I woke up very early this Sunday a.m. We now go to meetings at 9:00 a.m., so with yesterday being New Years Day, I did not prepare my Strengthening Family lesson until this morning before church. I awoke long before the alarm, probably close to 4 a.m. There in the dark my mind replayed, almost in panorama, the last decade of the most major of tribulations we have experienced. I am a naturally positive optimistic person. I do not work at it, it is just there, deep in my soul, I am happy with a smile on my face. I was born with it. So it was extremely unusual for me to experience scene after scene of harder times of the last ten years. First, to my mind came the vivid pictures of my our nephew Bruce Cluff's death. I loved him as a son. I tended him when he was little as he and my daughter Cori Ann became the closest of friends. He was in and out of our home constantly, lived with us before his mission, and lived with us again after until he was settled in college. When he was a father of two, with one on the way, his military plane crashed in Columbia. We housed his siblings during the two weeks he was missing. It was an ordeal I never want to repeat. I still think of him often and miss him terribly. Next to my mind came the sale of our drilling business to a person we trusted. Walt gave him every advantage financially to help him get a good start. We soon found ourselves in a betrayal. Without our knowledge, this person turned quickly around selling the business for double the amount to a another man who had also wanted the business from us. Walt had honored the first person because of a handshake to keep his word. Our buyer did not disclose to his quick- sale party the terms of our agreement to settle tax liability, pay off supply expense incurred on a drilling job that he received payment for, and drill a well on our property on Cedar Mountain. Our accountant firm, who had drawn up the contracts and had been present at every negotiation, offered their lawyers free of charge to prosecute this dishonorable person citing numerous breach of contract. However, after much prayer, Walt decided against it and I honored my husband's decision. Next my mind relived the excitement of our daughter's mission call. We were thrilled, she was our first missionary. She had several emergency admittances regarding asthma and allergy. She had been ill at times, but still loved her mission. Several months passed when we received a call from her mission president. Due to the more strict medical guidelines, she was asked to go home. She had refused to return, so in a tearful phone call, after prayerful council, we said come home. Our broken hearted faithful daughter came home from a treasured beloved mission. My mind replayed when Walt was involved in a accident where his hand and arm were seriously burned. He had to go to the burn unit to have the area scrapped several times a week for a long period of time. My mind went to some trying times when a couple of our children had marital challenges. My sister, whom I am close to, suffered a massive stroke losing use of an arm, leg, and fluid speech, even though she is only in her forties. This greatly affected me. Next in my panarama came the termination of my contract with the Southwest Utah Health Department due to budget cutbacks. Over an eight year period of time, I had built two programs. I handed them over to two people still in their twenties who would "work them into" their already busy schedule. My mind then went to this unprecedented economical crash, our future retirement depending on rent of two commercial buildings. One now sitting empty due to the tenant going out of business, the other having to lower the rent to the point that it hardly pays the expenses to keep our real estate investments. We are now at the age we projected for an early retirement, but my husband is running his water pump installation and repair. There are fewer clients nor are there business buyers whom we planned on selling to by this point of time. After this panorama was complete, it came to me how we had gone through all of it with calm and peace. As my mind's eye looked at each tribulation packaged into a decade, and I don't think I had ever viewed them in such a context nor dwelled on them, I realized there was a silver thread that ran through every experience. I could see with each tribulation, Walt and I had been been wounded, a jagged tear, a gaping hole. I saw clearly that the wounds had been cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ then sewn up with the threads of the atonement. Through this last decade, we have experienced peace, love, joy, long suffering, and hope. Our faith and testimony is stronger now than ten years ago. I had someone say to me once that time heals all wounds. Perhaps, but time's healing can leave a jagged scar. Through the application of faith, I have found that the Savior heals all wounds, but His healing leaves no scar and in place of a wound, gratitude.
Walt is attending the Utah Ground Water Association convention held each year in Nevada. ( I am still trying to figure the location choice.) Anyway, I am alone for a few days and decided to do some catch up. Christmas was wonderful as usual and it seemed even more so with not having to worry about adult gifts this year. The pain I have been putting up with in my right shoulder was almost gone by Christmas Day, so I was able to totally enjoy it. Christmas Eve was held with our usual breakfast. We are still able to seat everyone for big occasion dinners, but it is getting pretty tight. We always do buffet. We supply the ham, pancakes, and paper goods. The rest of the family brings eggs, hash browns, syrups, strawberries, whip creme, juices, and everyone brings bacon. We always have a family home evening centered on Christmas. This night is probably my favorite night of the entire year. I was going through some of the older pictures and found some from our Nativity Christmas Eve home evening years ago. As I am using my blog for journaling and will publish to hard copy every couple of years, so I wanted to get these included. The children are so much older now, and of course, some grandchildren were not even born yet. The pictures were taken with my old camera so the quality is not too good 
