Two times I cried yesterday

I'm sitting alone in what has been dubbed The Boat Room with 51.86666667% of our allotted shipment. I know this because we have been weighing each box and recording its weight in a spreadsheet because we don't know how else we're supposed to know what 5700 lbs of stuff looks like. I'm alone because Rachel is now in Utah, Miriam and Benjamin have left for FSY, Zoë is in Tennessee, and Andrew took Alexander and Phoebe to swim practice. 

I haven't been alone in the house in ages. 

I may have never been alone in this particular house. 

It's quiet and I could be getting stuff done, but instead I'm blogging (which one could argue is getting stuff done). We do need to decide what else needs to come into The Boat Room, but really our rooms are starting to look rather bare. 

Last night I was working in Miriam and Zoë's room, which was very nearly finished (but not quite) and I came across a handful of paper-and-ribbon Olympic medals the kids made for their Kids' Olympics a few summers ago and it made me feel so happy-sad.

Our cul-de-sac has been an oasis for my little kids—they have made such good friends with our neighbourhood kids! I'm so grateful for our wonderful neighbours, who have truly been a village. It's been such a privilege to raise my children alongside these families. Thinking about that made me tear up a bit (and I think that's why packing takes me so much longer than Andrew, who is much more pragmatic about things). 

And then last night I also got to "attend" my cousin's son's baptism (between packing boxes), which was a wonderful surprise! 

Melinda (LDS) and Jimbo (Catholic, I believe) are an interfaith couple and decided to raise their children with faith in God but more or less without religion. But I guess Jacob (who now goes by Jaybo) got involved with the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward and while playing Fortnite (with the missionaries somehow—are missionaries on Fortnite now?! I was so confused by that part of the story) decided it was time for him to get baptized. And yesterday ended up being the day!

And it was beautiful! 

He asked Melinda to be one of the witnesses for his baptism, which she proudly did, and which I'm sure made her parents proud as well. And then between the baptism and the confirmation they held a little testimony meeting which was, on the one hand, so wonderful, and on the other hand so unfortunate because Jaybo missed most of it because he was getting dry and dressed!

Jimbo got up first when it came time to bear testimonies and he made me tear up for the second time of the evening as he expressed his appreciation for the church and all they've done for their family over the years. "I've had thousands of missionaries in my home," he said, "I like to think of our home as a bit of a refuge for them." A place where they can stop by for a meal and a friendly conversation when they're so far from their own families. And I was so grateful to Jimbo for being that refuge.

And I was grateful to the missionaries for continuing their visits regularly (for about twenty-five years) even though their family never really agreed to even attend church. In some missions, missionaries are encouraged to "drop" people if they aren't making "progress" toward baptism, but I think missionary work is so much more than baptisms. The last twenty-five (or so) years of visits from the missionaries made this family feel important (to God) and I think that is more important than baptism. 

I mean, I think ordinances are important as well but sometimes I think the ordinances are for us so that we have something to do to mark moments (of change) in our lives, to help us remember our commitments to God, and so forth. 

I think God keeps track of things...differently...than we do...in ways that we probably will never understand. And that's okay. 

Again, that's not to say that I don't think ordinances are important—even helping with ordinance work for people who have already died (proxy baptism for the dead, temple ordinances for the dead, etc)—but it's just to say that all our record-keeping and check boxes and so forth are probably secondary (and are certainly much more flawed compared) to heavenly records. That's all. 

But Jaybo didn't get to hear Jimbo speak, which I think is unfortunate. Melinda went (nearly) last though, so he at least got to hear his mom speak. It was wonderful to hear her testimony as well. I remember years ago how distraught my Aunt Judy was when Melinda was distancing herself from the church. I don't know how much Melinda goes to church these days (but, again, God gets to keep track of what's in her heart, not me—and Melinda is so kind and wonderful) but she did express how proud she was of Jaybo for making this choice on his own (without any influence from her) and she proudly counted herself among believers. 

Again, I'm sure this made her parents feel very happy. 

Here's Jaybo himself saying a few words:

Like I said, it was a wonderful service. I did miss a few things because I was also reading a bedtime story to Phoebe during the first little bit (and then she wanted to stay up and watch the baptism part, which she did, and then declared the testimonies were making her tired and went to lie down in bed...requesting that I finish watching the service from the hallway, which I did), but it was lovely to get to be virtually a part of this special day for Jaybo.

Now to get packing...