Good Monday morning to all of my sweet family. As you all know yesterday was Sunday, I'm not sure how many of you went to church so I thought I would share a couple of things I learned.
I went to a missionary farewell. It was pretty amazing! I can't believe how much Stuart has grown. Wasn't it just last year that he was totally Emo? No, I think it was two years ago. He truly understands the power of the atonement, he is not the same person he was, nor is he the same person he was before he went emo. The changes are such an awesome thing. He has such a great understanding of reaching out to the 'one'. Because of all he has been through I think he will be drawn to the people who are going through similar trials. He will be a wonderful missionary.
The other speaker at his farewell spoke about the importance of obedience. Tiffany and Jessica, I'm sure you can really relate because you have small children that are just learning about obedience. It is so important to teach them when they are little. It is a hard lesson to learn, but once learned your job becomes so much easier. So don't give up, work on it every day, believe me, you will be glad you did.
So, let's get to the title of this post:
"Sun".
The speaker yesterday said that there were 3 types of people. Suns, Moons, and Stars.
(If you think about it you know some people just like that.) Now let me explain the theory behind each of them.
Stars: they are people who put off a little bit of light, but they do put off light.
Moons: they are people who put off more light, but their light comes from the reflection of the sun. They are bright and beautiful, but only when the sun is influencing their lives.
Suns: they are bright and beautiful all the time. They bring light and happiness into the lives of others. The don't mind sharing their light because they know from where their source comes.
This week try to be more of a "Sun" person. Share your light. Be happy.
I love you all.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Life
I have been thinking a lot about life lately. It is such a great miracle that we have the freedom of choice. As a mother though, we wish we could take that freedom away from our children sometimes. And that is not only limited to little children. The older my babies get the more I want to hold them in my arms on my rocking chair and tell them the stories of Jesus. I want them to remember the stories, I want the stories to be a part of their lives. I am teaching the 8-9 year olds in Primary now and there is not a week that goes by that I don't wish my children were sitting in my class. Last week we studied the life of John the Baptist. The children learned about how he dressed and what he ate. They learned that he was foreordained to come to earth and fulfill the mission of baptizing Jesus Christ. I gave each of the children a quote by President Ezra Taft Benson that reads: "You are choice spirits, many of you having been held back in reserve for almost 6,000 years to come forth in this day, at this time, when the temptations, responsibilities, and opportunities are the very greatest." The amazing thing about fore ordination is that even though we were born for greatness, we can choose not to be so great. My prayer is that we all choose to be what we came to earth to be. So my challenge today is "Go out and be who you were born to be". I love you all
Monday, January 24, 2011
Building
So, I know that this quote from C. S. Lewis is not about building a boat, but it is about 'building'. It is one of my very favorites.
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Letter to Family
January 10, 2011
Dear Family,
I am so excited about this new year! I can't even put into words the excitement that is continually bubbling up inside of me. I think of you all often and have decided that this excitement is too much to contain so I am sharing it with all of you.
This, my dears is the beginning of a new year, and new Journey. Those of you who know me well know how much I love journeys. I think that is why I like the Hobbits so much. Let me share my journey with all of you, because believe it or not you play an important roll in this year's journey. I believe my love for journeys came when I was sixteen and had just received my patriarchal blessing. One thing Heavenly Father told me through my Stake Patriarch was that my “journey through life would be sweet”. Every time I read my blessing that word jumps off the page and sinks deep into my soul.
One thing I have learned over the years is that you constantly need to be listening because you never know when something will make an impact and change your life.
I will begin by explaining how the inspiration came to me this year.
Last week in testimony meeting a gentleman bore his testimony on the trials we face in our lives and reminded us that 'if ye are prepared ye shall not fear'. He took us back to the days of Noah and his mighty ark. The Lord warned the people for years that there would be a flood. They laughed at Noah as he constructed his boat on dry land. They laughed until it started to rain. The gentleman then asked the question, “Are our boats ready to sail on the storm tossed sea?” Oh my GOSH! Really?!
That was it, my mind started to race...how can I incorporate this into my life? How can I answer that question? I'm pretty sure that if it started to rain today that I could probably tread water for a little while. I could probably even float for a little while. But really...I'm pretty sure I would die. I don't want to die, I'm not ready to die. I decided that day that I was going to build an ark. As I began formulating the idea I began to worry about how my ark wouldn't be complete without the people that I love, sooooo. Yup this is where it gets good.
YOU ARE ALL INVITED
Everyone that receives this e-mail is invited to board the
USS Beltham. (Belt Hammack)
This is a list of those invited to board.
All the members of the Belt/Hammack Family, who are:
Terry, Hollie, Tiffany, Chad, & Cole Schmidt, Russell, Jessica, Daniel, Jaxon, and Baby Anderson, Harley and Zack, John, Brittany, & Katie.
We are also inviting....JoAnn and Bill Clayson, and Bob Hammack. They will not receive letters though as we feel they may be offended, and that is not or intent. We just feel that the children in both families would not want to leave their other parent behind. And we as former spouses are eternally grateful for the monumental role that they played in our lives.
These letters will also be received by our parents; Harley and Mary Hatch, and Glenys Belt.
Now that you all know who is invited here are the rules:
1.You must respond to this e-mail stating one of two things.
Do you want to be a part of this? Or do you not.
We will not FORCE anyone to be on our boat. Russell, as oldest of the Belt children we ask that you respond for your mother.
And, Tiffany, as oldest of the Hammack children we ask that you respond for your father.
2.There are 10 wooden rails that make up our boat. They are:
1. Pay tithing
2. Attend church meetings
3. Attend the temple
4. Do Home and Visiting Teaching
5. Have Family Home Evening
6. Pray daily
7. Study scriptures daily
8. Fast once a month
9. Do service
10. Work on other preparedness, ie. Food storage, maintaining a healthier lifestyle, family history
3.Each month I will send each of you an e-mail to tell you how things are going and how our boat is progressing, I will also include a picture of our boat. Similar to the one I'm send in this e-mail, just hopefully with some boards attached. :)
4.We are doing this as a Family. We do not expect all of you to do ALL of the things on the list. We would like you to, but we realize that we are all at different places on our own personal journeys. What we ask is that you do your best. We want you to elevate the lifestyles that you are currently living. Be a little better, try a little harder. We don't expect perfection but be do expect you to do something to contribute the construction of our ship.
As I receive responses I will make little stick figures of each of you and put you in our boat. This is obviously a work in progress so I ask that you be patient with me as this unfolds.
My prayer is that you catch the 'vision' of this journey. That you even entertain the possibility of creating your own personal boat, set goals, reach a little higher, be a little better.
The blessings that we have been given in this life are beyond amazing. We need to be grateful to an Eternal Father in Heaven that loves us. We need to show our love and gratitude to Him by living better lives.
I want to testify to you that I KNOW Heavenly Father lives. I know that He loves each of us. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. I know that He is YOURS as well. I know that if we live our lives more closely to the teachings of our Savior we will be happier. No matter what we choose to believe or where we are on our journey there is hope. Hope for a better life. Hope for safe passage back to our Heavenly home where we can be encircled by His love always.
My prayer is that you will each respond. That you will all choose to be a part of this amazing journey. I love you all so much. I am grateful for the organization of families.
This year our journey is to BUILD! To build as a family.
All of my love, and hope, hope for clear skies and the time we need to build.
Mom, Hollie
PS The battery is dead in my camera...those of you who know we well know that is no surprise... :) I will send a picture of the boat next week.
Dear Family,
I am so excited about this new year! I can't even put into words the excitement that is continually bubbling up inside of me. I think of you all often and have decided that this excitement is too much to contain so I am sharing it with all of you.
This, my dears is the beginning of a new year, and new Journey. Those of you who know me well know how much I love journeys. I think that is why I like the Hobbits so much. Let me share my journey with all of you, because believe it or not you play an important roll in this year's journey. I believe my love for journeys came when I was sixteen and had just received my patriarchal blessing. One thing Heavenly Father told me through my Stake Patriarch was that my “journey through life would be sweet”. Every time I read my blessing that word jumps off the page and sinks deep into my soul.
One thing I have learned over the years is that you constantly need to be listening because you never know when something will make an impact and change your life.
I will begin by explaining how the inspiration came to me this year.
Last week in testimony meeting a gentleman bore his testimony on the trials we face in our lives and reminded us that 'if ye are prepared ye shall not fear'. He took us back to the days of Noah and his mighty ark. The Lord warned the people for years that there would be a flood. They laughed at Noah as he constructed his boat on dry land. They laughed until it started to rain. The gentleman then asked the question, “Are our boats ready to sail on the storm tossed sea?” Oh my GOSH! Really?!
That was it, my mind started to race...how can I incorporate this into my life? How can I answer that question? I'm pretty sure that if it started to rain today that I could probably tread water for a little while. I could probably even float for a little while. But really...I'm pretty sure I would die. I don't want to die, I'm not ready to die. I decided that day that I was going to build an ark. As I began formulating the idea I began to worry about how my ark wouldn't be complete without the people that I love, sooooo. Yup this is where it gets good.
YOU ARE ALL INVITED
Everyone that receives this e-mail is invited to board the
USS Beltham. (Belt Hammack)
This is a list of those invited to board.
All the members of the Belt/Hammack Family, who are:
Terry, Hollie, Tiffany, Chad, & Cole Schmidt, Russell, Jessica, Daniel, Jaxon, and Baby Anderson, Harley and Zack, John, Brittany, & Katie.
We are also inviting....JoAnn and Bill Clayson, and Bob Hammack. They will not receive letters though as we feel they may be offended, and that is not or intent. We just feel that the children in both families would not want to leave their other parent behind. And we as former spouses are eternally grateful for the monumental role that they played in our lives.
These letters will also be received by our parents; Harley and Mary Hatch, and Glenys Belt.
Now that you all know who is invited here are the rules:
1.You must respond to this e-mail stating one of two things.
Do you want to be a part of this? Or do you not.
We will not FORCE anyone to be on our boat. Russell, as oldest of the Belt children we ask that you respond for your mother.
And, Tiffany, as oldest of the Hammack children we ask that you respond for your father.
2.There are 10 wooden rails that make up our boat. They are:
1. Pay tithing
2. Attend church meetings
3. Attend the temple
4. Do Home and Visiting Teaching
5. Have Family Home Evening
6. Pray daily
7. Study scriptures daily
8. Fast once a month
9. Do service
10. Work on other preparedness, ie. Food storage, maintaining a healthier lifestyle, family history
3.Each month I will send each of you an e-mail to tell you how things are going and how our boat is progressing, I will also include a picture of our boat. Similar to the one I'm send in this e-mail, just hopefully with some boards attached. :)
4.We are doing this as a Family. We do not expect all of you to do ALL of the things on the list. We would like you to, but we realize that we are all at different places on our own personal journeys. What we ask is that you do your best. We want you to elevate the lifestyles that you are currently living. Be a little better, try a little harder. We don't expect perfection but be do expect you to do something to contribute the construction of our ship.
As I receive responses I will make little stick figures of each of you and put you in our boat. This is obviously a work in progress so I ask that you be patient with me as this unfolds.
My prayer is that you catch the 'vision' of this journey. That you even entertain the possibility of creating your own personal boat, set goals, reach a little higher, be a little better.
The blessings that we have been given in this life are beyond amazing. We need to be grateful to an Eternal Father in Heaven that loves us. We need to show our love and gratitude to Him by living better lives.
I want to testify to you that I KNOW Heavenly Father lives. I know that He loves each of us. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. I know that He is YOURS as well. I know that if we live our lives more closely to the teachings of our Savior we will be happier. No matter what we choose to believe or where we are on our journey there is hope. Hope for a better life. Hope for safe passage back to our Heavenly home where we can be encircled by His love always.
My prayer is that you will each respond. That you will all choose to be a part of this amazing journey. I love you all so much. I am grateful for the organization of families.
This year our journey is to BUILD! To build as a family.
All of my love, and hope, hope for clear skies and the time we need to build.
Mom, Hollie
PS The battery is dead in my camera...those of you who know we well know that is no surprise... :) I will send a picture of the boat next week.
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