Bev Psalm 2: Dates Matter

 The Anniversary of Receiving My Patriarchal Blessing

Beverly Elaine is my name.

Ephraim's promised blessings proclaimed.

Verily, my gifts, talents and purpose

Exposed from darkness, to the light of known.

Reveals an open-ended Heavenly Tutorial,

Loving guidance, understanding Who I really Am.

You are cherished, a blessed being of light.

Eternal in nature, on earth for a brief moment.

Look unto Christ in all your thoughts, Walk with Him.

Abraham quoted here, reminds me, "Will

I do as God Commands?

Never give up, be aware, seek knowledge and obey.

Elect of the Lord, ascending up to exaltation.

First Anniversary of My Husband's Death

Anniversaries of memorable and life changing events 

are celebrated in many ways. 

     You don't think of the death of a loved on as a day to celebrate an anniversary, but it is! Whether you want to or not, the date brings back vivid memories. As the date approaches there are intense emotions and changes in the physical, intellectual and spiritual dimensions of your life. 

"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places"

--Ernest Hemingway

Healing Comes When We Honor Our Loved One 

By Sharing and Symbolic Activities

Robert Eugene Field

30 Sept 1930 - 9 May 2012

     As the anniversary of my husband's death approached, I decided to be gentle with myself and include my daughter in some sort of special remembrance of his life and our lives together. 
     Bob loved cooking and food in general. He won my heart by cooking amazing dinners for me when I first visited him in Nashville, TN. I have a video of him making his famous meatballs! But first and foremost he loved Indian food. He often told people that when he lived in England, working for Proctor and Gamble, he would occasionally have to commute to London and catch the late train home to Newcastle located further north. So he'd go to Soho and eat dinner, trying a new restaurant each time. He was walking down the street and this wonderful smell of exotic spices wafted out to meet him as he walked down the street. He followed his nose and found an Indian Restaurant. He said from that day on he always came back to that Indian Restaurant because he was hooked. 
     Whenever we traveled... anywhere in the world from Atlanta, GA to Bangkok, Thailand we found the local Indian Restaurant to try out. My mother, knowing how much he loved Indian food, bought him a wonderful cookbook and from that day on, Chicken Curry became one of our family's  "special" dinner treats. Although he followed the recipe book, Bob would tweek it so that every time it was just a little different. Brianna and I laugh at the memory of that page in his cookbook. It is so covered with yellow and brown spots, greasy prints and stains that it "could almost stand on its own!"
     The restaurant we found here in Tucson is called Saffron: Indian Bistro located on North Oracle. Bob and I went there several times. It was a bit pricey for our budget, but the lunch buffet was within our budget at $8.95. 

Saffron Indian Bistro, North Oracle Blvd., Tucson, AZ

     Brianna and Bob had their last Daddy-Daughter date at this wonderful restaurant about a month before he died. In fact, he never left the house again after this date. I asked if she would like to go there this year to remember him. Yes!
     It was truly a wonderful day!! Could've been sad, but wasn't... Having Bri there was just the sweetest thing, and we did do lots of remembering... like the great waitress at Saffron who had asked Bob, "Is there anything more I can get you?" and Bob answering, "Yes, another little bowl of Khir (tasty rice desert)" and she brought maybe as many as four more little bowls to him!!! 

Visiting Bob's Grave Site Seemed An Appropriate 

Symbolic Activity To Share With Brianna

     Not knowing how long this would take, Bri got a baby sitter and we went to the LDS Binghampton Cemetery, located on North Alvernon Way in Tucson, AZ,  first thing this morning. Yesterday, I'd gone to Michael's to find some type of container and white flowers (preferably Bob's favorite...roses) to place by his grave. Something tasteful, that he would like. I found no roses but did discover white geraniums that said they were water resistant. The only container I could find in metal was a tall vase like shape in a bronze color. I went to Ace Hardware and bought Quik-Crete. Last night I poured this mortar into the vase and set the flowers into it along with a couple tubes that I could insert flags into if I wanted on some later date. This made it full to the edge of the vase so that during the rainy season, water would not sit in it to create a place for mosquitoes to breed.  It also made it heavy enough so that wind wouldn't blow it over. It set up hard as rock overnight.
Just to be certain it wouldn't blow over or be removed, however, we dug a shallow ditch, mixed up more Crete and poured it into the hole, then set the vase into it.

Notice the howling coyote?  Dale Leeson, a very talented metal artist, created the howling coyote that I'd placed there when Taylor Lancaster and I visited his grave last fall.

     Then we noticed that there was a gallon water jug behind his headstone and that someone had planted a barrel cactus just behind his grave to the right. What a cute little surprise. Someone, and I think it was Bob's son, Rob, planted this little barrel cactus. They left a gallon of water there so whoever came to visit could give it a little drink. And we did! 

A Small Barrel Cactus Symbolic of Surviving in a Hostile Land

 What a delightful day of Remembering and Healing!

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona! Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was Amazing!!!

          Arizona celebrated it's 100th birthday today. President Taft signed AZ into statehood as the 48th state. The celebrations have been going on for several days and culminated today.
          Happy Valentine's Day to all those who love and are loved. My family shared sweet treats with grandchildren, our daughter and her husband. What a delight. My former visiting teacher brought over four cupcakes that she and her daughter baked and decorated, saying, "I've been thinking of you a lot and just wanted to let you know." The night before special ward friends brought us a dinner of delicious grilled salmon and chicken and rice soup. It is so special to be remembered.
          My husband and I knew a very special girl from our Palo Verde Ward experience in 2006 through 2008 when we moved to Picture Rocks. Her name is Taylor Lancaster. She entered the foster care system right after we left and was placed with a Ms. Snow in our Picture Rocks Ward. That placement let us get to see Taylor every Sunday and reconnect. We just loved this young woman. She then ended up in a different location just over a year ago and we grieved that we would never see her again. Serendipity occurred today. I went to the Snow's home for a visit with a friend. I hadn't really talked to Ms. Snow since Taylor left so when she told me that she'd finally met Taylor's new foster mom she told me she'd given her our phone number. When I returned home after the visit, I received a call from Taylor!!!!! How wonderful to get an update, get her email and to be able to keep in touch with her. She'd never left our hearts or prayers and now we can stay in touch. Love it.

        AND IT SNOWED!!!

          When my friend came to pick me up to go over to visit the Snows she told me it was snowing as she came over the pass from Tucson. If you look at the background of this blog you will be looking down the road that goes over the pass into Tucson. There were golden flowers carpeting the ground there over the weekend. I have lavender and yellow wildflowers growing in my backyard. Although I live in a little dip lower in elevation and we seemed to only have rain and hail, the mountains in Saguaro National Park West were delightfully dusted with snow. It was beautiful. But I suspect it got the wildflowers and probably killed the chance for a brilliant spring like the ones shown here. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

        Thoughts About Writing a Story

         When an amazing day happens, it should be remembered. Why not write a story. Whether it is just one simple paragraph or a one page "spotlight focus" on a family member, treasured family experience or like my special day today with it's Serendipity of Snow and old friends, family and sweet treats, we just have to take the time to DO IT! Then place it in our Book of Remembrance. We could write a longer story about ourselves (autobiography) or about an ancestor (biography) tying in to a common theme. Here are some simple guidelines to remember:
1.  Review Sources -- Choose what is to be left out
2.  Pick Out Themes -- Service, economics, achievement, holidays
3.  Assess Personalities and Character
4.  Tell the Story -- Narrative is best when selective
5.  Look for Causes -- Why things happened or Serendipitous occurrences
6.  Look for Motivation -- Reasons behind peoples behavior
7.  Bring Out Spiritual Lessons -- Bear your testimony
I hope you will take the time to record a special story that will delight you descendants one day in the future when they read it. I wish my grandmother had written about her life. I would so treasure it. So write short and in your own voice, using your own personality and it will be a TREASURE.
       

Are Dates Important to the Lord?

I've been fascinated for years about recurring dates of importance. The following are some of my thoughts on the subject of birthdays, anniversaries, holiday celebrations, ordinance dates and celestial events such as new moons, solstices and celebrations tied to the sun, moon and stars. 

QUOTE:

            “For, behold, I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory—remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins.” –Doctrine and Covenants 27:2

THOUGHT: Each Sunday (after Christ’s resurrection the members of the church kept the observance of Lord’s day as a weekly commemoration of His resurrection)  we promise to remember the Savior and His great atoning sacrifice as we partake of the sacrament.

            The Lord placed us on this earth created with the sun and moon to give us day and night, weeks and months, years and seasons. This was recorded in scriptures for us, clarifying the importance of each period of creation that was called a day. Days are important.

            Were dates important to the Savior? Yes. Although we celebrate His birthday with the rest of the world, we know from revealed modern revelation that he was born on April 6^th. We remember this season each year with General Conference held the first week of April.

            Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return (Malachi 4:5.) He did return to restore the Priesthood keys after the Savior, Moses, and Elias appeared in the Kirtland temple on April 3, 1836. I remember an amazing article appearing in the June edition of the 1985 Ensign by John Pratt that proposes that this date corresponded with the resurrection of the Savior on April 3, 33 on our calendar. Pratt’s second article appearing in July of that year shows how the day that the restoration of Priesthood keys in 1836 was chosen by the Lord for its symbolic importance and “that even the timing of the Lord’s death and resurrection was foreshadowed in the Passover ceremony.”  These articles can easily be looked up on lds.org in the Ensign magazines library. The topics addressed are complex and the articles are lengthy but some of you may find them fascinating.

            The knowledge of an exact date for Jesus’ birth and resurrection is not necessary for our salvation, nor is the knowledge of an exact date for his second coming. The point I’d like to make here is that dates are important to the Lord.

MY SUGGESTION:  Take a moment to write all of the important dates of celebration onto your annual calendar.

Our ordinances of birth marriage and death in specific places are what identify us as unique individuals on this earth. Accompanied by our full name and our  place within the family (first born, middle, baby, etc.) we are no longer just one of the billions of people who have lived upon the earth: we are special.

            These dates are what family history research is all about. Why? Because all of our forefathers who have died are unique and loved sons and daughters of God, too. Not just Jim born in 1825 to Alice and Roger. See what I mean? Dates along with their places and family associations make us a unique, singular, special person. This is how God views us.

            When we honor our ancestors remembering them on their special life ordinance days and ensure their temple work is done, they know we have gratitude for the gift they gave us, even our very bodies.  More importantly, after living hard lives, mostly in obscurity on this earth, they hear their names spoken in the House of the Lord and know that God loves them, too. God remembers them. What Joy they must feel!

            The wonderful happy feeling of a birthday celebration brings us this same remembrance and joy that is symbolically found in the celebration of the Savior’s birth in Bethlehem. Our baptismal date reminds us of His example at the hands of John the Baptist. And we long to hear God’s voice to us as even to His son, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” –Matthew 3:17

            Wedding celebrations are also symbolic. We hope to be invited to the wedding feast as a prepared disciple and have the Savior open the door to us. We desire to be found worthy for being in His church at His return (Ephesians 5:22-32) for He is the bridegroom.

The delight that God has in us, His sons and daughters, when we step into mortality at birth, and as we enter into the waters of baptism, and then finally into the new and everlasting covenant in His temple, must also be the way he feels when we return to Him at death having done “all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon.”

(Abraham 3:25-26)

            It is my hope that we can use our patriarchal blessings to know God’s will, give us support during our life and help us to keep His commandments, so that we may be added upon in the place prepared for us by a loving Father and inherit all that He has, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Valentine's Day, Birthdays and Anniversaries

            With Valentine's Day approaching, we start thinking about people we love. We think of our sweethearts. We think about our parents, and our children. Children think about their friends and their teachers. So, why is this date so important? It's really only a day in February, right? Yet, more flowers and cards and jewelry gifts are purchased for loved ones for this particular day that almost any other day throughout the year.

      We Love to Be Loved

            Humans really like to celebrate special days, and if it's set aside as a day to express our love, we're all for it. And the Lord, really likes certain days too. He set aside Sundays for rest. Then there are all of those Old Testament celebrations that are remembered every year or season after season. Bet you never thought about why the Lord likes certain dates, have you? I'm going to talk about this more in my next blog, but now I'd like you to go get out your patriarchal blessing and look at it. What date is there?

"To See if You Have Additional Insight into Your Blessing, Read it With Prayer"

SCRIPTURE:

            “And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.”–Moses 6:63           

           

            The scriptures are full of dates, places and events. Many of these have significant symbolic meaning to Latter-day Saints. In fact there is a certain consistency within our scriptures about the importance of dates, days, times and seasons, as well as anniversary celebrations of many types. These are all days of remembrance just like Valentine's Day, or Birthdays or Anniversaries.

MY QUESTION FOR YOU:  What is the date was your patriarchal blessing given?

I’m not saying that this particular date is fraught with heavy significance, but it is useful in pondering a few things. How old were you when the Lord parted the veil to speak to your stake patriarch about your mission in life? How old was Joseph Smith when God began talking with him?

There is some significance that our Latter-day youth are usually in their teens when they receive their patriarchal blessings. New converts often receive their own blessings within the first two years of active membership. The Lord wants to be sure to give each of us a heads up on what our mortal life should be about as soon as we are able to understand the importance of His will for us.

            I hadn’t placed much importance on that January day as a twenty-two year old convert, when my stake patriarch placed his hands on my head to provide me with a road map to guide me, pronounce blessings to protect and encourage me, and speak such wonderful promises that have uplifted me throughout my life. Now, I am placing this date to remember on my calendar, because I am filled with gratitude for the guidance it has given me.

            I think feeling grateful for the Lord’s watchful care over us is so very comforting. Our expression of this in prayer to our Heavenly Father pays Him the reverence we owe deity. Our debt of gratitude is the essence of our act of remembering.