The Miracle at the Cavanaughs

Some of you may remember that I had a ton of branches break during two storms this winter. We had them all cut down back in February, and our yard turned into such a disaster. Branches piled up in the front yard on the west side of our property. Branches piled up right outside the back porch near my bedroom. Branches along the fence line. Branches on the east side of my yard in the back, completely obstructing one access way into my yard.

We worked on this project bit by bit. We filled up both green waste bins each week, but we could only fit in a small amount each time. Our home teacher came and helped us when he could and was a huge blessing to us. My friend Keith also came to help us--another huge blessing. But because of all the branches, we couldn't mow most sections of our yard, so the weeds and grass became overgrown and massive. I couldn't bear to look at my yard or walk around. It felt intolerable.

The Lord knew my concerns, and through my home teacher, he brought it straight to the Bishop. In July, there was a massive service project from our ward. I rented one of those giant haul off dumpsters...$300 worth of dumpster.

Bright and early one Saturday, the various quorums of the priesthood came and began to cut up and haul all the yard debris to the dumpster. I was touched to see people coming to help me. When I went out to the front yard, I saw the Bishop crossing the street to help in my yard, and I began to tear up with emotion that he would take time to come and help me, after all he already gives to the families in our ward. Then later I saw one of his counselors, a mighty man that I have come to love dearly, Brother Boynton. Brother Boynton has two children with CF, one of whom (his baby) had just been released from the hospital not long before. That he too took time to come and bless my family also brought me to tears. Every face, every set of hands touched my heart. I felt humbled and hugely blessed. And within three hours, by some miracle (maybe the opposite of the loaves and fishes?) all the huge piles of branches were broken down and compressed (by the wonderful missionaries, Elder Black and his companion) into the dumpster, along with other miscellaneous items that needed to be discarded from my yard.

I don't know how it all fit. I told the kids to remember what it felt like to have such a huge task (one they complained about freely) accomplished for us through the help of our ward. I told them, when you are asked to serve others, remember, especially when it's not convenient, how much this day meant to us. I also tried to show them how this service to our family exemplified the atonement...we did all we could, and the Lord provided the rest, in this case, through the hands of our ward members who were willing to serve.

I snapped a photo as the dumpster was being hauled off...just barely in time!

The bill (received in August---I'm late finishing this post) states that the wonderful members of our ward relieved 3.1 TONS of burdens from our shoulders, and I was shocked and grateful all over again. I recently (in August) wrote a letter of thanks to the ward.

"I wanted to write a note for all the members who helped me back in July to clear my yard of debris, but wanted to wait until I knew how many pounds of storm damage we cleared from my yard. I received the final bill in the mail this week, and I’m deeply grateful to report that thanks to the help of the ward, 3.1 literal tons of burdens were removed from my shoulders as a result of the extraordinary service each of you provided.

I am deeply grateful for your help. A job that we were only able to accomplish piece meal was astonishingly dealt with in a matter of hours. In addition to the physical removal of the branches and obstructions, we are now able to move freely around our yard, cut our grass, and feel even more acutely the love of our ward family. What a great teaching moment about charity each of you provided as I was able to tell my children to remember this day always, whenever they are asked to do some service for others, what it meant to us to have the storm damage cleared away! It was also a living model of the atonement in the real world.

I was deeply touched as I saw each of you, with your busy lives and burdens of your own to carry, come to my home to bless us so immensely.  I thank those who came those who sacrificed time with their family so that they or a family member could assist. I hope that each of you know that your names are written in our hearts and we love and appreciate you so very much. If ever you have need, know that we will be there to the best of our ability.

With love and gratitude,

April Cavanaugh & Family"

Keeping me in stitches

I'm learning to quilt.

It's a skill I've always wanted to develop, but kept putting off for lack of time. And maybe a little fear. Well, maybe a lot of fear. Okay, okay....a ton of fear!!!

You see, choosing materials that go into the quilts terrifies me. (Have I mentioned I have no color sense or sense of style at all?) Measuring everything just perfectly petrifies me. Sewing everything well (straight lines, correct seam allowances) intimidates me. I knew I had a lot to learn. And quilting is not an inexpensive hobby.

My sewing experience previous to this has consisted of a few skirts, scarves, capes, and pillow cases. Tonight, I discovered that sewing a quarter inch seam allowance is a lot harder than you might think. I thought to myself...why am I doing this? Completing a whole quilt seems so overwhelming. But you know what? I'm sticking with it. Learning something new, achieving something I've always wanted to achieve, takes time. Bit by bit, I can make progress here a little and there a little until one day, I can say...I CAN QUILT!

Vacation with Erin & Nick

We went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for a few days while Erin and Nick were here. On day one, we drove (2 cars, 7 people, 3 dogs) to Seacliff State Beach, where we ate lunch, played in the water and enjoyed the cooler temperatures. That evening, we drove to Big Basin and camped for two nights and a day. On the third day, we left camp early and went back to Seacliff State Beach where the boys fished and the girls hung out.

After lunch, but before getting completely soaked.

Syrah standing guard over her family at the beach. She loved seeing all the people, playing in the water (well, near the water), playing with her doggie cousins (Widget and Gracie) and running on the beach with each of us. She has been to the beach before, and always has a great time. We were a little more cautious this time because there were so many people on the beach, but she still was a happy dog. Many people commented about how well behaved she was, and naturally about how cute she is. One nice thing about Syrah is that she rarely barks when we're out in public, and she's very obedient. You can see Johnny and Joe in the background of this photo, near the water. They had a blast. I made them change out of their shorts into their bathing suits because it was clear that there was no keeping them from getting completely soaked. Johnny kept finding cool rocks and bringing them to me. He also discovered sea glass this trip, and he collected quite a few of them while on this trip.

 Erin and Nick celebrated their five year anniversary on July 7th. They were married on 7/7/07. It's hard to believe it's been five years this year. Now that Erin has graduated from college, they are thinking about starting a family. Nick still has several years left of school since he's interested in a medical profession. They are waiting to hear what programs he has been accepted into, so they'll still be in Davis at least until December.

They make a cute couple, don't they? We're not sure where they will end up (location), but it sure was a lot of fun hanging out with them during this week. You can see from this photo that Erin has a fun-loving disposition, and the kids LOVE being with her. Nick is learning to roll with the madness in our family, and he's a great guy. The kids love him, too!

Nick brought fishing gear which he used to take the boys fishing on the last day of the trip.





Erin and Kelly hanging out by the pier at Seacliff Beach. We sure have a lot of beautiful girls in our family!

Just before this little vacation, I took the girls to get a pedicure, so they all had cute little toes for the beach. I would have had mine done, too, but they didn't have anyone available when we arrived (even though I made an appointment). We go to a beauty school where the prices are cheap!!

This is the road leading to Big Basin. It was about a 40 minute drive from Santa Cruz up to the mountains. Johnny, Joe and Kelly rode up with me and thought it was a really beautiful drive. The roads got a bit curvy. There are several small towns along the way, tons of trees, a really neat bridge (the train up to Felton goes over that bridge), and the fire station where my old van overheated on our last visit and we were rescued (late at night) by some fire fighters who cooled our engine.



This is how we kept Syrah from throwing up in the car. We kept the window down during the curvy section and let her look out of the window. Joe was afraid of her jumping out of the car, so he kept a good hold on her.

I'll post more photos of the Big Basin part of the trip as soon as Erin and Nick share theirs with me. Apparently, Kelly didn't find many things worthy of photographing with our camera, though she did use Nick's camera quite a bit up there.

We had two tents. The site I selected was a little isolated, but near running water and fairly close to the bathrooms. It was nice not to have campers right up next to us. There was a trail that we could get immediate access to from our campsite, though we couldn't take the dogs on the trail. We walked up to headquarters and the store, about a mile, with the dogs. We also made food at our campsite, enjoyed visits from raccoons, and ate smores. (What's camping without smores??)

The boys enjoying a little fishing time. This was a big week for Joe...he learned how to slaughter turkeys AND catch and prepare a fish for cooking. The boys stayed behind with Erin and Nick while I left about ten to take Kelly back to Fresno to have her wisdom teeth removed at 2 pm.

Summer Fun

TJ, Luke, Johnny and I in front of Bridalveil Fall.
It was early in the morning and still quite chilly,
thus the sweatshirts.

I sent my three older kids off to camp Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, after dropping Laine off at the chapel, I worked at the Bishop's storehouse with Johnny. Then I cleaned house and eagerly waited for my friend TJ (a friend from high school) and her nephew to arrive. When she got here, we prepared dinner, talked and played some games.

Veggie Kebabs...we also ate plums and peaches from my trees,
hummus and pita chips, watermelon, salad, and tri-tip.
TJ didn't eat the tri-tip, though, since she's vegetarian.

On Wednesday morning (the fourth of July!), they went to her sister's studio for a tour, and Johnny and I cleaned up a bit. The rest of the afternoon was spent talking, playing more games, preparing food and napping (for TJ and Luke). I loved listening to TJ talk about her experiences in China, Russia, Costa Rica and other locations! She teaches for a Christian international school that teaches English to students in other countries. In the early evening, Keith came over and joined us for dinner: tri-tip, vegetable kebabs, sliced watermelon, and green salad. (Keith doesn't have any family here locally, so I try to include him when I can so he doesn't feel lonely on the holidays.) 


We drove over to Buchanan Stadium where we enjoyed the live music as we sat and talked to each other, ate churros, and waited for the firework show to start. Johnny and Keith wrestled a bit and Keith and Luke really hit it off and talked about Luke's two marathons and other topics. The fireworks were awesome! When we got back to the house, we ate blueberry cheesecake (yum!) and then headed off to bed after saying goodnight to Keith.

Yosemite Valley from tunnel view at about 7 am.

On Thursday, we woke up at 4 am and drove to Yosemite Valley for a day of fun and exploring. I drove while the other three slept, and as the sun came up and the landscape around me  began to be illuminated, I was so grateful for God's attention to detail in creating such a beautiful world. Once along the way, a tired driver crossed the center line and would have hit us if I hadn't just changed lanes. I was thankful that we had guardian angels round about us!! 

On the way up to Yosemite Falls.

Practicing for climbing the face of El Capitan one day.

  

Johnny took advantage of every rock climbing opportunity. He climbed up, slid down, went around and over every rock he could get to. He even said words I never thought he would say..."Mom, take a picture of me!" Yes, he even smiled!


It was TJ and Luke's first time to Yosemite, and they both loved the scenery and noted God's hand in everything. It's so nice to be with friends who share faith in God and aren't afraid to talk about it!

Lovely Merced River

This water had magical properties!

When we were leaving the valley, we stopped to put our feet in the water. The river was cold! It was just what we needed...it rejuvenated us. We drove down to Oakhurst and stopped for pizza at the Pizza Factory. It was so good!! TJ made Johnny laugh like crazy through dinner with stories of her times in China and Russia.We arrived back in Fresno around 9 pm. After unloading the car, I collapsed into bed while TJ, Johnny and Luke watched an episode of Leave It to Beaver. I was asleep in two minutes.

This is how I always think of TJ!
She loves her camera!

On Friday, we all slept a little later and enjoyed our time talking and sharing the pictures we took. 


TJ gave me a list of books and movies she recommends, and we watched videos of Christian poetry readings and chatted about all kinds of things. the time for her to leave came way too soon. 


I felt like we had grown very close during the time she was here. It was hard to say goodbye.

Learning to Trust God

This book I am reading has some interesting things in it. One of the issues it discusses is how to submit to the Lord, put our trust in him.  It has some suggestions which are of varying difficulties for me. First is recognizing our need for God. I am reminded of this need nearly every day...I am faced with my own weakness and ineptitude.

Another suggestion is to kneel to pray. Most of us (and by most of us, I probably mean "I") think of kneeling as something we're supposed to do and we don't give it much thought if we do it. However, with the right attitude, this can have a transformative effect on both our prayers and relationship with God. We kneel before one who is greater than ourselves, and if we let our kneeling reflect our knowledge of being his child, of submitting to him, then our relationship with him (as well as our faith in him) will be more intimate and strong.

The next point is to pray to know the Lord's will. Our Father knows us better than we know ourselves. He is omnipotent and omniscient...he knows what it will take for us to reflect his image in our countenances. This one is hard for me. Often I come away from prayer with NO clue as to what his will is for me. Which makes room for the next suggestion, which is to pray throughout the day and be prepared to act spontaneously on whatever inspiration we receive...commit to act, and then do.

One of the reasons we have trouble putting our faith in God and submitting to him is that we think of God as far removed from us, perhaps as "Up in heaven." Maybe we do not see him as involved in our lives and loving us. This is why I love trying to see and acknowledge his hand in all things. When we recognize it, we should write it down (a gratitude journal?) or simply acknowledge it aloud. We also might have to pray to be able to see his hand more clearly. Once we witness and testify of his love and his hand in our life, he becomes more personal to us. Ever since my children were little, when they took delight in something around us, I would say, "God made that sunset just for you!" or, "Did you see how God worked that out? Help right when we needed it!" or, "Look at that beautiful flower that God put in your path!" I hoped that comments like that made the children feel closer to their Heavenly Father. The more we see his hand in our lives, the more we love and trust him.

We often judge ourselves by the world's standards, but in reality, we need to judge our successes by the Lord's standards. We can ask God to evaluate our progress instead of seeking success in terms of how the world gauges success. One of the ways we can do this is by learning to operate on a different timetable...the Lord's timetable. Don't be in a big hurry all the time. Don't rush your spiritual development. Let the Lord be in charge! To some of us control freaks (again, namely me) this can be scary. As a single mother, I have so much to do and I know I'm a terrible time manager (by the world's standards! see line 1 of this paragraph!), so to tell me to slow down seems nearly impossible. Nevertheless, I am going to try to implement this in my life.

Relinquishing control is one of the requirements for faith, and to be honest, the one I have the most trouble with. Letting go in little things first helps us practice letting go in big things, but even then, even with practice, some of the things we are asked to let go of (like when we lose our jobs, lose our spouse or go through divorce) can be kind of terrifying. Frankly, this is my area of biggest struggle right now. As previously mentioned, I am a bit of a control freak, especially about certain things. I've been forced to be independent most of my life, starting at a young age, and most of my life have felt the only person I could trust was me. When I finally did put my trust in certain people, they let me down in big ways. Intellectually I can recognize that God won't do that because he's perfect and has a perfect view of what it will take to help me grow in faith, but emotionally, this is a fear-provoking exercise. To overcome this, the book suggests recognizing our desires to submit to God when they occur, and building on this. Perhaps when I recognize that I want to do the Lord's will and let him be in charge, I can pray for that feeling to be magnified and for my fears to be relieved.

I am learning so much through this preparation for my talk. This week, I'm going to practice the things I've been learning as I continue to study. We'll see what happens!