Run, Eat, Sing, Pray, Listen, Love

Whew! What a busy Saturday. If it felt like I was rushing from one thing to the next today… it was because I was! But, nevertheless, it was a great day! A beautiful full day of running, music, laughter, prayer, and love!

To start with, last night I had one of those “thank heaven for Facebook” moments. While I was scrolling through my friend feed way past my bedtime I saw that my friend Joyce had posted the obituary of her mother who passed away this week, and the funeral was scheduled for the very next day (today) at noon! Whew! Ever so grateful I found out in time because I would have felt terrible if I had missed the chance to be there to support her. I had actually met her mother once, and we had a fun connection. Mr. Mo and I quickly changed our planned training run, cutting back the distance from 12 miles to 8 miles to allow us enough time to get to the funeral.

The temperature has dramatically dropped here in Northern Utah. We’ve also been getting lots of rain (but of course! It’s General Conference week! We must have rain, right? haha). I can’t believe how much faster I can run when the weather is cooler. I’m praying that the weather in St. George is cool! Only 2 weeks now until Marathon Day! (yikes)

 

After I finished my run and took a quick shower – we rushed off to the funeral.

We bid farewell today to Marie, who lived an amazing and fascinating 97 years on earth. She was a woman ahead of her time, with unique experiences. The first ten years of her life were spent on an Indian Reservation where her father served as Episcopalian minister. She went to college and got a degree in the 1930’s when higher education was highly unusual for a woman, and then taught in a one room schoolhouse until World War II broke out. Then she moved to Denver to join the war effort as a “Rosie Riveter”, making ammunition for Remington. She got another degree in Radio. She worked as an executive assistant while raising her family in rugged Caspar Wyoming. She was a master gardener, and she and her husband were expert Square Dancers (she hand sewed all of their matching outfits). She loved to play card games. Her two grandchildren paid beautiful tributes, sharing endearing tales of Grandma Marie [also known as “Margarita Marie” in honor of her favorite drink]. It was a beautiful service. I found out later that Marie wrote the program ahead of time. She did a great job. I loved the hymns she chose, and the scripture readings. Best of all, it meant a lot to my friend Joyce that Mr. Mo and I were there. We had a very sweet visit with her reverend and the other parishioners. We know many of them because we used to be a part of their community garden project before we moved. They are all such good people, and we always feel so welcomed in their circle. Love them!

There was another sweet moment from this event. Joyce has one sibling – a brother who lives in California. I didn’t know that I had actually sat next to him during the funeral until the end of the service. (I think we may have committed a faux pas by walking in and sitting on the “family row” in the chapel, but no one said anything). After the service, her brother sought me out and told me about his hearing impairment. He explained that he has a hard time hearing anything, and he wasn’t able to hear most of the service for his mother, except…

“I could hear you singing right next to me, and the music went straight to my heart. Music always speaks to me more than words. It meant everything to me. Thank you so much.”

Oh, my heart! I am just so grateful that the Lord let me find out about this funeral in the nick of time, and then He had me sit right next to Joyce’s brother so that he could hear the message and peace he needed through the music as he mourned the loss of his mother. ♥

Oh, The Lord is so good!

Then we rushed off to the home of Dad Bob [Mr. Mo’s father]. We lost sweet Mom Elaine last June, and we try to see Dad Bob at least once per week since we know he is lonely. He had 3 tickets for the matinee showing today of the musical play Forever Plaid at the new Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah and he invited us to go with him. We got to see the show on the beautiful brand new ‘Jewel Box’ stage.

Wow! What a delightful time this was! The cast was perfect. The music was sung with incredibly tight barbershop harmonies, and they had a beautiful blend. The acting was spot on, and choreography was fun. The costumes, staging, lighting, and set design were all top notch. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that after all the [five] decades I’ve spent attending and performing plays and musicals, today was the very first time I’ve seen Forever Plaid. [Shocking, I know! Especially because this show is staged SO OFTEN in Utah!] Well, I am very glad I finally got to see it, and that my first time was this superb production!

[I highly recommend going if you are in the Utah area]

When the play ended, it was POURING RAIN outside! Lots of puddle jumping ensued to get to the car. As we slowly drove through the storm to a popular restaurant I turned on the radio and we listed to the General Women’s Meeting (first session of Oct 2017 Conference!) When we found out the restaurant had about a 30 minute wait, Mr. Mo and Dad Bob waited inside and chatted sports while I sat in the car enjoying the Women’s Meeting on the radio. Luckily (for me) the wait for a table was longer than predicted, so I made it all the way through to the end of the conference! What a wonderful, beautiful, inspiring meeting! If you missed it, or you want to review your favorite parts, here’s the video of the entire meeting (it’s great!):

♥

This meeting gave me so much to think about, so many deep thoughts and ideas that I’d love to blog about and share with you, but it’s super late right now, I’ve been up for hours and hours… and I have to get up super early for another busy day tomorrow (starting with early morning Choir broadcast!) so I must sign off for now.

What a long, busy, incredibly blessed day! Despite all the loss, the storms, the rain and dreariness we experience all around us every day- Life is good! God is good!

You are loved! Shine on, shine on!- MoSop