Apples and Trees

I am always so surprised when the little birds in my home...and now out of my home...remember the things we've tried to teach them.  In my last post, I mentioned that we had a rough week emotionally around here (and in Utah.)  It's an especially difficult thing, to know that your child is sad and to not be close enough to talk them through it.  It's a difficult thing when your husband is sad, too, and far away.  Craig had some disappointments while he was traveling, and once again, I was pretty helpless from 1000 miles away.  There's only so much uplifting you can do via text.  

But I have come to realize that those challenges we face when we're alone are the ones where we learn the most.  Craig and Savannah probably needed to find their own personal solace more than they needed to hear from me.

There are places I go when I need to find solace in my life.  Prayer, scriptures, and conference talks all help a lot, but the place that I find the greatest comfort when I'm really struggling with something is in the temple.  Any temple.  At home.  On vacation.  It doesn't matter.  There is something about the sacrifice in getting there, the regular routine of it, and the time it takes before the running dialog in my mind is finally quieted, that brings the greatest relief and comfort for me.  This week I fled to the temple when the weight felt to heavy for me to manage alone.  And it was the perfect place to be.  

And then I noticed that Savannah posted this on IG this week...

How grateful I am that a few things stick with my kids even across the miles and that my little apples have not fallen very far from the tree that they've left.