My christmas present from Megan

I wanted to share this story with each of you and decided that I would try to do it here. I have been very happy for all of you who were able to get different paintings from Al Rounds but have to admit, I have let myself be a little (sometimes a lot) jealous of you as it was always something I would have loved to have. Three years or so ago I hired a great guy named Josh Haycock at the City of St. George as a computer tech. He was a great person and always looking at everything as a blessing. It turns out he knew several people I knew and in fact happened to be married to Al Rounds daughter. Then later I found out she had cancer and when I came back to St. George for treatment I was guided to her blog that became (as she did) an inspiration to me. She has continued to show great faith and hope in her situation even when things were not progressing or doing very well. She showed me a great faith in facing her adversity.

Josh (her husband) and I have talked several times about this and she doesn't seem to feel she is doing anything spectacular, but she has been a great example and even an example of humility. On Christmas eve, Josh brought me a Christmas present from her and him that is a very special painting she felt impressed I should have. I don't think I have ever experienced a feeling quite like the appreciation for this without ever really having a chance to get to know her, she recognized (through the spirit) my desire and now need for this blessing in my life.


They told me a little about the painting. When the church did the documentary on the handcart companies, they commissioned Al Rounds to go with them and do some paintings. Al also found a journal of one of his ancestors in a drawer of a desk at his house and studied about this young girl. So this painting is a depiction of that ancestor on the plains. It is beautiful. But I told her that it means the girl in the painting is Megan's ancestor which means she also has inherited the same strength and fortitude as the girl in the painting. I see in the painting (and in Megan) a person who faces her challenges with total faith and confidence. They both know (as do we in our family) that there are angels (as in my other picture / painting) on both sides of the veil waiting to help us succeed in whatever we need, if it is Heavenly Fathers will. In our cases now it is to face the challenge of cancer and it's related challenges. I am so grateful for her example and spiritual insight. I only hope I can continue to face my challenge like Megan (and the girl in the painting) and trust in the Lord and the angels.