Refreshing Reprieve

I am sitting outside in the cool weather of late August. I don't think Summer is going to end yet, but we are getting a preview of what is soon to come. As I watch the evening clouds drifting overhead, the green trees waving in the breeze and the majestic mountains painted yellow as the lemon sun sinks toward the horizon, I am reminded that God loves me. Just as he grants a refreshing reprieve to the heat of Summer, so he grants me the chance to repent and receive the purifying reprieve of forgiveness. I am grateful for God's mercy and love. His astounding creations have the power draw me close to him once again.

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Check out Hunter's new website

I just got done updating Hunter's new website. We added a bio with some photos, etc. Head on over to www.huntergifford.com and see.

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Wind and Children

What an amazing thing wind is! So many times we associate it with frustration, annoyance, and disdain, yet on a hot summer night how wonderful it is to have a breeze move the air, providing at least some sense of cooling. How soothing it is to sit on the porch in the evening and watch the beautiful trees swaying in the wind, and the leaves of an aspen shivering. To me the wind is a reminder that God loves us, and it is like a whisper of his spirit that can blow across our hearts. How grateful I am for wind.

I recall a passage from my grandmother's book about her life in which she describes traveling with her family in a wagon as a little girl. At night the wind was blowing and she remembered telling her mother that the wind would stop blowing if the trees would just stop fanning it. Such are the innocent ponderings of a child which can remind us of the simple things of life and help us remember what is important. I am grateful for all of my children.

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I am sitting here at home with the sounds of family around me and I feel happy and truly content! What sweet noise to hear the talking, playing, and general noise of my six beautiful children. What a blessing they are in my life! With every one of them Jill and I felt the Spirit of the Lord telling us that another spirit was waiting to come down to earth, get a body, and join our family. I feel so truly grateful that Heavenly Father's love and mercy towards me is so great, even when I am imperfect as a father and husband, and I let him down. I have felt the power of his redeeming love and mercy, helping me receive forgiveness of my sins and helping me know that he will give me the strength to carry on and keep trying, no matter how hard it gets.

Blythe is playing scales on her flute. Tate is singing at the top of his lungs in the shower. I also hear Hunter and Gavin downstairs talking. Grace is in Blythe's room getting fussy. Ah, I am truly cherishing this "noise." Heavenly Father has truly blessed me.

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I really would like to blog more. The problem comes from lack of time. When I am in school (I'm going back to school at UVU to make a career change into computer network engineering and administration) I have classes full-time and I work part-time. This, along with the church calling I have as the Elders Quorum 1st Counselor, leaves me very little time, which I usually try to spend with my family. Thus, I hardly ever blog and hardly ever get on Facebook any more.

Today, on this beautiful white and snowy Easter day, I wanted to finally blog about a highlight in my life I have not yet blogged about - the birth of our wonderful baby girl Grace Lolene Gifford on December 3rd, 2009. This new addition to our family has been so wonderful! It has been over six years since we've had a baby, so it's like we'd kind of forgotten what it was like. Every day I look forward to arriving home just to take this darling baby in my arms and give her hugs, kisses, squeezes and smiles. Yesterday she turned 4 months old. She is so responsive and mild mannered. I'm not saying she never cries, but I'm saying that she just seems to handle her hunger pains and uncomfortableness with stoicism. She stays happy for so long, when other babies would already be crying. Her smiles are just so adorable!!!

Here's a picture of her:


Isn't she just a doll?!!!

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