Life with the Hales

Life with the Hales

Thursday, April 24, 2014

5 months

As of today we have been missing our sweet Tace for the same amount of time that we looked forward to his coming. Five months ago today, we said hello and goodbye to our sweet angel. And for the five months before that we looked forward with great anticipation to the day he would come into our family. It is amazing how those two time frames seem so different in length.

There is a short passage that I have seen a couple of times since losing Tace last November that I have come to love. It is called "The White Rose".




The White Rose
By, Myrna Cox

All the earth’s mothers were gathered together at God’s Garden of flowers; those
beautiful budding spirits, who would someday come to earth, were nurtured and
tended in the garden. A loving father spoke to the Mothers; “See the works of
my hands, someday you will be the mothers to these radiant spirits,” the garden
glowed with the mixture of all kinds and colors.
“Choose Ye,” He said, Now in the East corner of the garden pure white roses
stood as sentinels. They were not as colorful as the rest, but glowed with a kind
of purity which set them apart. One by one mother’s stepped forward “I want the
blue eyed, curly haired one, who will grow to maturity and be a mother in Zion.
“Yet another chose a brown eyed, brown haired boy full of life and love who
would someday be a prince in a grand country. The garden buzzed with
excitement as the others chose their own special spirits, those whom they would
soon welcome into warmth and love of an earthly home. Once again the loving
Father spoke,” But who will take the white roses, the ones in the East corner of
the garden. These will return to me in purity and goodness, they will not stay
long in your home, for I must bring them back to my Garden for they belong with
me, but they will gain bodies as was planned, you will miss them and long for
them, but I will personally care for them.” “No, not I,” many said, in unison. “ I
couldn’t bear to give one back so soon.” “Nor I,” said others. “We will take those
who will remain and grow to maturity and live long lives.” The loving Father
looked out across the multitude of mothers with a longing in His eyes for
someone to step forward, Silence. Then he said, “See the most pure and perfect
of all the white ones, I chose Him. He will go down and be a sacrifice for all
mankind. He will be scorned, mocked and crucified. He is mine own. Will not any
one choose like unto Him?” A few mothers stepped forward. “Yes, Father, I Will.”
Then another, and, “I as well,” “Yes, we will Father” Soon all the pure white roses
were taken and they rejoiced in the choices of the mothers. The Father spoke
again “Oh, blessed are you who chose the white roses, for your pain will be a
heavy cross to bear, but your joy will be exceeding, beyond anything you can
understand at this time. The white ones, embraced their mothers and knew they could
endure the tasks. And the Greatest of all the white ones, gathered them as a hen
gather her chicks. And the outpouring of love surrounded each mother and child,
consuming all the white ones as He prepared them for their task. And each
mother who bore the weight of the White Rose, would feel the overwhelming love
of God, as they all shouted, “Thy will be done.”

Our Tace is one of those pure spirits.  He is so perfect that he didn't need to face the test of mortality.
I especially love the end of the line that I bolded where Heavenly Father states "...I will personally care for them." It is a comfort to know that Tace is with our Heavenly Father and Savior who love him as much as, and even more perfectly than, Brian and I do. I know he is being watched over, loved, and taken care of until we will have the opportunity to do those things again ourselves.



We continue to miss Tace every day, and we always will...but because of the gospel we know that we still have much to look forward to.  Some days it is hard to see and feel the hope through the grief, but we do know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we do know that because of this wonderful gospel, this is not the end.  We still have all of eternity to spend with our sweet boy.

As Easter has come and gone this past week, I realized that I am more grateful than ever before for my Savior, His atoning sacrifice, and His resurrection that make eternal life and eternal families possible.  Because of Him we will have the opportunity to hold our little Tace in our arms again.  We will have the chance to see him grow, to hear him laugh, and to hold him close.  I look forward to that day.






Monday, April 7, 2014

The blessings of General Conference


General Conference was wonderful this year!  We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the earth today.  There were many wonderful messages and many amazing testimonies of the Savior.  The spirit was so strong throughout all of the sessions.  Some of my favorite talks were in the Sunday Morning session.  I felt as though there were several talks given just for me.  I'd like to share a few quotes and thoughts that really hit me yesterday (some of these will be paraphrased from my notes, not word for word quotes).

President Uchtdorf spoke on gratitude:

"One who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God."

" The Lord does not expect us to be less grateful during trials than we are when life is going well."

"Gratitude is a choice.  We can choose to be grateful no matter what our circumstances may be.  Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God."

"Endings are not our destiny.  They are merely interruptions."

This talk really hit me.  Even though we miss Tace and wish more than anything that he were here, we still have much to be grateful for.  We have been blessed with so much...a home to live in, good jobs, scholarships to get us through school, wonderful family and friends, an incredible husband who takes such good care of me, and above all, the gospel.  We are so grateful for the knowledge and peace the gospel brings into out lives, now more than ever before.  We truly do have much to be grateful for and we need to remember to show our gratitude for those blessings.

Sister Jean A. Stevens spoke on trials:

"You can feel peace in the midst of turmoil.  You can be surrounded by God's love."

"The gospel gives us wings."

"Face your challenges with faith.  Heavenly Father will be there to surround us with His love.  We will not be left alone in our trials."

Tace has been on my mind a lot this past week as we passed his due date last Sunday.  Things have been harder in a way this week because he really should have been here now.  We have missed him so much these past 4 months, but if everything had gone smoothly he wouldn't have been here with us until now.  It was great to have a reminder that Heavenly Father understands the trials we are going through and that He will not leave us alone.

Elder Bednar spoke on the burdens we are carrying:

"It is the load we are carrying that enables us to get out of "the snow" and make it back home."

"The unique burdens in each of our lives help us to learn and grow and come closer to our Savior."

"We do not need to carry our burden alone...there is nothing we have experienced that our Savior has not also experienced.  He understands our heartache and sorrow."

I know that we are meant to experience trials in this life to help us to learn and grow and draw closer to our Savior.  However, I never thought of it in the way Elder Bednar expressed.  He emphasized that without our "loads" we would just be spinning our wheels.  It is the load and burdens we carry that allow us to move forward and progress.  As hard as this trial has been, it has made me rely more on my Savior and Heavenly Father.  I have grown closer to them as I have had to rely on them to make it through.  My marriage has also been strengthened as Brian and I have done all we can to support each other through this trial.

Last of all I loved a quote from President Packer's talk:

"Arms now empty will be filled and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearnings will be healed."

That is the promise I needed to hear more than anything.  Our arms will be filled again and our hearts will be healed.

What a wonderful conference.  I know without a doubt in my mind that our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, and all the other general authorities have been called of God and have been His mouth piece over these past 2 days.  I am grateful for a living prophet and a loving Heavenly Father who sends words of comfort, counsel, and warning to His children.  We are so blessed to be a part of this great work and to reap the blessings that come through the restored gospel.