to my room! Yeah, she grounded me! I laid down on my bed and she turned on one of my Michael McLean CD's. I laid there and listened for a long time, until I felt better. Like magic.

Even through the hardest times in my life, I always turned to the same places. In my own divorce, and another divorce, and being a single mom, and placing a baby for adoption, I always turned to music. After I came home from the hospital in March, as figured, I couldn't sleep, afraid to close my eyes and see my baby's face, then cry myself to sleep. But then I would take my ipod to bed with me, and listen to "Hope Hiding There" "Delivery" "No" and "Something Perfect" (see my playlist on the right) over and over, until I fell asleep. I remember, my mom told me not to do that, that it was making me sad, and cry but really, it was what I needed to be content in my life.

More often than not, once you find your refuge, you make it through the hard times, and before you know it, you are looking back, and realize you made it through. I had that experience last night. It has been one year to the day, being yesterday, since Ben walked out. I remember that night vividly, wondering how in the world am I going to get through this. And now, all of the sudden, I realize I have. Life moves on, and I am more than happy, and most of all, content.

Three Antibiotics, Two Crazy Kids, and One Month Later...

Well, it has been a crazy month! I got sick around the 4th of July and was sick for the entire month until about a week ago. It started out as a fever and sore throat for about a week. I was given antibiotics. After that it turned to a sinus infection and I was given new antibiotics. Apparently, those did not work either, because I did not get any better, just worse. Finally, with a third antibiotic they started working. I guess the third time is the charm!

In July, I considered going to school in the fall. I got all registered, and changed my mind. I decided to put it off until my kids were a bit older, and just focus on our home for now.

Yesterday, I found out Sammie has Ms Jordan for school next year. I am so excited. As is Sammie. Janet Jordan is in our ward and Sam already knows her, in fact it is who she wanted. She has a very loving demeanor and will be great for Sammie. Plus, Sammie and Sidney are in the same class again. That is great news! These best friends may be double trouble, as they are both friendly, energetic little girls, but it is great they will be together for another year.

I got to go to the temple yesterday morning. That was so great. I go with my friend Melinda, who is actually Sidney's mom. We have been trying to go once a month. It is so nice to get away from the kids for a few hours and get spiritually refueled. It was a nice reminder of what is important of what is important and what I need to be doing.

You know my neighbors that I always talk about? Well they are so awesome. We have been wanting to go have a mom's night out for quite a while now. Earlier this week we planned to go to Olive Garden for dinner. So I asked Cass to watch the girls and we left at 4:30pm to get to Provo by dinner time. It was so much fun! We will have to do it again soon. I really love the neighborhood I live in, even though it's an apartment complex and so many people moving in and out all the time. Thank you Cass for watching the girls, and I hope you guys enjoyed the food we brought back for you!

It has been a busy busy summer. Though I have enjoyed having the girls home, I am ready for them to go back to school! I look forward to being able to go through a lot of clutter around the house, reorganizing the house, and just being able to do some things for me. Today I went down to the institute to register for class. Had a good chat with my former bishop who works there. He was bishop when I first moved in. I plan on taking two institute classes so I am there every day. I am so excited for school to start. Sam starts on the 19th of August, but Laci doesn't start until the 8th of September. I am going to try and see if Laci can have an hour long play date on those days so that I can still go to institute and not have to miss until the 8th.

I suppose that is pretty much it. Thank you all for your on-going support, and we hope you are all doing well!