A Most Worthy Daughter!

Darel earned her Young Women's Medalion recently. Two Sundays ago, the Yakima 2nd Ward honored her and Valerie Christensen in a special presentation that was part of Young Women's in Excellence evening. Naturally, I forgot to take my camera to this event. I have been waiting for Brother Parsons to send me a pic from this special night so I could complete this post. Sister Thompson did a fantastic job with the program.

Darel is not only beautiful, but is remarkable in so many ways. She loves to serve others, particularly, if it can be exotic service, such as feeding the homeless or anything to benefit children in Africa. However, to be candid, she does struggle a little bit with more mundane service, such as thinning the carrots in the family garden, taking out the trash, or doing nice things for her most excellent older brother. Regardless, she is clearly motivated to help others. I am confident that she will accomplish amazing things in her life. We are so proud of her. Sheila and I were asked to speak that night. I had a difficult time expressing to Darel how her mom and I feel about her. As expected, I was way too emotional. What I wanted her to understand is that we share more than a name. Sheila and I were meant to be together. She was meant to be our daughter. I don't pretend to know why all of us were thrown into this most interesting soup called the "Smart Family," but I am absolutely convinced that there are purposes for us to share our lives. Shea and I talked about this at length 2 years ago. I have obviously thought a lot about this. We were meant to learn significant things from each other. Sheila and I continue to learn from our children. And I continue to lecture in an attempt to have them learn something from me. I know, I know, no one listens when I lecture, but it's all I know how to do. And to be honest, I think I'm pretty good at it. We are all blessed to have Darel as a member of our family. Some of the reasons why she is a part of us are quite apparent. Others will yet be revealed. She is a joy to have in our home. Congratulations Lil' D!

Oh and by the way, the lectures will undoubtedly continue until morale improves.