the hiding place

i have finished my first book of 2012, so i am well on my way to accomplishing my new years resolution of one book a month. january- check! next task: the entire chronicles of narnia.

the book i read was "the hiding place". if you've never read it, i beg you to go and get it and read it. it's less than 250 pages and it is an absolutely incredible story. in case you have never read it, allow me to share a brief summary.

it is the true story of corrie ten boom, a dutch Christian fighting against the nazi's during WWII. her world changes when she is arrested and then imprisoned, but her faith does not. she suffers and experiences the absolute worst things imaginable and some, unimaginable; she lives in fleas and lice; she works back breaking labor while in her 50's at the concentration camp; she sees men and women killed before her and then, sees how they dispose of the bodies; her father, sister, and nephew are all killed; she lives off basically nothing; she sleeps on a wood slat with 4 other women and no blanket, and yet through all of this and so much more, she and her sister, betsie, live every day for Christ and are missionaries to everyone they meet. they pray for those beating them, they pray for those suffering with them. they reach out to anyone who needs them in any way they can. they share everything they have, even though they had practically nothing. they are constantly led by the Spirit and she lives to tell their tale.

this story is a story of faith- unyielding, undying, and true faith. it is hard to read some of the things she went though, it almost seems impossible. but what does seem more than possible, but truly amazing, and what relieves you of the terrible tragedies of her life, are the absolute miracles she experiences. if you don't believe in modern miracles, read this book. it is full of them. again, allow me to briefly summarize one:

the first night they (corrie and betsie) arrived in the concentration camp, they were forced to strip down and undergo and thorough medical inspection. they had been hiding a small bible around a string, hanging down their back, through the prison and the prison camp but now, they were unsure what to do. she prayed "Dear God, You have given us this precious Book; You have kept it hidden through checkpoints and inspections; You have used it for so many" and at that moment her sister became faint. the guards told corrie to take betsie into the bathoom, there, they found a hiding place for their bible. after their inspections, they went into that same bathroom to put on their new "clothes" (which were more like horrible and disgusting rags). corrie put the bible again around her neck, although now the clothes were so thin, and she too was so thin, that she was terrified it would be found, but she carried it anyway. everyone was receiving a pat down on their way out of the bathroom; the lady in front of her was pat down 3 times, betsie, behind her, was pat down, but she was not. they kept that bible the entire time they were in the camp. when corrie was released, she gave it to another lady in the camp.

this book inspired me. it made me want to be more faithful, more committed to what i know to be true, that Christ lives! and that through Him, we all have the chance to live eternally with our Heavenly Father.

i would like to just share a few of the quotes from the book that i found particularly inspiring. again, if you have not read this book go to the library or to a book store and get it. it's worth every second you will spend reading it.


“Dear Jesus...how foolish of me to have called for human help when You are here.”


“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” 


“Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him....Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness....And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.”

weekend in HHI

this past weekend matt, evan, and i traveled to katie's house for a long weekend (thanks mlk for a day off!). it was matt's first weekend away from seneca in, well, forever (thanks band for running our lives!). matt had never been to katie's apartment or hilton head island and he was pumped- he loves few things more than nice weather and palm tree scattered terrain.

friday we just hung out at katie's apt. saturday we spent the whole day on the island. we toured katie's school (matt had obviously never seen it) then we went to the salty dog cafe for lunch. we had never been there but it was great food and a lot of fun to shop around all the little, local, shops everywhere around the restaurant. evan was so happy! everyone kept saying "he is such a happy baby!" and then when we would see people from the restaurant in stores they would say "oh, there's that happy baby!"

later that night, after plenty of window shopping and hanging out, we went to another restaurant- the skull creek boathouse. my parents were treating us to dinner there since when they went, they loved it and insisted matt and i be able to try it too. when we got there, we had to valet park. i noticed near the valet parking they had a john huntsman poster. i thought it was strange since you didn't see many and so i pointed it out. then when we rolled down our window for the valet, i said "he's here!" because i could hear him talking. while none of us were huntsman supporters, we are all gop supporters and it was awesome to see a candidate and get to hear him speak. he was doing a rally at the skull creek boathouse! then he dropped out of the race 2 days later, but that's beside the point. we had an AMAZING dinner of low country boil and a great day all around.

sunday we went to church with her and enjoyed dinner and movies and games at her apt, since we don't go out on sundays, which is part of why they are my favorite day of the week. we had to head home monday but not before we went to lunch, hibachi! evan sat in a high chair for the first time at a restaurant!

it was a perfect weekend. i am so blessed to have katie as my sister. not only do i adore her and miss her when we aren't together, but her and matt get along so well and have such fun when they're together. not to mention how much she and evan love each other. it's just wonderful to have wonderful family. now if she could just be a little bit closer...

5 months

whoa- really? 5 months old!! how did my baby grow up so fast (okay, 5 months is still pretty darn young). since he didn't have a doctors appointment this month, i cant share with you any official stats, because i dont have any. also not a lot about his development and/or personality has changed since 4 months. the biggest change is he now eats cereal every day, which is actually pretty exciting. but what i can share with you instead of stats is a list of little known facts about my sweet baby evan.

-he always sneezes in multiples, and so does his dad. can that be inherited?

-he has his daddy's eyes but my dad's eye color and super expressive eyebrows

-he loves books, a lot, and i actually think he prefers looking at the words to the pictures a lot of the time

-he loves his paci but is not addicted to it and can function without it, which will be good when i want to get rid of it at his first birthday

-he has always loved tummy time, which i understand for many babies is not ever true

-he is such a faker- he will fake fuss to get what he wants, he will fake laugh to make you smile, he will give you a smile just to please you, it's all adorable

-he's addicted to chewing on his hands! i don't know how he does it, but he will manage to have up to 8 fingers in his mouth at once.

-he is such a drooler- way worse than his mommy (if you didn't know... i'm quite the drooler, whah whah)

-he is really easily startled but he finds it funny to be so

-although not so little known, he is awesome, beautiful, sweet, loving, and perfect. i wouldn't trade him for anything, anywhere, anytime. he is my favorite thing in the world.

resolutions

i am a goal setter- constantly. i have always been a list maker and i love few things more than seeing a list where everything is marked through, meaning done. but resolutions to me are a little different than goals. my goals are typically very short term. my lists are frequently accomplishable in a day be them a grocery list, a cleaning list, a phone call list, etc. but resolutions for me are changes i want to make in the long term and in many ways, permanently. so this year i have set 3 new years resolutions, and here they are:

1. send out birthday cards. i want to send an actual card via usps to my friends and family on their birthdays and/or other special occasions. one great thing about having a baby is getting a lot of gifts and i wrote a personal thank you for each one and loved it! i loved spending my time writing them, i loved addressing them, stamping them, and putting them in the mail box, and i loved knowing someone was being thanked for their kindness. so i want to have that feeling all year by mailing cards.

2. read at least one book a month- 12 books in '12. i used to be a great reader. growing up i was always reading. i haven't completely lost that, i read a number of books in 2011, but i am not consistent with it. i am the type who gets hooked in one series, reads all of them, and then doesn't read again for a while. well no more. not just 12 books this year, but one a month- consistency. my first read "the hiding place" by corrie ten boom. i will let you know how it is when i finish it.

3. keep up with my family photo album as it goes. my plan is to print out a photo book each year of my family's happenings but now i need to do all of 2011, soon. that's so overwhelming and it takes so much time to make the photo books, even though the sites are great. so i figure if i keep up with it as the year goes by, i won't be so overwhelmed, my memories will be more accurate, and i will probably have a cuter product because i will take my time.

i will keep everyone posted on my progress. i wish all of you the best of luck in keeping your resolutions this year. i know 2012 is going to be an awesome year!

Christmas day!

i am not a fan of enormously large posts, so i try to keep mine manageable and hence, i decided to give Christmas day a post to itself. i love Christmas day. it's the one day of the year that there never seems to be a frown in the room- yay!

santa did not disappoint. he still comes for us big kids and fills our stockings. we all get candy, beef jerky, almonds, and a movie in our stocking every year. the nice thing about the movie is matt and i have a blue-ray player and katie has a dvd player and somehow santa knows this so he gets us blue-ray/dvd combo packs and we all get to split the movies. i got toy story 2, matt got cars, and katie got the lion king. i also got a penguin coach key chain and a usc snow man.

santa also came for evan!! he came last year for evan too, he's such a wise old man. he brought evan a photo album, sing-a-ma-jigs, a puzzle, leg warmers, suction bowls, a penguin sippy cup, and teethers. in his stocking he got cars 2! he racked up for a first Christmas in my opinion and he showed us how much he loved it all by trying to eat every last thing. here is his loot and the eating:

this year was extra special because Christmas fell on a sunday which meant we got to go to church that morning. we only had sacrament meeting and it was a wonderful hour. we had 3 speakers, one on the pre-mortal life of Christ, one on the mortal life of Christ, and then matt spoke on the post-mortal life of Christ. all of that was spread out with a lot of singing of Christmas hymns. all of the talks were wonderful, especially matt's if i might say so. he did a great job. we took a picture of the whole family, but it's on my dad's phone. sorry!

then we came home and changed back into our pj's- it's the only day of the year i stay in pj's all day! katie and i made sunday dinner, a delicious spiral ham, salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, and the pink stuff. after we all felt that our tummies were satisfied (and, a Christmas miracle, katie cleaned off the table!) we went to the tree to begin opening presents. i played santa and off we went.

we got tons of stuff, and all great stuff! i got a beautiful mirror, a book, lots of money, a picture, a new journal, picture frames, jewelry, a game, a scarf... everything a girl could ask for! i got matt a new watch he got a tie from katie and new tires from my parents along with other little goodies. we got nice sushi serving dishes... we just had an excellent Christmas! evan opened the rest of his presents, and he had a lot! lots of toys and books- exactly what he needed and loves (because goodness knows that boy needs NO clothing except pjs, which he got 2 pair of!).

my moms gift from my dad- a new pair of sunglasses! (they went and picked out ray-bans today) 

grammye in her gift from matt and me (the cape) and katie (the broach)

we ended the evening by playing games, pool, and ping pong at my parents new house. we discovered that poppie, my dad, and my mom are really good at pool and as for matt, katie, and me- not so much. but we had lots of fun none the less! and while matt and my mom played in the ping pong finals, katie and i enjoyed monopoly on her new ipad. it really was just fun all around!

 mimi and her man

daddy and evan being silly before bed time 

my mom, katie, and me all in our matching Christmas pjs!

i love Christmas and look forward to it all year. i am so thankful for the knowledge that my Savior was born and still lives! what a beautiful thing to know and remember at this sweet season of the year. i hope all of you enjoyed your festivities just as much! now i hope you all have a wonderful and happy new year. much love from our family to all of you who love us enough to check in on us and read about our blog- thanks!

pre-Christmas celebrations!

i am determined to get the Christmas post up in december... so better late than never right? same went for my Christmas cards, i sent them out on Christmas eve! but Christmas always has been and probably always will be my favorite holiday to celebrate. not only is it so significant and sweet to think of the humble beginnings of my Savior, but it has always been the "big" holiday in my family. now with evan, things only got a million times better! so here is a summary of all the celebrating that went down before Christmas day...

the first Christmas present was "opened" on december 23. that's when my parents bought evan his "big" christmas gift from them, a jumper! so we went ahead and put it together- he LOVED it! he's in it as i write this post.

                   
then there was Christmas eve. what a fun day! since my parents were busy moving into their newly purchased home here in seneca, matt, katie, evan, and i spent the morning just hanging out at our house and we all watched the polar express together. evan loved it (he is such at tv junkie if given the chance)

then we did something we've never done before, we went out for Christmas eve dinner. my mom said she did not want to have to cook or clean, since she had spent the last couple of days doing nothing but unpacking, and everyone was into the idea of going out, so we did! we ate at copper river, it was delicious! there was a sweet old man sitting at the table next to us with his family who kept talking to my grammye about evan. before he left he gave evan $1 as a Christmas gift, isn't that so sweet! anyway... i think we may see a new tradition around here for Christmas eve.

matt's plate, my plate, and katie's plate- all three of us with out filets!

then we went back to our house of an age old tradition in the natella house- opening one present on Christmas eve. we couldn't do that until we completed another tradition though, katie and me changing into our matching Christmas pj's which our parents buy for us every year (and have since we were babies). (in case you didn't know this, katie and i have always have been treated like twins, and we like it that way!) this year, of course, they bought evan pj's too! he stole the show... such a cutie pie!

finally, we began the opening festivities. i opened one of katie's gifts to me (as i always do) and here is what i found-

she made these for my craft room! i love them!

then we let evan open his gift from us. matt and i decided to start our own tradition with the Christmas eve gift. we are going to give our children a book every year, specifically now and for the next few years a Christmas book. then we are going to read the book! as they get older, we may change to a book they want and a game for us to play that night, but that's a new smith tradition. so we let evan open his book. i did not expect a 4 1/2 month old to be so into and good at opening a present, but he was all over it!

all of that work finally led up to "the night before Christmas"

then i read it out loud to everyone. it was a great Christmas eve! i loved every minute of it. so full of happiness, which is what the season is all about, joy and happiness and the people you love, which is exactly what this night was for me.

accountability

here is my talk on accountability. i gave it in the seneca ward on 12/11/11. take a few minutes and read it!

Good morning brothers and sisters. I am excited for the opportunity to speak to you all today. To begin, I would like to tell you just a little about myself. My name is Kellye Smith. I am originally from Lexington, Kentucky but I moved here from Columbia with my husband this summer when he accepted the band director position at Seneca High School. Then, in the middle of band camp, we expanded our family with the birth of our first baby, our sweet boy Evan. I now am so blessed to be able to stay home but I did work before. I have a degree in music education from the University of South Carolina and was a band director in Charlotte at a private Catholic high school. One of the more interesting parts of working for a private school was attending the school-wide, mandated religious services. I hardly remember anything from these occasions but I doubt I will ever forget one mass I heard. We had a visiting archbishop from a nearby university delivering the message for the mass. He was preaching to a group of high schoolers and did a very good job of making it relevant to them and talked about choices. He explained to them that we all have choices to make daily, some more significant than others. He talked about choices prophets of the bible had to make and how the students could learn from those experiences of the past to help them make better choices today. As he began to close his sermon he quoted John 14:6 where Christ says “I am the ^way, the ^{truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” And then he finished his sermon with this line, which I will never forget- “So frankly, you can either choose to follow Christ or you can all go to…” and I will let you all fill in the blank. He then sat down. In a high school gym filled with 1200 high school kids, you could have literally heard a pin drop at that moment. At first I, like everyone else in the room, was completely awe struck that he had actually said that, especially to a group of teenagers. But the more I pondered on it throughout the day and heard kids talking about it, because it was certainly the topic of conversation for the day, I began to realize that he was exactly right. Elder Randall K. Bennett of the seventy put it a little more eloquently in his last general conference address when he said “In reality, we have only 2 eternal choices; choose to follow the Savior of the world and thus choose eternal life with our Heavenly Father or choose to follow the world and thus choose to separate ourselves from Heavenly Father eternally.”}

       The key word in both of these men’s quotes is choice. Our Heavenly Father gave all of his children the gift of agency, meaning the ability to choose and to act for yourself. Elder Bennett continued, “Your eternal destiny will not be the result of chance, but of choice.”

       Choice is a wonderful gift; it was given to us from the beginning and will continue to be ours for all of eternity. Our use of this gift determines our happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. Lehi, the first great prophet of the book of Mormon, stated that with agency, we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” And while we are free to act, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.

Although I know very little about science, I do remember Newton’s third law of motion which states “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In life we can liken the action to a choice and the reaction to consequence and just like the reaction is an inevitable part of motion, a consequence is an inevitable part of choice. A major difference between the law of motion and this law in our life is that in motion, the reaction is immediate but in life, it is not always so. Sometimes it can take days, weeks, even years to see the consequences of our choices, but they will come, for good or bad. Choices of good and righteousness lead to happiness and peace, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to heartache and misery. Allow me to share 2 simple examples from my own life. First, a bad choice. When Matt and I were engaged, his family all got together for Memorial Day. This was the first time I was going to meet a lot of his extended family and I was not happy because I thought I desperately needed a haircut. In my desperation, I decided to let Matt cut my hair before we left. This was a bad choice with immediate consequences. Not only was my hair now very short, it was also very crooked. Needless to say, I have never repeated that choice. Now, a good choice. When I was a child, I decided to keep a journal. This is a habit I have maintained throughout my life. Although sometimes when I’m writing at night I feel like my words are pointless and mundane, I cannot tell you how many times I have read back in my journals and been helped by my own words, feelings, testimonies, and experiences that I forgot I had even had. So while this choice does not generally bring any kind of immediate reward, not only have I helped myself but also I hope that my words will mean something to my children and their children some day.

Although neither of my examples necessarily have eternal implications, many of our choices do. President Thomas S. Monson has taught: “I can’t stress too strongly that decisions determine destiny. You can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.” “Wrong choices delay your progression and lead to heartache and misery. Right choices lead to happiness and eternal life. That is why it is so important for you to choose what is right throughout your life.”

The last statement I just quoted is from the for strength of youth pamphlet under the heading “agency and accountability”. The young women’s program of the church focuses on 8 values, one of which is choice and accountability. In both of these, choice and agency, which are essentially the same thing, the word accountability follows. What does accountability actually mean? Webster defines it as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.” I’m not sure that definition is 100% correct. Willing or not, you are accountable for your actions, and in the end you will be the one who must answer for all the choices you made, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The for strength of youth pamphlet continues, “You should not blame your circumstances, your family, or your friends if you choose to disobey God’s commandments. You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness, no matter what your circumstances.”  The tag line in the personal progress book for choice and accountability reads “I will choose good over evil and will accept responsibility for my decisions”; first the choice, then the accountability.

Accepting responsibility for our actions is also a sign of maturity; perhaps this is why is a focus in both of these programs for the youth of our church. Elder Derek A. Cuthbert of the seventy, in his 1982 general conference address, said “It is not being accountable that brings maturity. It is realizing that we are accountable, acting accordingly, and being prepared to give an accounting to those in authority over us and eventually to the Lord himself.”

We are accountable for not only the choices we make, but also for how we use our talents and time and how we treat those around us. We have a responsibility to develop the abilities and talents our Heavenly Father has given us. President Joseph Smith, the prophet of the restoration, said “God judges men according to the use they make of the light which he gives them.” I remember from my junior year of high school seminary class, which was over the New Testament, discussing Matthew 5:15 in relation to the use of our talents. “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Brothers and sisters, are we hiding our light, our talents, under a bushel so that none, not even ourselves, can receive the benefit of the gifts we have been given? Sometimes, when I am asked to play the piano for church, I think to myself “again? Do they think I can do nothing else?” and then I think back to my 6 year old self who, while watching the organist in sacrament meeting, leaned over to my mom and said “I want to learn to play the piano so I can play for church someday.” Not only do I feel accountable to my Heavenly Father for the gift of music in my life but also to my parents, who put a lot of their time, energy, and money in helping me to achieve my goals, and even to myself, because of all the time, energy, and money I have put into music. So for those reasons, I always say yes and honestly, I’m always happy I did.

We are accountable for how we spend out time. We should not be idle with our time and we should be willing to work hard. God condemns idleness and is not pleased with those who are lazy. He said in doctrine and covenants 75:29 “The idler shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways”. We should find a proper balance between work, recreation, and rest. I think of my dad when I think of someone who knows how to use their time wisely. When I was in high school, my dad owned his own construction company, was bishop of our ward, and still managed to be highly involved in the field crew for mine and my sisters high school band. I don’t think he ever missed a football game or a competition in the five years we were involved. He and my mom also made time for each other by doing little things together often. And in all of that, he still saved a little time for himself and was able to keep up with his hobbies. He was and continues to be a great example to me of how to not be idle and to make the most of the time the Lord has given you.

Finally, we will be accountable for how we treat others and the service we render throughout this life. President Gordon B. Hinckley said “I would hope and pray that each of us would resolve to seek those who need help and lift them in the spirit of love into the embrace of the Church, where strong hands and loving hearts will warm them, comfort them, sustain them, and put them on the way of happy and productive lives.” The Savior stated “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Our opportunities to serve and love are endless. We can show our discipleship at church, at work, in our communities, and most importantly, in our own homes. President Thomas S. Monson taught “what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationship with those who mean the most to us.”

In conclusion I challenge each of us to evaluate the choices we are making and their consequences by asking ourselves these questions from Elder Bennett’s talk:

Am I seeking divine direction through daily scripture study, pondering, and prayer or have I chosen to be so busy or apathetic that I don’t take time to study the words of Christ, ponder them, and converse with my Heavenly Father?

Am I choosing to follow the counsel of the living prophets of God, or am I following the worldly ways and the opposing opinions of others?

Am I seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost daily in what I choose to think about, feel, and do?

Am I consistently reaching out to assist, serve, or help rescue others?

Brothers and sisters, as stated earlier, our eternal destiny will not be determined by chance, but by choice. The good news is, it is never too late to choose eternal life.

I bear my testimony that I know the things I have spoken today are true. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and the restoration of His true and living gospel.

       In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.