The Law of the Tax Return

It is called the Law of the Tax Return People!  It should have been included in the Bible Dictionary right between "Law of Moses" and "Lawyer,"  however it is not.  Someday I will make a new Bible Dictionary, entitled  "Joe's Meanings and Metaphors."  It will have much personal significance, and there will probably be a select group of people on the earth that understand EVERYTHING in it, and the rest of the world will be left to wonder......

Because I am now at this very moment experiencing the Law of the Tax Return, I thought it would be useful for my children if I got it down on paper (web page) so that they would know what it is when it happens to them. 

Right after Jared and I moved to Overton, we had lofty plans.  I believe at the time it included a beautiful landscaped yard.  So we planned and the best plan that we could come up with was to use our tax return to complete the yard.  Several days before the tax return landed in our bank account, our white van broke down, and needed significant repairs.  Shockingly enough, the repairs would cost around the same amount as our tax return, leaving NOTHING for the yard fund.

In despair I called my dad.  "Dad, I am so frustrated!  Our van broke down and now we have to use the money from our tax return to pay for the repairs....We were going to use it to finish our yard!" 

"Kathern, that is how it happens.  The Lord always provides you with JUST ENOUGH!"

"But dad!  Doesn't the Lord want me to have a nice yard?"    

"Kathern, the Lord wants you to have enough!  Are you grateful that you have enough to pay off the van?"

"Yes." 

"Well then, I guess we could look at it that way, it often happens this way, it is called 'The Law of the Tax Return."

The yard eventually (and when I say eventually I mean 2 years) was completed with a lot of hard work, sweat, and more sweat!

It goes like this.  You find some extra money that you really were not planning on.  As soon as the dollar amount adds up, you get these crazy dreams in your head about new carpet, a couch that doesn't sag in the middle, or dare I say...Disneyland.  And then all of a sudden, the unexpected money is swallowed up in a big black hole of car repairs, new water heaters, or dare I say,$996 in dental bills. 

Perhaps the Lord knew about the big black hole sooner than I did.  Perhaps it is really a very large blessing in disguise!

You Are Only as Happy as your Saddest Child

One time I was teaching a lesson and I quoted my mom (which I often do).  "My mom always tells me that you are only as happy as your saddest child.'"  I was expecting nods of agreement, I mean, everything that my mom says should be taken as pure gold.  However, I got chuckles and "well, if that were true......"  I was puzzled and began to question.....but not for long.
Recently I had to prepare a 5th Sunday lesson on the importance of going to the temple.  The outline came quickly to my mind.  We would explore two questions.  #1 - Why is it so vital to go to the temple for the 1st time? #2 - Why is it so vital to return to the temple regularly? 
In an attitude of preparing our minds to delve into the first question I asked the class to tell me if there was ever a time that their parents, or leaders, said something to them that made them realize the importance of getting to the temple.  As I asked that question, a scene immediately flashed through my mind.  We were sitting around the dinner table (to this day, I have no idea how we all fit around that table) and passing the food when my dad made the following announcement, "If you think think for one moment that if you get married outside of the temple and have a reception, that I will walk around shaking people's hands and smiling, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.  I will not pretend!  That will be one of the saddest days of my life."  Well, we knew he was serious, and the thought of having an ornery JOE at any reception might have been enough to sink the the thought deep into our minds.  Do I think my dad was over reacting?  No!  Let me tell you why.
When Abram's name was changed to Abraham, he was promised that he would be the "father of many nations."  He had ONE son (not a very good start to a lofty promise).  Issac then married a lovely lady (one of my personal favorites) named Rebekah.  They had 2 children Esau and Jacob (still not a very promising start).  Esau marries out of the covenant, which was a "grief of mind unto Issac and Rebekah," and we are left with one child -- Jacob!  As Rebekah sees all of her hard work quickly dwindling into nothing as her children take wives that cannot carry on eternal ties, she cries out in despair, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth.....WHAT GOOD SHALL MY LIFE DO ME?" 
I asked the class if they thought that Rebekah was being just a bit over dramatic.  The obvious answer was no.  Rebekah had tied up EVERYTHING she had into being a mother, and if those ties ended with a poor choice from her son, WHAT GOOD SHALL HER LIFE DO HER?
Does God not feel the exact same way?  When he was promising (in D&C 2) that the sealing power would be returned to the earth He then says, "If it were not so, the whole earth, (everything He had planned for, created, and nurtured) would be UTTERLY WASTED at his coming." 
For years now, those words flash through my mind, "What good shall my life do me!"  Every time I feel like being lazy (which is surprisingly A LOT as of late) or when I feel like diminishing the importance of something that happens (which is really easy when it involves any embarrassment of any kind on my part), a larger voice always trumps....WHAT GOOD SHALL MY LIFE DO ME creeps into my thoughts, tells me to get off of the couch, to get on my knees, and do whatever it takes!  Because in the end, I am only as happy as my saddest child.