Face to Face

There are no two ways about it, diabetes is a pain.  Saturday night was rough for Mark because his infusion site was infected and his blood glucose was high and he didn't sleep well because his pump didn't want him to. (It vibrates and buzzes and chirps like a nervous mother hen.)

Sunday afternoon when it was time for the Face to Face meeting with President and Sister Oaks, I went downstairs and Mark was sound asleep.  We decided to let him sleep and we watched the meeting last night instead.

I loved it.  For one thing, Kristin Oaks taught one of my classes at BYU and I have loved her ever since.  It was a 6 credit spring term class so I had a lot of time with her.  She is wonderful.  It was a class where we were in classrooms and she would evaluate our teaching.  Every time she evaluated me, she'd start by saying, "First of all, Thelma, you look beautiful."

How can you not love someone like that?

What I really loved about the Face to Face was that President Oaks reminded me so much of my grandpa.  I kept thinking I should text my siblings and see if they saw what I saw but then I'd remember that they'd probably watched it the night before.

I've never compared President Oaks to my grandpa because behind a podium, speaking formally, President Oaks never reminded me of him.  But there was something about the casual setting and the way he gestured and the expressions he had.  After, I told Adam and Mark, "I feel like I just spent time with my grandpa."

It was a nice feeling.

I also felt very encouraged and inspired by the meeting.  I felt this love of all the youth by the Oaks.  They seemed to just emanate this awareness of the potential of everyone in that room.  It made me think about how Heavenly Father feels about each one of us.  He loves us.  He sees potential.  He is happy with the feeble efforts we make and wants us to make more.  He will help us.

So I was reminded of my grandpa. I was reminded of Kristin Oaks and how kind she was. I was reminded of my car pool friends I drove to Sandy with every day during that spring term.  (Two were sort of brash and from New Jersey and the other was from Arizona and had this aloof manner but we all got to be good friends.  I haven't thought about them in years!)

Mostly I was reminded that we are God's children and He has a plan for us and help built into that plan.

Not bad for an evening of watching a rebroadcasted video!