Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

This is my favorite hymn. It used to be the hymn book but was later removed. Every time I hear it it touches my spirit. It draws the veil back slightly and I feel a glimpse of the Premortal life where we dwelled for so long with our Father in heaven.

Yesterday I was listening to it and my thoughts immediately went to the Premortal life again, and the life after this one. I thought of being with my family for eternity. I thought of my brothers and sister, how much I love them, and seeing them there. Then the reality of Brad's decision hit me. He wouldn't be there.

My heart ached and still aches when I think of him not being there. He was there in the Premortal life, he chose righteously then to come to this earth. He knows the truth, he was taught, yet somehow along the way Satan led him ever so carefully away. When I picture my parents, brothers, and sister all dressed in white, having a happy reunion after this life I can only pray that he will be with us. That he will somehow remember the promises he made before this life, that his spirit might awaken, that he will remember his Savior. He knows him, he knew him before this life and I believe in my heart he has felt his love, and seen the miracles in his own life.

I'm grateful for music. I picture the choirs of angels singing this song, and I long to be there. I know our time on this earth is short. I want my children to know how much I love my Father in heaven, how much I love the Savior. He is our Redeemer, He knows us, loves us, and longs for us to live righteously, to repent, and return to Him. I hope I can live a little better, be a little happier, more grateful, and loving. I've been truly blessed in my life. Sometimes I'm not sure why but I am indeed grateful.

Kate Says Funny Things

Kate has been saying some pretty funny things lately. Here are a few of my favorite:

1. She'll ask a question and then answer her own question by saying "Sure, that sounds good."

2. When something goes wrong she says in a sad voice, "That's not good."

3. Matt had gotten out of the shower the other day and Kate said to me, "Look mom, Daddy's putting on his panties."

4. Whenever we start her bed time routine she says to me pointing her finger, "You see that clock, that clock means TEN MORE MINUTES."

5. Last night she was playing with Matt with all the pillows and after she handed out pillows she said "Perfect."

Chatching Up

Gabriella laughed last night. I was kissing her cheeks and neck and she just started laughing and laughing, it was adorable. Then this morning Kate and I were trying to wake Matt up, Gabriella was just staring at Kate and smiling when she again started laughing at her. I can already tell how much this little baby loves her big sister. I just wish her big sister had a little more interest in her.

We had a great time in Omaha over Christmas. We were delayed a day getting there due to a huge snow storm that swept across the Midwest. Omaha received about 14 inches of snow in 2 days. Mom and Dad were stuck in their neighborhood for Christmas and most of the day after.

It was great having Amber, John, Makenna, and baby Hudson there to play with. Kate and Makenna played well together, and Hudson was a dream baby. I don't think I heard him cry once. Matt was kind enough to stay with the kids several days so that I could go out shopping with Amber, and go to a movie with Mom and Dad.

We went ice fishing one day which was super fun, we caught about 60 little fish. We were able to see most of the family and even went over to Lance and Tanya's one night to have dinner and play Battle of the Sexes. It was really great seeing everyone. I only wish we were able to make it back there more often.