My 16 stones

Okay, so sometimes I write everyday and others....It looks like it's been a month. And what have we been doing this month? TRACK BREAK! Yes, we are some of the lucky few who get 3 1/2 weeks off of school every 8 weeks or so. In the past track breaks have not been the time where I would have wanted a hidden video camera in the past. By week 3 I have resorted to some interesting mommy tactics. So, as I prepared for this current track break, I did a lot of praying. For real. I planned an activity every tuesday and thursday like swimming or Chuck E Cheese or the zoo. That really helped. But what helped the most happended during our Stake Conference the weekend before track break started. On Friday night I had this dream that Jeff and I were cleaning the house and we found this empty room we had never known was there. We were so excited - it just needed a little work and it would be a perfect play room for our kids and their friends. I woke up and thought "that was weird". Then we went to the adult session of Stake Conference (which is always my favorite becuase I actually get to listen). Elder Walker was there and just fabulous. It isn't so much what he said but what the spirit said to me while he spoke. I was more focused and introspective than I have been in years. Pretty much I went home determined limit the influence of the world in my home and make our house a home built for children. It's funny how the spirit works but it was very clear that in no general terms I needed to turn off the TV. Okay, so the only time my kids are NOT fighting is when they are watching TV - so logically this made no sence but I committed to doing it. We would watch no TV except for out kids one and only time slot of 4-5 pm so they could rest and I could get dinner ready. That was directive #1. Directive #2 was a bit more interesting. Remember that dream I had? Well, I have been saving money from birthdays and left-over weekly budget and such becasue I wanted to buy a new set of furniture and make our front living room all pretty and nice and special. Well, I was pondering during that meeting what on earth the children would do with the TV turned off. When it absolutely struck me over the head. "Cami, why on earth do you want a nice fancy room?" I began listing reasons such as "that's what front rooms are for" and "I deserve something nice" but when it came right down to it - I wanted a nice front room as a "stage" that made our house look nice and orderly to other people who came to the front door. To impress other people. Because really we would never use it except for our home teachers. And lets face it - Home teachers aren't a good reason to buy new furniture. So - I remembered that hidden room I found in my dream and realized that the front room WAS the room. So, we went home from the meeting and I told Jeff everything. His face was like "you got all that from the meeting?" and then he smiled and said to go ahead. The only condition was that I could only spend money on the new room that I has already saved or that I could get from selling stuff already in there. So, I worked fast (if you know me at all - that's one thing I've got down. I work fast!) I got everything gathered and over to my friends house who was having a garage sale THAT WEEKEND. On friday night, Jeff got too much of our enemy the "realism" bug. He was convinced that nothing would sell and that we would just be hauling it all back to our house on Saturday night. When I say haul - I mean haul. I found some awesome motivation to get rid of almost everything in light of this new room. So I kept my husband moving and my prayers going. That night the realism bug got me a bit too and as I fell to sleep I remember thinking "Okay Heavenly Father. You told me to do this. I know that. And now I am doing it. So here are my 16 stones - please light them up. This is all I can think of to make this work, please make it work." Guess what? I sold just about everything! Jeff couldn't believe it. It really was a tender mercy. Then track break started. We watched no TV. Much to my surprise, my children began doing things they've never done before - they began playing with each other. They went outside!! Now in our house going outside had almost become a punishment. But there my children were - waking up in the morning and running out back to play all on their own. Up until this point sibling rivalry has been one of the continuous trials in our home. One thursday we went to the zoo and a young couple stopped me and asked "do your children always get along this well?" Now this was no tender mercy - this was an all out miracle! The Lord really does answer our prayers. And those answers really can change our homes. I now know this. It's amazing, a bit overwhelming, and humbling all at the same time.