Whisperings

There is a marvelous article on the last page of the June Ensign about learning to recognize the workings of the Spirit. I had one of those experiences yesterday. I was catching up on Firstborn’s blog, and she mentioned that one of her dearest friends from high school was undergoing Major Trial. My daughter did not name the friend, but as I read, a face popped into my mind. Oh no! I texted Firstborn from work, and she confirmed it.

Did this happen because I am a perfectly saintly woman? Of course not! But I serve in the House of the Lord once a week, as does Beloved (he is there, as I write), and I serve in my ward, and all week I have been reading an article or two from the June Ensign in the quiet early morning hours, and the ground was fertile.

Think about those moments when you just know something, and you know that you know it. (And then you think about it some more and realize that Heaven wants you to do something about it. Which is why I am teaching Primary when my natural inclination is to hang out with grown women. Or at least teenagers.)

You may have read that caffeine can impair short-term memory, which for some of us may already be iffy at best. Last night was proof of that. I had the slows all day. And I slugged down four styrofoam cups of Cherry Coke over ice, something on the order of a liter of the stuff. I felt as if I were moving through a sea of molasses, and when I drove off to the temple, I was still yawning. Thankfully, my assignments last night required me to keep moving, and that helped enormously.

When I came home, Beloved was watching the Rangers while posting on Facebook (yeah, a man who multitasks; I told you he is extraordinary). And the cat was in. Cricket padded over to my chair, put one paw up on my lap, and looked me beseechingly in the eye. I patted my skirt with both hands, and up he came! This was a first. He sat in my lap for fifteen or twenty minutes, until I had to walk over to Beloved to watch something funny on his laptop.

It’s payday. Tithing check is written and ready to go to church with us on Sunday. Gas card is paid off. I am still more comfortable paying cash as I go, but I am OK with putting it on a gas card as long as I can pay it off on or before the due date (which I did). And I have placed an order with KnitPicks for a book at 40% off, and some discontinued yarn for not-the-next-sweater but the one after that. And we still have money in the accounts.

This was the first, third-payday since I married. In the past, it was my time to catch up anything that needed catching up, and to have a mini-splurge. I have been reminding myself for two or three days that that was then, and this is now, and you know what? I do not feel the least bit deprived because I “can’t” hit all my favorite stores online and off, and come home with bags of new clothing or things for the house.

There is a pair of lace-trimmed leggings in another catalogue, in a color that would be useful under one of my skirts which is in the mending pile. (And I know were the bobbin cover is for the Bernina, so there is a slight chance I could get that done this weekend, but I’m not holding my breath.) If I do not find a similar item at Wally World when I pick up a new pair of jeans (I just about wore out the current pair scratching hives a couple of weeks ago; looked at my nails and there was all this navy blue fuzz under them), then I will order those as well. I need a new/improved closet more than I need new clothing. I seriously need to replace my sneakers, which are two years old, or maybe three. I bought them when I had the gym membership in Fort Worth and was riding the train to work. Long ago in a universe far, far away.

I have oodles and oodles of time before I need to hop in the car and go to work. I think I might French-braid my hair this morning. And I’m grabbing that other catalogue, just in case.