spoiled rotten

One week ago today something momentous happened -- I was no longer pregnant and/or giving birth.  Hooray!  And it's a good thing because I was acquiring a very bad attitude about the whole thing.  Now from the distance of a few days, I have been reflecting on all of my many blessings and how much attention I have received from so many people.  I was very sad that my mom couldn't come this time, for very good reasons, but everything is going very well.  I didn't really expect much for my sixth child -- I feel positively doted upon!

1. My lovely friends threw a joint shower for my friend and I and it was so nice!  I was a little hesitant at first because believe it or not, I really don't enjoy being the center of attention.  Now, of course, if I'm relating a completely hilarious anecdote, I do not mind all eyes on me in the least :).  Because of our amazing garage sale prowess, my friend and I both did not really need the little baby essentials, so everyone was so kind and generously gave us both money to buy something bigger for the babies.  Thank you so much everyone!  I put my money toward these two things:

2. Dinners have been coming in all week -- and they've all been so healthy and delicious, with dessert to boot.  One kind person even brought me dinner a couple of weeks ago which was very nice for an over-pregnant person.  It makes me realize how much I desperately need a live-in cook!

3. My family has been so attentive.  They bring me meals in bed, ice water on demand, hold the baby (what a chore that is!), and are letting me relax and recover without having to worry about anything.  Today the two older kids are gone (Ella's been at camp all week, so she missed baby's first week, so sad) and Matthew took the three younger ones to Chicago.  All is quiet and serene... a magical gift.

4. My sweet friend made me the most gorgeous quilt -- I still can't believe that a. she went to all the effort for little old me and b. that she actually gave it to me and that I now own it.  I was trying to put the pictures that she took up here, but I guess you'll have to go to facebook to see it.  Or I may just have to take my own pictures, but then I'd have to get the camera, then find the thing-y to download it to the computer ...  It may not happen. Or maybe she'll just send me her actual files because you really have to see it!  I really think it may be the nicest gift I've ever been given (apologies in advance to those who have given me something amazing that I seem to have forgotten about at the moment).  Thank you dear friend!

5. And of course, I feel the very most spoiled (read blessed) by the incredibly soft, velvety miracle that I have been snuggling for the last seven days.  He is so sweet!  Thank you, thank you for him.  I feel so fortunate!

Arthur "Archie" Winfield Smith born August 5, 2011

9 pounds 11 ounces

still standing

We seem to have arrived at 41 weeks no worse for wear.  This summer we had 7 pregnant ladies in our ward, all due within about 8 weeks, 6 of the babies were boys.  It's been fun to all be expecting together, especially since there was only one baby born all last year.  The first two were June, both scheduled c-sections, babies healthy and getting big already.  The other five of us were due within about two weeks of each other.  I was due last Sunday, but we know what's happening with that.  One came last Monday, three weeks early, one came Tuesday with another scheduled c-section, and one was due tomorrow, but she went into labor on Saturday night and her baby was stillborn.  I can't stop crying, I can't sleep, and I feel helpless.  What can you do for someone in a situation like that?  Especially when you feel like you're the last person they would ever want to see again.  She made it all the way to the end.  Out of all of us, I would venture to say that she had the hardest time getting pregnant, and she had had a miscarriage in the last year.  It is just so sad.  I worry for her.  I'm worried about her going home with empty arms to a house all prepared for a baby -- we had a baby shower for her just two weeks ago.  I'm worried about every time she gets some junk mail that says, "Your baby is ___ months old now."  I'm worried about her ever wanting to come back to church with five baby boys all the exact same age as hers.  I'm worried that she won't ever want to try to have another baby.  I'm worried I could never possibly say the right thing.  I'm worried about my baby.  Her baby was perfect.  Wouldn't it be easier if there had been something really wrong?  When I heard the news, all I wanted to do was rush over and hug her, try to take away some of the hurt, cry with her, but she understandably wants privacy.  We all want to do something, but this one will take someone more powerful than us -- and time.  I hardly know what to think.  My friend wrote a beautiful post here, much better than I can put into words right now.  


It is a tragedy and it makes all of the other nuisances of life pale in comparison.

wilting

It is amazing, but I did actually get what I wanted and never thought I would really get: all day yesterday it was blazing hot, sunny, and windy -- a perfect clothes drying day; then in the evening the thunder rolled and the rain poured -- just the thing my garden needed after such an exhausting day.  And I thought I was praying for the impossible.  Thank you!

I don't know if I can handle this heat.  I wasn't quite ready for it and we can't just run to the swimming pool to cool off.  It was quite chilly just on Friday!  Our upstairs was so hot last night even with all the fans going.   Is it really like that all summer?  It is always so funny how we forget the seasonal sensations.  In the hot, hot summer one cannot imagine cool wind actually blowing from the sky and in the frigid winters one can't imagine walking around the house without sweaters and wool socks -- and going outside and feeling warm?  Inconceivable!  For the most part we are completely fine without an air conditioner, but I think that has a lot to do with our blood thinning out and our bodies adjusting to the temperature.  We simply haven't had time yet.  Does that really happen?  I'll have to look that up.  In the meantime, we may just have to move to our summer home -- in the basement.  It stays nice and cool all season long.

We did spend yesterday evening in the depths of our house -- watching the finale of Lost.  Is that an inappropriate activity for Family Home Evening? (Don't worry everyone -- the little ones were just bopping around playing legos and not watching at all). We went out and planted flowers around the communal lamp post as service first, and then made it into a real event with me actually allowing them to eat snacks in the family room.  Ella wanted to get Dharma initiative t-shirts for everyone and scatter palm trees around, but I thought letting them eat chips was going quite far enough, thank you very much indeed.

trials -- not that I'm asking for some... (now where is that wood?)

I went to Time Out For Women to discover what I knew all along -- I am so blessed.  We heard from some very enlightened women who have been through a lot.  I don't think the intention was to exhibit them as people to be pitied, merely providing a place in which to share their combined experience and wisdom.  So we had heard from the woman who had had breast cancer, been RS president, whose husband had lost his job, etc. all in the same year; the woman who had had cancer on her eye and had to have the whole eye removed; and the woman from Sierra Leone -- no more explanation needed.  Then we were asked to write down our trials.  Did I hear that right?  I stared down at a blank page completely flummoxed.  Trials?  That's a negative.  I don't think I have any.  Let me deliberate on this a little more, there must be something.  We had to eat the same meal twice this month.  I didn't really like my last haircut very much.  I accidentally bought a gigantic pack of 1-ply toilet paper again. Oh, oh, I know!  My five beautiful children healthfully mess up my abundantly sized (by the world's standard) house practically every day and I have to use my fancy vacuum to dust off my shiny floors.  I also have to drive my well-running car with said children to all the activities that we are able to afford and make them practice the piano that we have in our nicely furnished living room.  On a regular basis I have to visit the sprawling grocery store and wade through heaps of fresh, delicious food and actually decide what we are going to have to consume every day.  On top of all that, I have to throw piles and piles of lovely clothing into a fairly recently purchased washing machine that sings a little melody at me when everything is sparkling clean.  And, and, and -- I had to spend the winter in the south of France of all places.  What a pain.  I don't know how I am possibly expected to endure all of this.

move it

Last day of November and Happy 40th birthday to my old man!  I have enjoyed thinking about all of the many things for which I have to be thankful and I could on and on indefinitely.  One final one for now, however.  I am so grateful for a healthy body that can do so many things.  I have been trying to do yoga every day and it just feels so amazingly good!  I love it when they say things like,  "Honor the part of you that knows no doubt."  Okay!  This morning we went for a brisk walk on the beautiful trail nearby and then came home and started raking.  I love to get exercise while actually accomplishing something useful.  Whenever I am running on the treadmill, or some other activity in which I am getting nowhere fast, I can just feel my pioneer mothers looking over my shoulder snickering and wondering why I'm not simply keeping fit by whacking the carpets and chasing after the hens.  It is silly I'll admit.  Actually raking wasn't so much exercise as much as an exercise in futility once the wind sprang up and started swirling all of my piles every which way.

:: dancing on the cistern

ma famille

I am tremendously grateful for my family.  I have the most wonderful parents and only wish that my kids could have as nice of parents as I do!  I have heard from some reliable sources that they had mellowed by the time I came along, so one more thing to chalk up on my gratitude list.  Lucky me!  They have given me so much ~~ love, music, humor, experiences, knowledge, curiosity, faith, self-worth....  I also love coming from such a big family.   I enjoy being the ninth child (number 9?  number 9?), the baby girl, having three wonderful sisters, and six brothers (!) which I love to point out when people talk about being teased ~~ I think I beat you.  Whenever I hear stories of people who are going solo through life (sad to be all alone in the world...) it is something I can hardly fathom and I am thankful that I only have to imagine it.

I am sure that it was insane having that many people around, but I don't remember it being that chaotic.  I was more than likely immune to it, but I still think that my mom pulls off big family gatherings with aplomb ~~ and there is even usually enough mashed potatoes.  I dedicate this song to my family in remembrance of Sunday dinners and in particular to my little brother {and his wife}.  I love all of you!

put in my place

 I love Sundays because the time feels somehow different and the afternoons are quiet and long.   I am so thankful for church!  Every week it is a little crazy to get there and there is often some regret about my behavior as I urge the children to get ready in time for 8:00 choir practice without dad who has been gone since 6:30.  I am sure that I seem quite surly before the meetings begin, and perhaps still in the middle as I wrestle with baby and shush chatty girls, but then there is always something that pulls me back and really speaks to me.  Often during one of the talks I will feel chastened, but that is lightened by hope that I can and will try to do better.  Last week there was a talk about how important our families are and that home is a place where we should feel safe.  Yes.  And then there was a talk about how if we don't have our ultimate goal in mind and a way to get there, it is very easy to get off track.  She gave an example of an airplane flying to Hawaii.  If the plane starts flying just a few degrees off course, then it would end up in the middle of the ocean and probably run out of fuel.  Hmmm.  It makes one think.  Yesterday there was a talk about pride.  He started by saying that often we don't feel like we are too proud because we don't have excessive amounts of money.  When they mention costly apparel and ornaments I feel quite smug because I'm not the Queen of England and shop at Goodwill for heaven's sake.  Certainly this is not directed at me. But even that self-satisfied and complacent attitude are symptoms of pride, the pride of someone from the bottom looking up.  He quoted Ezra T. Benson:

[Pride] is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous. 

And I start squirming....  but it is a good discomfort, an impetus to start planning and plotting to overcome my weaknesses and become more focused on what is important.  I was telling Matthew that if I really did think that we were going to die on our trip I would probably be living my life differently ~~ dropping the unessential, serving, and loving.  So I must not really think that we will go down in a fiery crash.  I just keep talking about it so that it won't happen since nothing I actually intend to do works out anyway.  My evil plan.

rubbish

Today is garbage pick-up day and I am infinitely and inexhaustibly thankful that we have such a luxury!  I read this horrible book, don't ever read it, I won't even tell you the name so that you can't and won't, and it was set in New York City and it was the end of the world and the garbage stopped being picked up.  Gasp!  How horrible would that be?  Well, the rats liked it, did I tell you I didn't like that book?  I try really hard to not produce very much garbage.  We recycle what we can, try to eat fresh foods that didn't come in plastic and cardboard, use cloth diapers, cloth napkins, cloth cloths (instead of paper towels), buy bigger packaging instead of lots of little things, give things to people we know or Goodwill, reuse what we can, etc.  I am always amazed (judgmental) at my neighbors when I see how much garbage they accumulate in one week and most of them have only two or three people living in their houses.  However!  For the garbage that we do have, I am always so grateful that I can drag the smelly bag out to the street and say farewell to it.  Living in Illinois I don't even feel too terribly bad about the landfill since there seems to be plenty of land to fill.  I am also glad that they come to take our leaves away, although a big fall bonfire might be nice.

music and worth

Tonight I went and sang at an assisted living place with about six other women from church.  It was so fun.  I just love to sing!  I was having to not look around at the people and/or think about the words I was singing because I was afraid I was going to start tearing up (snot running down her nose!), I get so emotional sometimes.  "For the beauty of the earth ♪♫ ... Yes, it is beautiful, and the skies are, too.  Oh, yes, and the love surrounding me.  (weep, weep, weep)

Yesterday I was even worse.  I picked up Ella from school and started the usual cross-questioning and torturous interrogation that comprises our usual journey home.  "Anything of note happen today?"  "Well, actually yes..."  She then proceeds to tell me that when she was in the bathroom before school started a girl went into the stall next to her, vomited a couple of times, and then started repeating "I hate myself, I hate myself" over and over.  That is SO sad!   Ella said that later she went up to her and asked if she was okay and the girl smiled and said fine.  Um, no, she is not fine!  I hurried in from the car and started cleaning something in the house and Ella looked at me and asked, "Are you crying?"  I then started sobbing and talking to Ella about how sometimes I've felt bad about myself and she probably does sometimes, too, but we know we are not alone and we have so much support.  I told her that she should go to school tomorrow and give that girl a Book of Mormon and tell her that God loves her and that we love her.  "Um, Mom?  I barely had the courage to ask her if she was okay.  She might beat me up." Alright, fine.  Matthew then came upstairs to see what was wrong because he thought that Ella and I were fighting.   "No, but there is a girl at the high school who hates herself!  Isn't that sad?"  I looked back at two people with their eyes wide, nodding their heads as they slowly backed away.... I know that this is not an isolated case which makes it even more tragic.  I was talking with a friend who made a very good point.  On the one hand, some of these kids might do well getting dropped off in the middle of the Sudan to see that just maybe their life isn't so bad.  True.  On the other hand, the world is so incredibly cruel and these emotions are real!  I feel like telling the devil and his minions to back off.  Stop telling everyone that they're not good enough and that they're worthless.  Stop tantalizing with the unrealistic and unattainable.  Stop desensitizing the horror and numbing reception to the things that are really important.  I am angry and I want to do something about it.

About gratitude ~~  I am a so thankful for music.  It always reaches down and touches me where I need it.  And I am grateful that I do know that I am worth something and that my children know that, too.  Let's go tell all those other kids now.

:: another pic of Ella on Halloween

veterans day

I am so grateful for people who are willing to serve our country in the armed forces. I think they are so brave. I can't think of anything more terrifying. But I wish, wish, wish that we didn't even have veterans. Just retired military who led quiet, peaceful careers ~~ nothing more exciting than helping out with natural disasters and things of that sort. After 9-11 and there was first talk of going to Afghanistan I was so upset. I thought about going down to the corner and picketing for peace. I wondered why we couldn't just find those responsible and make them pay for their actions instead of getting entire countries involved ~~ people who have already suffered so much from political oppression. I mean, after the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, do they really need us over there wreaking havoc, too? Oh, it makes me feel sick. I think about the mommies. How could you raise kids in that environment? Back to complete the circle, I am grateful for those who are willing, so grateful for freedom to think, say, and do, so grateful for peace... just wish we could all give it a chance.

I read Man's Search for Meaning last month. It was so good. And so sad! I got so much out of it, but mostly that most of the nuisances in my life are merely that ~~ nuisances. I can handle them and need to do so with a much more cheerful heart. I have love, I have safety, I have faith.

This morning I looked at the clock and it was 11:11. Groovy. Then I realized that today is 11/11. Groovier. How is it that every time I take something out of the freezer there is less room?

water

Today I am thankful for water. Oh, have I already mentioned that? Well, I have a fear of being thirsty and plus I just think it is great so I am saying it again ~~ hooray for water! I am grateful to live where there is plenty of luscious, delectable, clean, flowing water. I think the desert is beautiful, but I feel a little less uneasy in a place where is rains a bit. As I also mentioned before, water also scares me and I am for some reason more worried about flying over the ocean than I am over land. I even tried to find out the normal route from N. America to Europe and saw that it tries to stick close to an airport, heureusement.

This year the kids wanted to donate some money to a charity for Christmas (and any extra money they find the rest of the year). My husband has a problem with pseudo-charities who pretend they are noble, but really take donations to pay their own salaries. He found this one that is helping people in Africa have access to clean water and all of the money goes to actually digging wells, fancy that. They are very excited! Watch this great video that tells more about it (accompanied by one of my all time faves).

The Amazing Sale

Last Friday I thought I was spontaneously stopping by an estate sale.  I had never been to one before and I had a little time between the post office and whatever was next on my list (Facebook?  No, surely something more important, although now it seems to have slipped my mind).  There were a lot of cars on the cramped street so I had to pull over and let all the cars that had gotten there after me pass by and then I finally found a lonely little spot way down at the end of the street.  I always feel personally affronted by such circumstances, "How rude.  Don't they realize that I have to carry a big baby all that way?  They don't have big babies.  They are selfish.  Oh wait, I am trying to lose weight.  What a great opportunity."  So instead of changing my mind, I lugged my big baby down the street, around to the back of the house and in through the garage.  The scene was typical of any other garage sale: an old fuchsia sofa (I need a new couch, but my walls are red, cringe!), random gardening tools, some broken chairs -- no portent of anything noteworthy.  I wondered if this was the sale in its entirety, but then saw that there were people inside the house.  I sidestepped my way unsuspectingly through the narrow back door and found myself in a veritable Aladdin's Cave!  (Angels singing -- Aaah, Aaah).  Everywhere I turned another treasure caught my eye.  In the butler's pantry were tiny Limoges saucers for .50¢, the kitchen held heaps of trays and bowls overflowing with kitchen ware.  The dining room had sets of china and old Japanese framed prints.  The living room had beautiful furniture -- lacquer hutches and a mahogany secretary.  I found myself wanting to transport the contents of the house lock, stock, and barrel to my own.  But I resisted and merely crept around looking and pondering.  There was part of me that felt like a plunderer, rummaging through another woman's things while she is powerless to do anything about it.  And the thought coming quickly behind  that you really cannot take it with you.  You spend your life scrambling around  and really in the end, very little of it matters.  Those impressions kept my hands loot free for a while (or was it that big baby?) and I felt somewhat somber as I looked at the scraps of her earthly life:  She was a mother -- three boys and one girl; her husband was a prominent doctor in the area; she was catholic; she loved dishes, crystal, and silverware; she was a quilter, a gardener, a reader, a cook, a traveller, a homemaker.  She had made a lovely home and I felt a comforting spirit there.  I turned, and there on a table in a back room were my dishes that I use every day!  I smiled and thought, "We are kindred spirits.  No wonder I like every single solitary item in this house."  This discovery changed my tune as I began to think that she wouldn't mind, with her newly acquired perspective from the other side, if her things went to another house with someone who would enjoy them.  I thought about my own eventual demise and the inevitable letting go.  It will be fine.  With that I picked up a lovely set of cake plates -- each with its own flower pattern, grabbed the little saucers I had seen earlier which would be ideal for sushi dipping, and then went to stand in line.  I made my purchases then stopped back by the dining room.  Hmmm.  What a table!  It matches my hutches perfectly.  And those chairs.  I don't like the way that lady is eying those.  In fact, I am pretty sure that those belong in my house.  I picked up the phone and told M that I was going to buy a new dining set.  "We already have a table."  "I know, but we this one is perfect!"  We went the next day to pick it up and everything was discounted, in fact by the time we left everything was 75% off.  Here is what we ended up with: dining room table with three leaves and six chairs (same brand as my free hutches), loveseat (exactly the same shape as the one I have wanted online that cost $3500 and I was considering saving up for, given to me free because I bought the table), a black afghan with bright flowers (exactly like the one in "Stranger Than Fiction" that I admired so much that I checked out "Crocheting for Dummies" from the library because it had the pattern and I was going to try to make it myself even though I don't know how to crochet), the game "Acquire" (Matthew's favorite game ever and no longer sold in stores and one which I need never play since I am obviously expert at acquisition), my set of dishes -- I now have 18 dinner plates, time for a party! (she had them marked $100, but then gave them to me free when I told her they matched ones I already have), a hammock (I have wanted one for five years and have scoured clearance aisles and garage sale in vain.  I didn't want to pay too much and it ended up that I didn't), a Christmas tree skirt (with pom poms on the edge), a cake slicer (my mom has the one that I grew up with and that was her mother's.  I have looked for one like it at antique stores and thrift shops for years and there it was sitting patiently with its yellow handle that matches my kitchen), and various other plates, bowls, etc.  I think that is all of it.

The first question is should I ever set foot inside another estate sale?  There would not be room enough to receive another haul like this last one, but surely nowhere else would I be able to find so many of just the right things.  I have been having dreams about the sale almost every night (it really had an effect on my subconscious) and woke up quite disappointed on Monday that I couldn't go find one somewhere.  And what did they do with the things that didn't sell (hands wringing, did I need something else)?

And the next question is, what does this all mean, if anything?  It was incredible to me that so many things that I have been searching for were right there at that one house.  I really am not looking for that many things, but I am learning to be patient and just wait for them to find me.  What if I hadn't gone?  Would the Earth have stopped spinning?  Was I meant to go there?  Was it a coincidence?  Or was it a blessing, a tender mercy if you will?  And if so, why?  Things aren't that important, and certainly me having things isn't that important.  And there are plenty of more deserving people in the world who seem to have it pretty rough.  This is a question I ask myself often about amazing little occurrences that happen in my life and I really don't know the answer.  What I do know is that I want to give credit where credit is due.  I know that God loves me and I am sure that I am supposed to "pay it forward" somehow since I have been smiled upon.   I am grateful for what I assume was a unique experience.

Thankful Thursday

I am not one to keep the TV on all the time. I really like quiet so I rarely have music or any other background noise going on during the day. Lately, though, I have been streaming BYU TV through the internet because it seems to keep the baby happier while I am trying to do things. So far I have only been doing this on Thursday mornings while I am attempting to do orders and it really is amazing how he will wander a few feet away and play (as opposed to being completely attached and peevish if I move 12 inches). I am not, however, merely grateful for the distractive abilities of BYU TV as I imagine anything that is making noise would do that. I am most grateful for the wonderful things that I have seen on there. Usually when I turn it on there is a spotlight of an LDS person. There are some exceptional people who have really dedicated their lives to doing good. Such good examples! And then after that comes Total Body Workout so on days when I haven't exercised I just get up and do that and it is really fun. This morning something came on that made me realize that I have to repent. In the past I have been known to make derisive comments regarding Janice Kapp Perry. I have thought her songs were a little too complicated for little kids and also when I was a teenager you couldn't turn around without bumping into one of her melodies. I suppose the sheer number made her songs seem trite in my eyes. But, as I said, I have now repented. She was highlighted this morning and she is a remarkable person. She isn't trying to be famous or flood the world with duets, she is just trying to talk about her love for Christ and put to music some of her thoughts about life being hard or feeling alone or being in awe of blessings. Before she writes anything, she sits down, reads the scriptures, prays, and then does housework and it just comes to her! She says that it isn't her, that anyone could write the songs God wants. That is so humble. My kids favorite songs were written by her and her songs have helped me remember scriptures. I like the song "His Image in Your Countenance" and our stake did a lovely cantata by her a few years ago. The whole show was very moving and the baby kept looking up at me as I cried and cried. So today I am thankful that in the midst of the craziness the we call Life, I could have a spiritual moment and I can any other time I want, too. How great is that?

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for WATER. I love water. It is the essence of life, the only thing that we absolutely cannot live without. One reason I like living in Illinois is the amount of precipitation that it gets every year (I have a fear of being thirsty! But I will save my irrational fears for another post). God sends the water and my garden grows. We have food, we have flowers -- It is amazing.

Another wondrous thing about water is how it softens things. Last night as I was setting the table for dinner I realized that I had never wiped the table after breakfast. Someone's oatmeal was cemented to the surface. I scrubbed and picked at it, but finally just drizzled a few drops of water, let it sit, and voila! The oatmeal wiped right off. My husband loves to use this principle with big, giant pots as well. They need to soak.

Like most powerful things, water can also be scary. The summer deluges can be quite alarming and I think, "Enough, that is enough! The ground is so sodden it cannot possibly absorb anymore!" As the roof starts leaking and the basement starts seeping I wait for our house to simply float away. There is also the sea. I love the ocean. The kids leap in the waves with delight. The breeze skims across the surface, picking up moisture as it goes to cool us with its spray. I love to go for a swim and float up and down and when I boogie board I always question my life choices. Why aren't I a surfer? So I wait for the perfect wave and feel like I am flying! But the next whoosh of water is too strong and I am being pushed down, scraping the ocean floor, tumbling like a rag doll, and when I finally come up for air I think, "That would be a really dumb way to die." So water does frighten me.

Water also cleans. My baby smells so fresh after his bath this morning, the bathroom counters are gleaming from a wipe with water and a cloth, and we love to pull the car out of the garage when it is raining really hard since we're lazy.

God uses water for all different things. As babies we develop in it, our bodies are made up of it, and He uses it in His ordinances. In baptism it is a symbol of life, cleansing, and purity. In the sacrament it is used as a symbol of Christ and renewal.

Let's hear it for water -- yea!