To Everything There is a Season

My mom, the ultimate book collector~ second only to my dad, gave me this book in 2001. I love it! She knows, as do many (especially my Mia Maids from the Grand Canyon Ward~ Courtney & Whitney Fall, Whitney "June" Durkin, Jade & Lauren Ozawa, Sammi Fay Baker Sneed, Whitney Thompson, and of course Emily McIntyre) how much I love the scriptures found in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. (A little shout out to Michelle Bocchino here because she, too, has always found peace in these verses.) My mom's inscription reads, "Lyndee, I've always loved, loved these verses and know you enjoy them, too. Love, Mom"

I had to pull this book from the shelf this week to read it once again as at this time I enter into many different seasons.

First and foremost... I have entered into a season of appreciation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Now don't get me wrong. He's a great man, but I can't see how he did any more for me and my civil rights than did Joseph Smith and/or Brigham Young. I do indeed pay homage to Doctor King, but the hoopla regarding naming an interstate connected street in every major city for the him is in my mind a bit silly, and I think Martin Luther King, Jr. would agree. I digress... At any rate, I too had a dream.

I had a dream that there would come a day that my children's toys would find places where they were comfortable. Places in my children's play areas, far from the adult gathering areas. Places where toys are free to be toys, and free from the threat of being yelled at, stepped on, or thrown by frustrated adults who have no appreciation for such nonsense. I had a dream that once these toys were placed in their own homes they would stay there for more than 3 minutes before finding themselves cluttered about where they do not belong.

I had a dream that I would one day be able to clean one room of my home, leave said room for more than 30 seconds, return and find the room in the exact state in which I had last seen it.

I had a dream that I would experience a period of 2 hours without hearing a single argument from my children, and enjoying silence from the x-box.

I had a dream that I would be able to walk through my home without sticking to the floor, stepping over dirty clothes, be able to see the kitchen counters, and open a pantry door without finding the bag of bread open and every slice dried to the state of being large, flat croutons.

I had a dream that I could wash, fold, and put away laundry all in one day while watching whatever I want on television!

Brothers and sisters, that day has arrived! My baby, my little Arthur, my large headed white child, has entered the first grade! I have 6 hours everyday to myself! I get to choose what to listen to, watch, do, think, say, and find things just as I left them! I am here to tell you dreams do come true! Freedom is a reality!

The school bell rings, and it is the bell of freedom! And I say, "Let freedom ring!" Yes, I am free! Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I am free at last!

Now, for my disclaimer... I love my children. Very, very much! Every single bit of them.

I also find myself coming close to the end of gardening season. Of course there are always things to do for the garden: compost, trim, turn dirt, start seeds, plant bulbs, etc., but with it now being harvest time I see my time outside waning. So, I know enter my favorite season. The Reading Season. My Heavenly Father loves me! I know he does, and here's why. I don't like snow. I don't like cold weather. I don't like being far from my parents, siblings, and extended family during the holidays, but Heavenly Father has given me the gift of loving, no not just loving, but more a ravenous need to devour the written word. So, while the snow flies, and the wind howls I curl up with my kids, Redge, or by myself and read for months on end. Its absolutely euphoric to me, and my eyes roll back in my head now as I just think about it.

In the olden days I wasn't overly picky about my readings, but I've learned I don't have time to read everything so I must be choosy. On my computer monitor is a sticky note which reads one of my favorite Brigham Young quotes, "Should our lives be extended to 1,000 years, still we may live and learn." I want to know everything! I can't learn it all now, but I know whatever I can get now gives me a head start for my next estate. I know this because in Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19 we read, "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."

So, over the next few months I will share with you some of my favorite readings. I do use the website goodreads.com so you can look at some of the things I've read. It's a very condensed list. I have not entered everything I've read, nor have I yet listed my entire library. I'll work on it, but for now it's merely a work in progress, and I don't have to finish it all today because I've got an entire season to work on it. And, more importantly, who care if I don't finish?