Righteous Men

I was thinking about the influence of men in my life and wanted to make a tribute to the many righteous men in my life. These are in no particular order, but they are the men that I look up to, the men that remind me that there really and truly are good men in the world still.

*My home teacher- Pete. He has been our home teacher for 4 1/2 years. He is also the Young Men's president in our ward. He loves my children and treats them as if they were the most wonderful people on the earth. He has been an influence for good in the lives of my boys. He is willing to give any of us a blessing, any time of day or night. He comes to our home to teach us and we talk and laugh and enjoy each other's company. He is steadfast and lives the gospel and shows us the way. If he is ever released as our hometeacher, I will be very sad.

*My neighbor, David. He is another man that takes interest in my children. One of my sons spends lot of time with him- well, he works for him as well as is friends with David's son. He takes my son with their family and shares family life with him. David is a great example. One morning we needed to go somewhere in the Suburban and it had a flat tire. I had a headache and it was raining/snowing and my children's father was not around to help as he should have been. Matt went and asked David for help. David came out in the cold yucky weather, showed Matt how to change the tire and then took the flat tire to the shop to be repaired! And then when I tried to thank him, he just said, "I am just grateful that Matt knows that he can come to me when he needs to."

*Craig used to be our bishop. He is like a big kid and loves the youth. My children were always excited when he went to Scout camp or Girl's camp. He knows how to play and make camp a joy. But he also is a spiritual giant. I miss him speaking in church on Sundays, but his faith is evident in his life in other ways. I regret the number of times that he was taken away from his family to deal with the upheaval in mine, but I am also thankful that he was there to help and guide us.

*Tom, another former bishop and now a member of our Stake Presidency. Another spiritual giant. He also has a voice deep like a giant. I love hearing the gospel preached by him. He is also a man that loves and cares for my children. He also left other duties many times to care for and deal with the mayhem in my life. He was my main strength during one of the bleakest times and I still look to him for strength and wisdom.

*Duane, my stake president. The man is a rock and a pillar of strength and righteous. He is another man that has been a leaning post for me in turmoil and strife, always there with a blessing from the Lord and a word of encouragement and understanding. He also loves my children and knows their names and what they are doing and asks about them. I am sometimes saddened when I see him and the weight that he bears and know that part of it is mine. These men that serve the Lord so whole heartedly do not have it easy and they carry our burdens willingly, but it does bring a toll on their physical bodies. I thank him for his wisdom and strength.

I remember once in talking to a counselor about husbands, giving this example:
You have two husbands on a business trip. In walking through the airport, they both see a baubble in a shop. This baubble is very expensive- say $3,000. Husband A looks at it and sighs. He knows his wife would love it and her eyes would light up and sparkle were he to bring it to her. He does not have the money, so he cannot, but oh, how he wishes he could, just to see her smile.
Husband B sees the same baubble. He also sighs. He knows his wife would love to have it, but there is no way he would ever spend that much money for something so worthless and ridiculous. He just better make sure that his wife never, ever sees this because he does not want to purchase it, even though he has the money.
Now, neither wife gets the baubble, but which husband would you rather have?

*Jim is like Husband A. He works hard to give to his wife, Karlene. If he felt that it would make her happy for him to walk barefoot on a bed of red hot coals, he would find a way to do it. Now, I don't live with him and I am sure he has his faults, but to see him look at her, it is evident that he loves her and that there is red carpet in front of her when she walks in his presence. It is good to know that men really do love their wives.

*My brothers in law; Rick, quiet strenght, Wynn, who works so hard but is there for me whenever I ask, Quiet Jacob that shows the way with his example, bringing peace by example, Isaac who brought happiness back to my sister, who is strength and kindness and knowledge.

*My brothers; Dustin, who was born the year I graduated from high school. I do not know him as well as I would like. He lives at the bottom of the world, in Australia. I will be happy when they are able to move back here and I can get to know him properly (as well as his sweet wife)
Everett, who is 12 months younger than I. My strength through childhood, my hero in adulthood. I have not lived with him for some 26-28 years now and I am sure he has his faults (we would have to ask his wife and children for them) but as far as I know, he walks on water or pretty close to it. When I needed him, I called his wife and said, "I need my brother", he got in his car and drove two hours to come to me. They were only able to stay for a short while, but he came.

*My daddy. You know he walks on water and he knows everything and if he doesn't, he will find the answer Another man on this earth that is there for me to lean on. I have always known that he knows and loves the Lord and I am thankful for that example to me in my life. (just a quick note, he baptised his father when I was a baby, he baptised me and then baptised my youngest on the anniversary of my baptism. How many people can say they were baptised by the man that baptised their great-grandfather?) Another great hero.

*I cannot finish this list without recognizing my Lord and Savior. He gave His life for me- both in the way He lived and the way He died. I can never understand what He did for me in the Garden, but I am ever thankful that He did. I can only hope that I spend my life living in a way that His was not in vain.

*With that, I must include my Father in Heaven. He also gave me everything, His only begotten Son. Thank you.