Today in Sunday School we talked about NewYears Resolutions. Whether or not you believe in resolutions, I think we can all take a minute to reflect on the past year, and decide to do some things just a little bit better:
1. Be kinder: let someone go in front of you.
2. Be patient: when the older person in front of you pulls out her checkbook to pay at the register, take a deep breath and relax. We'll all be there someday.
3. Be compassionate: hug a friend who needs a hug - you'll know who it is.
4. Share: Let someone else have the last cookie.
5. Be more spiritual: reach out to God - he will meet you half way.
6. Love harder: give 110.5% of yourself to those you love.
7. Live wilder: take chances and don't have regrets.
8. Give your mother grandchildren.
9. Pray more often.
10. Rest deeply and often.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Maybe Christmas---perhaps---means a little bit more
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before:
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store--
Maybe Christmas--perhaps--means a little bit more."
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store--
Maybe Christmas--perhaps--means a little bit more."
I know the true meaning of Christmas - Christ is the reason for the season. Today I realized that I had allowed myself to get caught up in the too "much too do, too little time attitude". Good thing we went to church today - and that I allowed my heart to open up and listen. In sacrament meeting today we heard a talk about mercy and how it relates to the season. My heart realized that while I have given mercy to others, I have not been merciful with myself. I have been too hard on myself when I didn't finish all that I thought necessary to to have a successful Christmas. I've been cranky and not very Christlike. I've decided to adjust my attitude so that I can fully enjoy all that comes with Christmas. I'm going to pass along what I learned today in hopes that it can help you too.
We learned that most of the things we do at Christmastime are service oriented. We decorate our homes to be inviting and warm - so that loved ones feel welcome and loved. We bake to bring joy to those that receive our gifts. We shop to find that perfect gift that will light up the eyes of the receiver. We sing to lift our praises to the heavens. I would like to suggest that as we hustle and bustle in the next two weeks that we remember the service part of Christmas. That we remember the love we have for those in our lives - the ones we are serving - is most important.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
My Crazy Girl
There Sami. Can I have 5 grandkids now?
Monday, December 9, 2013
Threatened
It was brought to my attention that my blog has been somewhat lacking lately....like since October. It was also brought to my attention that if I didn't remedy that, certain offspring would not provide the required 5 grandkids my heart desires. So. Here is my post. Since it is Christmas time, and I am crazy busy, I will recap the last month here in short splurts:
1. Busiest time of my work year. Fax machine purrs all day long and into the night. Thank goodness I learned to turn off the ringer.
2. It has been super cold here - not as cold as Utah, Idaho, but cold. I've been building a fire in the woodstove daily. Funny thing though...I didn't building my first fire of the season until Thanksgiving.
3. I'm nearly done with Christmas shopping.
4. I sort of went on a donut binge for about 4 months. It is over now, and I'm now back to eating carrots and celery. Go me!
5. I managed to cover the garden with black plastic after harvest. I am so excited to NOT have to wade through waist deep weeds in the spring.
6. I'm glad I work at home....people are crazy this time of year.
That is about it. Oh yeah, that was 5 grandkids per each of my kids - don't forget!
1. Busiest time of my work year. Fax machine purrs all day long and into the night. Thank goodness I learned to turn off the ringer.
2. It has been super cold here - not as cold as Utah, Idaho, but cold. I've been building a fire in the woodstove daily. Funny thing though...I didn't building my first fire of the season until Thanksgiving.
3. I'm nearly done with Christmas shopping.
4. I sort of went on a donut binge for about 4 months. It is over now, and I'm now back to eating carrots and celery. Go me!
5. I managed to cover the garden with black plastic after harvest. I am so excited to NOT have to wade through waist deep weeds in the spring.
6. I'm glad I work at home....people are crazy this time of year.
That is about it. Oh yeah, that was 5 grandkids per each of my kids - don't forget!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
October 2013
October is my favorite month of the whole year. I love the way the air is crisp and clean and the color of the trees. It is also a time of reflection as we have the opportunity to hear a prophet of the Lord speak to us during General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We can actually tune in at home, in our jammies, eating breakfast. A wonderful way to relax and soak in what our leaders have to say. I thought I would share a few things I learned this weekend - things that stood out to me:
1. What is said is not as important as what we hear: I understood from this that we should pray in advance of getting spiritual instruction so that our hearts and minds can hear what we need to. The same talk from church leaders can be given and heard differently by many. Figure out what it is that YOU need to learn.
2. As women we don't need to be ordained with the priesthood to enjoy priesthood power. This was made very clear to me in this conference. I don't need the priesthood to be made whole. I am whole as a woman who stands next to my husband, a priesthood holder. We share that power. Blessings of the priesthood are much greater than those that bestow the gift.
3. Being a mother is the greatest, hardest, most wonderful gift a woman could have. I am grateful to be called mother, and grateful for my own mother.
4. Realize that the blessings we receive from paying our tithing are not always loud and large. They are most often significant, but subtle. Realize that the blessings are there - and we cannot live without them.
5. Pray for stamina to do what we need to to live within our means. To use what we have with wisdom. Having MORE is not always the answer.
6. The church has two standards in regards to fiscal matters: Live within its means and having a savings account. Sound advice for all of us.
7. Church leaders can make mistakes. We may not know why now, and we may not until the next life. Eventually all will be made clear and everything will make sense.
8. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.
9. All that is unfair now will be made fair in the atonement.
10. Mental illness or emotional disorders are NOT a character flaw. The Lord EXPECTS us to use all of our resources to help ourselves. He will help us do all we can to get better. Just because you can't see someone's pain, doesn't mean it isn't there. Don't judge what you don't know.
11. God's love is there for us whether we deserve it or not.
12. Fear will be replaced with confidence if we depend on the Lord for guidance, comfort, and leadership.
13. We can find happiness in our families by loving God and loving each other.
14. We cannot be forced to choose righteousness.
15. True conversion to the gospel means we actively live it. We can't be stagnant or stand still.
16. Work with the Lord to overcome our specific bondage - addiction, debt, complacency, etc.
17. A teacher of the gospel is also a student. Stand as a witness to what is being taught.
18. Sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin. Pray for guidance in all matters.
19. The Savior wants us to love Him enough to align our will with His.
There were many more quotes I could put in here, but this is long enough. It was a great weekend - I really enjoyed watching conference and refilling my spiritual vessel.
Happy October everyone!
1. What is said is not as important as what we hear: I understood from this that we should pray in advance of getting spiritual instruction so that our hearts and minds can hear what we need to. The same talk from church leaders can be given and heard differently by many. Figure out what it is that YOU need to learn.
2. As women we don't need to be ordained with the priesthood to enjoy priesthood power. This was made very clear to me in this conference. I don't need the priesthood to be made whole. I am whole as a woman who stands next to my husband, a priesthood holder. We share that power. Blessings of the priesthood are much greater than those that bestow the gift.
3. Being a mother is the greatest, hardest, most wonderful gift a woman could have. I am grateful to be called mother, and grateful for my own mother.
4. Realize that the blessings we receive from paying our tithing are not always loud and large. They are most often significant, but subtle. Realize that the blessings are there - and we cannot live without them.
5. Pray for stamina to do what we need to to live within our means. To use what we have with wisdom. Having MORE is not always the answer.
6. The church has two standards in regards to fiscal matters: Live within its means and having a savings account. Sound advice for all of us.
7. Church leaders can make mistakes. We may not know why now, and we may not until the next life. Eventually all will be made clear and everything will make sense.
8. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.
9. All that is unfair now will be made fair in the atonement.
10. Mental illness or emotional disorders are NOT a character flaw. The Lord EXPECTS us to use all of our resources to help ourselves. He will help us do all we can to get better. Just because you can't see someone's pain, doesn't mean it isn't there. Don't judge what you don't know.
11. God's love is there for us whether we deserve it or not.
12. Fear will be replaced with confidence if we depend on the Lord for guidance, comfort, and leadership.
13. We can find happiness in our families by loving God and loving each other.
14. We cannot be forced to choose righteousness.
15. True conversion to the gospel means we actively live it. We can't be stagnant or stand still.
16. Work with the Lord to overcome our specific bondage - addiction, debt, complacency, etc.
17. A teacher of the gospel is also a student. Stand as a witness to what is being taught.
18. Sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin. Pray for guidance in all matters.
19. The Savior wants us to love Him enough to align our will with His.
There were many more quotes I could put in here, but this is long enough. It was a great weekend - I really enjoyed watching conference and refilling my spiritual vessel.
Happy October everyone!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
A love hate relationship
I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I sometimes can make magic happen - especially when it has to do with the billing program I work with, but I really believe that is heavenly help doing that, not me. Most of the time I end up having to ask one of my kids to help. I often find myself trying to turn the TV on and literally can't without their help. So I've been sitting here for the last 45 minutes trying to figure out how to download my pictures from our trip to Rexburg from my phone....I ended up downloading the "cloud" and now have a complete backup of my pictures and documents of my PC....but no pictures from my phone. I DID call both kids...they actually weren't able to help. So I'm going to resort to looking it up online...and then if that doesn't work, I'll post a "I'm dumb" post on facebook for help. I'm actually loving my smart phone, I only wish it would pass along it's "smarts" to me! Hopefully next week's post will have pics from my trips...til then....
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Summer fades into Fall
I'm baaaackkk! I took the summer off from blogging - what a whirlwind it was. I still can't believe we are now into September. I will be posting pics from the summer later....today I am struggling with a cold and feeling worn out. We just got back from delivering Sami to BYU for the year and are relaxing today. What a quick trip! I flew down on Thursday, and Dan and Sami drove straight through and arrived 9:30pm that night. We spent the night with our friends the Piranio's (who just moved to Utah) and then spent the next two days shopping and unpacking. We managed to go to Crown Burger and Cafe Rio...OH YUM! As always it was hard to say goodbye to Sami at the airport, but I am confident that she is where she is supposed to be, and that this year will be a great one for her. In 10 days we'll do it again - and take David to BYU I...
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