Did I Blink and Miss it?

I have been so busy with life and getting my missionary ready that I have not posted in forever, so long in fact that I did not realize that it has been since June! It is kind of fitting actually, it seems like it was yesterday that I wrote my last post and it seems like yesterday that my little Josh was toddling around the house playing with cars and Lego's and climbing on EVERYTHING!

And then TODAY he walked down the airport hallway, entered

the tram and was out of my sight and my arms for two years.

If feels like life was on warp speed and I just lost my breath and

all the years in between then and now.

Elder Joshua Alvarez, Future Hermana Alvarez (Phoenix Arizona Mission- 1/11) and Justin

He has grown from that little boy to a man and I could not be prouder of him.

I told him the other day as we drove together running errands that this two years was a gift to him from his family and from his Heavenly Father and it was his gift to our Savior and those that he will serve. As hard it is was to watch him walk away and how painful it is to not have him here with us, it would not be fair to him to take this experience from him and it would not be fair to keep him from serving the Lord. After all that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with it would be unthinkable to not have Josh serve Him now.

And so my heart breaks with sorrow at losing him for two years but in return my spirit can hardly contain the joy I feel knowing that this son of mine as chosen to serve the Son of God.

("Seeking the One" Liz Lemon Swindle)

Mosiah 2:17: And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

He is going to be an AMAZING missionary!

(I have a lot of updating to do over the next few months...stay tuned:):)

Show a little Tenderness

With Josh in the MTC and Katie on her way soon, my mind is fresh with the blessings of the Gospel. I LOVE that the foundation of my religion is based on Christ like principles, families and treating others with kindness, tolerance and love. That's why when I read THIS post this morning, I just knew I had to share:).

Elizabeth Bryant's Blog

Liz is an amazing lady living in San Diego (my home) raising a beautiful son and I lOVE her writing.

She loves food (she is a wonderful chef from what I can tell), is a talented painter

(she made paintings for Katie's room that I adore!), and is a devoted wife and mother.

Her blog is a must for a daily read!

The "Artist" Hand

I saw this video this morning and although the song is really lovely it was the actions that the artist is taking while singing that seem to resonate with me.

As she sings you'll notice that she is cutting into the simple white pieces of paper with very sharp scissors. At times she seems almost to dig into the cuts and will the paper to bend the way she wants. Sometimes life seems to be the same way. As hard as we may fight the changes and the pain it can cause, the "Artist" our Heavenly Father, knows what beauty can come from the cutting away of what is needless in our lives and in the end we are left with a work of art. Waiting for the end result may seem difficult but I assure you it is beautiful:)

(Thanks to Ashley for posting this!)