A miracle and a problem from last week. I'll start with the bad news first.

 

Problem: my niece, Emerson, is selling Girl Scout cookies.

 

This may not sound like a bad thing. Girl Scout cookies are delicious, right? Exactly. I live with her. My sister buys like a hundred boxes in advance and then just has them on hand to sell to people when they want them. Translation: endless supply of Tagalongs. I'm an honest person, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you that I've eaten no less than 2 full boxes myself.

 

Miracle: Jacob graduated from his rehab program! He stayed at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center for 6 months straight and is now completely clean and sober, even giving up cigarettes. This is no small feat after about 15 years of substance abuse problems. In addition to his addiction recovery, he's been coming back to church and has made huge strides in his journey back to full activity in the church. I'm so proud of him, and I'm excited for his future.

 

Sidenote: the Salvation Army is apparently also a church, and the men at the rehab center are required to attend services there every Wednesday and Sunday. I've been before, and it's a very loud, passionate service. Jacob asked me several weeks ago to sing at his graduation, but I hadn't heard about it since then, so we didn't prepare anything. When I got to the graduation, he said he'd gotten permission to sing so I ended up singing "I Know My Redeemer Lives," since that's the only sheet music we had on hand. The preacher guy who was leading the service was definitely feeling it and started chiming in his amens and singing along (The answer to your question: no, he did not already know the song), which was all fine and good especially since he still had his microphone on. It was a very different experience from singing it in Sacrament Meeting. :)