Written For Our Day

 


Our family recently finished reading this book. It is not the first time and it won't be the last, but I think it was one of my favorite. Our 16 year old challenged us to finish it, as a family, before school ended; that meant that we would need to read 11 pages a day for about two weeks. We DID it and  finished it the day before school ended! Thanks for the challenge Britta! It is my favorite book. It brings me peace, solace and a greater understanding of what I am supposed to be doing with my life. If you would like to know more, you can check it out here:
http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon
Once you are there, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and with one click of the button, you can get your very own copy for FREE.

See Fish Sing

Here are my sweet guys singing "I Am a Child of God" on our walk to the mall.  I love it and it makes me a little teary.  They only sing the first verse but I included all verses because the words are so beautiful and true.

I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows to late.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will
I'll live with him once more.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

I am a child of God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I can but endure.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.

See Fish Get Distracted

By Lori

So yesterday was Fast Sunday. In our Church, Fast Sunday is usually the first Sunday of every month. The exceptions being April and October, because of General Conference.

"One Sunday each month Latter-day Saints observe a fast day. On this day we neither eat nor drink for two consecutive meals. If we were to eat our evening meal on Saturday, then we would not eat or drink until the evening meal on Sunday.

All members who are physically able should fast. We should encourage our children to fast after they have been baptized, but we should never force them. The fast day is a special day for us to humble ourselves before the Lord in fasting and prayer. It is a day to pray for forgiveness from our sins and for the power to overcome our faults and to forgive others.

On fast Sunday, members of the Church meet together and partake of the sacrament. They strengthen themselves and one another by bearing testimony in fast and testimony meeting." Gospel Principles Chapter 25

Back to yesterday. I was sitting in church and I was pondering on the story of Nehemiah from the Old Testament. I wish I knew more about him. This is what I do know: It all stared with fasting and prayer. A prayer asking for forgiveness and then an acceptance of God's will. The prayer was also in behalf of the Jews. He was a Jew, he was the king's cup bearer, he was distraught over the ruin of Jerusalem so he went to the king and asked permission to leave his court and go rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The king gave him permission and he was commissioned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When he got there there was so much ruin, but he rallied the troops and many helped in rebuilding the gates and walls of the city. Pretty much immediately upon his arrival, though, he was met with opposition. They met so much opposition that they had to keep themselves armed while they worked on these walls. Nehemiah continued to let the people know that God was with them and that they were about a great work. It even says in chapter 4 verse 6 that they built the wall "for the people had a mind to work". He also told them to not let it get to them that others were trying to stop this great work by trying to kill them. They had a system, they had a job to do and they weren't going to let the outside distractions keep them from doing this great work. "God shall fight for us". He is a great one to have on our side. These men that were trying to kill the Jews working on the wall were continually sending Nehemiah messages wanting to meet with him outside the city. He didn't go because "they thought to do me mischief". He wouldn't be distracted. "And I sent messengers unto them, saying, " There were threats on his life, people trying to deceive him continually, those that put down God and his ability; but Nehemiah and the people persevered and, if I am understanding my scriptures correctly, finished the wall in 52 days. (Nehemiah 1-6)

There is more to the story, as is always the case, but I am so impressed with his lack of being distracted, his leadership skills, his ability to follow the promptings of the spirit and his drive to do the Lord's work.

For those of you who know me, this will come as no surprise-I easily get distracted. I am now a mom to five full-time students. I am home (kind of, ok-not really) most days. So far I have let the computer, books and "thin things" distract me. I know there is so much BEST that I could and should be doing, but it is like I am in shock or denial or something.

I have decided ENOUGH of this. I will take a stand against distraction and if needs be, yell "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" I am expecting great things, maybe not in 52 days, but I know that big walls and great gates can be built around a city in 52 days. It takes an eye and mind single. It takes "a mind to work". It takes defense and, most importantly, it takes faith in and help from our Savior.

Get excited! Beautiful things are about to happen.

***I love run on sentences and have mastered the misuse of punctuation. I also need to learn how to cite my sources.

***Great talk about distractions from last week.

Fish Family Favorites: Conference Weekend

By Marci

We enjoyed our church's semi-annual General Conference this weekend.  This picture of Michael "listening" to conference with all of our daughters makes me think of this great talk, one of our favorites.

See Fish Chatter

by candace

Welcome to See Fish Chatter! We are the Fishes—a mom and her eight daughters. My mom did not actually give birth to all eight of us but that isn’t relevant because those who married into the family are stuck with us forever. Between the eight of us sisters we have thirty children, live in five different states, and range in age from 24 to 42. Let me give you a little intro of each person (from my perspective—I do not claim to speak for everyone):

PAT—She is my mother. She happens to be exactly what anyone should want in a mother. She is clean, organized, put together, kind, extremely helpful, full of talents, supportive, wise, a good listener, a great advice giver, happy, selfless, great in the kitchen, not overbearing, intuitive, etc. My sister-in-law put it perfectly: “Everyone needs a Pat”. That, my friends, is the reason I am sharing her with you. You’re welcome. :) 

JULIA is intelligent, is extremely talented, has a perfect complexion, has handwriting that should be made into a font for the world to use, and has a wonderful singing voice. She is a calligrapher and creates unique, beautiful things that you don’t see everywhere. That little hand of hers does amazing things.

STEFANIE is the one who reads and studies and researches when she wants to know something. It’s amazing to me how much knowledge is in that brain of hers. She has a special talent for interior design—although she has never done it professionally. She can give you hair or eyelash extensions, sew whatever in your house you need custom made, or teach you how to eat so you can be your healthiest self.

LORI is the one with a smile on her face even though her life is running wild around her. When you walk in her house you feel like she would rather see no one else, you can stay as long as you want, eat whatever you want, and talk as long as needed. She is fun, likes to ride her bike, and can create beauty out of anything.

KERI is the entertainer. She is hilarious and claims she will never contribute to this blog, which is tragic for all of you reading. She will convince you otherwise but she is great at everything she does—including being a mother. She inspires me with her very early morning exercising and her constant service to those around her.

AMY is one of those you want as a best friend. She is very aware of peoples’ needs. She is always doing something for someone else, having someone live in her house, letting someone drive her [12 passenger] van across the country, or sending me something that “reminded her of me”. She is a master traveler—especially when it comes to traveling with [4] kids. She is always planning, finding great deals, and thinking of the next great place to visit. She is always up for a good time and an even better laugh.

MAGGIE is a lover. Not to give it away but she has a gift that those who were born Fishes don’t have—and we love her for it. Sometimes I wonder if she loves my child more than I love him. Not really but…maybe? Maggie was born to be a mother and she is an amazing one to her three young children. She is beautiful, has the greatest laugh, thinks my brother is the best thing ever, and loves her diet coke.

MARCI is extremely capable. She can pretty much just do whatever she wants to do. She can marry the wackiest guy around and make it awesome, give birth to her third child while that wacky guy is in Iraq and seem fine with it, and the normal things like play the piano (better than the rest of us), get straight “A’s” and pass AP tests (back in the day), bake homemade bread, make quilts for everyone around, organize and decorate her home beautifully, feed the neighbors, pick the ticks out of her kids’ hair, build a chicken coop eight months pregnant—you get the point.

CANDACE—That happens to be me. I am the eighth of nine children and happen to think I’m the smartest of them all because I picked the best spot in the family. I claim to be a graphic designer and am addicted to things like cool fonts, cookies, modern furniture, changing my hair, hoodies, Chipotle, and my computer. I wasn’t, however, blessed with an addiction to making dinner, flossing my teeth, or good grammar (so please forgive the seventh grade level English skills that you have just endured).

There you have it. My mom actually gave birth to nine. We have brother who is the youngest of the Fishes…I’m going to try to convince him to share some of his wisdom on this blog but he doesn’t know about that yet. The most amazing thing about all of these women is how dedicated they are to what they believe. We all love Jesus Christ, know that He lives, know that He loves us, and know that He loves you. We are the Fish ladies…and we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In other words, we are Mormons.