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The Story of the boots

Well I put off purchasing boots (even though I need new ones) for Youth Conference for various reasons. The night before found me driving the hand cart down to the Charles Rich Cabin site and arriving home late, after any stores would be open (where I would want to buy boots anyway), so I decided to take my old boots. I patched them up as best I could, I put some tacks in the sole to hold it on, and hoped it would be enough for the hand cart trek.

I bought these boots about ten years ago at Recovery Sales Outlet (now Cargo Largo) in Independence MO. They were brand new and only $50, a fraction of what they were worth. It was a huge blessing at the time because money was tight and I really needed boots for work. The boots have never stopped being a blessing.

I’ve walked hundreds of miles in these boots over the last ten years. They’ve been to the Henry Mountains in Utah (climbed 7 peeks in them, somewhere around 40-50 miles of mountain climbing and hunting), to the Grand Canyon, Delicate Arch (all over Arches National Park), Red Rocks in Colorado, many scout campouts and on more than 15 deer hunts in Missouri. I’ve also warn these boots to countless service projects and move in parties and to work in on a daily basis for several years. But last of all these boots went with me to the Platte City Missouri Stake Youth Conference.

In all the time I have warn these boots, in the rough terrain and weather and through the many miles I have never once had a blister on my feet. They have kept my feet warm and protected from the elements, rocks, thorns and everything else.

During Youth Conference, after the eight miles on Thursday, the boots were doing just fine, but during the evening activities on Friday night the sole came almost completely off one of the boots. I asked around for some glue to see if I could possibly cobble them together for the last day of the trek, and who should have it…Sister Butler. She complained to me that she had dramatically over packed, but in my view she was following inspiration from the spirit in order to be the hands of the Lord in administering a tender mercy to me and my boots. Not only did Sister Butler have glue, she had shoe goo! Just what was needed. I took that shoe goo and patched my boots back up. And the next day they held together till the end of the day when the shoe goo let go and the boots died.

These boots have been a blessing from the Lord from the moment I bought them to the moment they died. They have blessed me through adventures and daily work, helped me to bless others and in the end to be blessed by others, and I am truly thankful for these boots, for all that I have experienced in these boots and most of all for that fact these boots help me know yet again with perfect surety that my Father in Heaven loves and knows me and provides the way before me.

So, Amber took a picture of my good old boots so I can remember them and all that they mean to me. That is the story of the boots.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself

via youtube.com

Love this! Great energy, clean lyrics and a little nostalgia.

Growing together

I have been reading my wife's blog and thinking her thoughts and feeling her feelings. And it occurred to me that my creativity is woefully under-expressed, in fact that most of who I am and what I am is under-expressed and that that is not a good thing. So I am making an effort to express more of my thoughts and feelings in the moment before I lose them in the malaise of my work day.

My thought is that our life is like a tree. The branches are our progeny and the roots our ancestry, but the trunk of the tree is us. What is beautiful and significant to me it that we started out as separate people, but the longer we are married, in love, friends, parents, and so many other things, the more we are growing together. An excellent blending of two into a unique and wonderful one. Our true identity, more and more, is not you and me but us.

Best vs. Potential

We (speaking on the large collective scale) often denigrate ourselves in the moment because we do not accomplish everything we hope to do, in the way we planned, to the standard we desired. We wonder "Did I do my best?" "What is my best?" I realized the other day that what we are holding ourselves up against is not truly our best in that moment but rather we are comparing our efforts in the moment to our eternal potential, and inevitably as we do this we are discouraged.

The solution is simple: keep things in perspective. As we all know simple does not equal easy but this really is the answer. When we ask ourselves "Did I live up to my full potential today?" the answer will most likely and persistently be no. But if we ask "Did I do my best to live up to my potential today?" hopefully the answer is yes more often than not. The key is the focus of the question. The first question has a very board focus and the second a very narrow focus. If we follow the principle of line upon line learning and growing we will not ask ourselves (in essence) 'did I reach perfection today?' we will focus on today's line, on today's actions, words and thoughts and ask 'did I do my best to reach toward perfection today?'

We are here to reach for perfection, but we cannot be discouraged when we do not arrive before the end of a day. The Savior hasn't asked for perfection in a day, He's asked for our best efforts, and then He makes up the difference. When we judge ourselves sub-par because we didn't perform to our full potential on a given day, we judge ourselves unrighteously, and we do not allow the Savior to help us grow and fulfill His commandment in Matt 11:28-30 28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6) that my best is good enough for one day and that I will best myself (my natural man) with the Saviors help, into the celestial kingdom...one best day at a time.

The Art of the Mini-Date

I just went on a mini-date with my wife. I came home for lunch, ate quickly, and we took George outside to play because he is so very much in need of being outside right now. Then we sat on the front stairs in close proximity and talked while George cavorted under our somewhat watchful eyes. The sun was pleasant and warm and we were out of the wind. I enjoyed taking 30 minutes to just sit and talk and relax together. It made me realize the value of taking time in the moment. It also pointed out to me that I need to take my wife on dates during the day more often too, just for variety, and because the sun shine is so pleasant.