Sorry I haven't written you lately. This new job is frying my brain something awful! I kinda feel like I might almost be figuring it out thought. (In case you forgot/didn't hear cuz I forgot to tell you, I got laid off cuz they closed the center, but I am now working at a bank as the person the banker calls when they need help. It's nice cuz I don't ever have to talk to a normal customer so I won't get yelled at, but though because I have to learn so, so, so much about how bank accounts work and stuff.) But anyways, I was just reading your last message and I love, love, love the part about the phoenix. What you said is so true. It also reminded me of a thought I had earlier this week.
So, do you remember that big green electronics board of Dad's that Mom was always like "that takes up so much space, can't you keep that somewhere it won't always be getting in the way?" Well, I found it as I was re-organizing the garage (that's what i did while waiting for my new job to start. Its super pretty now.) I convinced Mom that we should get a shadowbox for Dad to keep it in because its actually a kinda cool part of his personal history and our family history. These boards were one of the first major super big patents Dad had (might be the first, i'd have to check with him..) but as I was cleaning all the dust off it and then figuring out how to balance it and what to remove so it would fit..through all that, a single phrase just kept coming back to my mind: "through small and simple things are great things brought to pass." and..like that's so true on so many levels just with the example of this board.
The board itself is a super duper complex thing but it relies totally on the very small and very not-smart chips and wires and solder points that just bump electrons at each other. Those single little blips and beeps somehow add up together to be one massive complicated piece of machinery that was sold for like $1.5 million when it was new.
Level Two: the board was made to work with a bunch of other boards just like it that took in tons and tons and tons of info and data, sorted it out, and made one single signal. (It was for broadcast stations to send out all their ads and news and tv episodes and stuff as just one single tv channel stream without it getting mixed up.) So that's like looking at it opposite. Great big complicated things, when taken down to their simplest parts, can be so streamlined and clear. I feel like the people who get confused or walk away from the gospel are the ones who don't rely on the scriptures' abilities to just simplify things down to the single clear message of God's love and covenants.
Finally, I feel that this board represents the big old truth of how very much our dad works so hard for our family and how he and Mom have done so much and tried so hard and struggled forward through so many things to try to give our family the best of all possible worlds. This board is one single, simple thing but it reflects the whole of their sacrifice of time and money and patience and health: all the rides to school and team sports and dance practices and late night homework sessions and all the millions of boxes of cereal. All these simple things over years and years and years just equal so much love to me. And yeah, they may not be perfect, but none of us are. So I just try to see the whole of it and rejoice that my parents have tried so darn hard for me.
So yeah. I'm not really sure how to end that thought other than to say that I know and believe with all my heart that it is the simple things we do that matter most to God. Our eternities are built on the small things: the smiles and the friendships and the tiny services. I love reading your letters. I love seeing the love you have for these beautiful strangers. I am so, so proud of you and your efforts. May all the beauty of simplicity follow you this week, my love, and may you feel strengthened in the Lord. Also, I hope your sunburn feels better.
Love Always,
Drama Queen
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