The Man In The Suit

Brian has been called into the bishopric.

With every righteous sacrifice there comes a blessing. I believe that, and even so, the tears have come. I'm not surprised at them, really. After all, a sacrifice isn't really a sacrifice unless it hurts a little.
Or a lot.
Right?

He said that he needs a new suit.
He's right.
Truthfully, he probably needs more than one. I'm not sure why that's one of the things that has stuck out to me in all of this. A suit. It just feels a little strange I guess because he doesn't actually wear suits.

Or rather, he didn't.

But he wore one last week.
And when his name was read by the stake president over the pulpit, he rose to his feet right next to me and dang if he didn't look amazing in that suit. The congregation rose their hands to sustain him as the first counselor to the new bishop, and then I watched him gather his things, walk down the aisle, and sit in a seat up front; and the whole time that suit went with him. It looked more like a companion than a crafted piece of fabric, and when he stood to speak it spoke with him, held him up, gave him a quiet power.

He is going to be good at this. I know he is.
Because dang he looked amazing in that suit.

It filled his eyes with humility, and turned his voice soft and gentle. It poured itself out in words of gratitude from his lips and gave his testimony a gentle power.
Power.
How could a suit do it? Fabric and thread, tailored to the exact dimensions of Brian by a pair of skilled Thai hands in a tiny suit shop in downtown Bangkok.

It gave courage to his heart and trust to mine.
And power to us both.
Power.
Power to trust. Power to try. Power to be what the Lord needs us to be. Power to support. Power to love. Power to carry the heavy loads coming our way.

And as I sat pondering how a suit could be all of that, the eyes of my soul were opened and I saw that he was wearing more than one suit that day. A second suit made from sacred priesthood threads hung from his shoulders and infused him with its power.

The power of the priesthood.

It too was tailored to the exact dimensions of Brian, but by the hands of God himself and was given to him as a gift to wear as a representative of Jesus Christ. A suit that he wore in righteousness that wrapped him in the Divine and made him a man of God.

And dang if he didn't look amazing in that suit.

Stratosphere (Catch Up Post)

This year we asked each kid whether they wanted gift to play with for Christmas, or a gift to experience. And to my delight, they all chose Experience.

So for the three older kids, we took them to the Stratsophere to test their fear of heights.

It was a great place to test this fear because the Stratosphere is the tallest free-standing observation tower in United States and makes for some pretty impressive views.

Also, it is home to the scariest ride I've ever been on.

I don't scare easily on rides, but this one did me in. Which was funny because it is probably the smallest ride I've ever been on, too... the track is only 68 feet long, and entirely straight... which really doesn't seem scary at all. But it is because the 68 feet of track tilts down so the lone car is sent careening towards the end of the track at a fast enough clip that it feels very much like it would be impossible to stop the car before it falls off the edge and falls 866 feet to explode on the ground in Las Vegas. And what's worse, the car goes over the front of the track enough before it stops (it does stop) that it feels like you're already on your way there.

I was happier hugging this handsome guy and watching my children skirt death.

We were there at twilight time, which was absolutely gorgeous.

And it was so fun to be with my older kids.

There were only three rides on the top of that tower and so I worried that we'd get bored quickly, but I needn't have worried one bit. We ran from ride to ride to ride and back again.

And as soon as the rowdy, drunk crowds arrived at the top of the tower we were ready to head home anyway.

It was a night to remember, and I'm sure we'll be visiting the Stratosphere again.

Timothy and Miles chose a far safer experience, though they were every bit as delighted with theirs as the the older kids had been about the Stratosphere.

Chuck-E-Cheese.

Brian and I were actually having a bit too much fun running around with them to take many pictures. In fact, these are the only two I have of the whole night.

But I'll tell you, it was pretty awesome hanging around with the younger kids, too. And Brian and I make a mean team when it comes to Wack-A-Mole.

I think experience gifts are going to become a big part of our Christmastimes.