Important

A beautiful fall day here in our neck of the woods.

A lot going on.

A lot coming up.

Wes and I were reading scriptures last night and ran into a verse we remembered fondly from our days of courtship, from back in a seemingly different life when we were a little younger, when I was a little leaner, when we were a lot more naive, and when we thought we were in love =)

(We were in love - but it was different love. The anticipating, early light of dawn compared the delicious warmth and bright contentment of mid morning. Both beautiful. Just different.)

Here's the well remembered scripture:

Alma 7:7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.

Alma's words to the people of Gideon anticipated the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem and his mortal life and ministry. But it's not hard to make the application to our own days, is it?

When Wes and I read these words together for the first time, there were, indeed, "many things to come." Some aspects of the approaching future felt excitingly vague to us, some things were vague and worrisome: a wedding, a home, children?, school? work? insurance(what is insurance again?)? There was so much we couldn't quite see in our pending personal headlines. And what of the world? Would our marriage be marked by wars, disasters, depressions among peoples and nations? Certainly, we knew, it would. But, we clung to our knowledge of the one thing that trumped all of the personal and global uncertainty: the coming of the Son of God to rule and reign. To restore. To calm. To direct. The certainty of that most important event gave us courage and hope to step into the future together. We would prepare rather than fear. We would not worry. We would hope.

The five years between that early morning reading of Alma 7 on the steps of our single student apartment complex and last night's reading of Alma 7 in the living room a few doors down from where our little daughter was asleep, have been marked by proverbial, but very real, laughter and tears. The future we couldn't see five years ago has begun to play out. But so much of it still looms ahead. Our reading last night was not too different from our reading five years ago. "Many things to come." Unguessable things along side the hoped for, planned for things.

And there remains "one thing which is of more importance than they all."

One thing that gives remarkable daily direction, if remembered!! Sometimes it takes a conference talk reminder. Sometimes the reminder comes from the resident two year old...

A few days ago I was working at the computer. Lucy was behind me, climbing around on our living room ottoman. Suddenly: that utterly distinguishable thud of head against wall. Long wail. Tears.

I scooped the little wounded whelp into my arms and asked the traditional: "Where do you hurt, love? What happened?"

Her answer: "I had a fall. And I cried. And you picked me up."

Touched by her simple, familiar sounding summary, I said something to her about Heavenly Father and Jesus, about their willingness to help us when we are hurting or sad. The comment was brief, not so much for her as for me. I dried her tears and asked her if she was going to live. "Yeah" she replied without a quiver. Much better. I was about to plunk her back onto the floor when she posed a solemn, sweet-voiced question that caught me off guard: "Can you talk about Jesus again?" she asked.

Yes, Lucy, I can talk about Jesus again. Oh, please keep reminding me! Please don't let me forget that that's my job, that that's my joy. Please help me remember that you're ready to learn; that you need to learn; that there are things to learn besides ABC's and am-i-nal sounds. Things more important than Halloween costumes. More important than clean floors and clean laundry.

Indeed, there is something "of more importance than they all!"

Yes, Lucy. I can talk about Jesus.