I will go, I will do!

I have been thinking a lot about obedience lately.
Sometimes the things we are asked to do just don't make sense.
Have you ever had days like that when you just say to yourself...
...out loud...
when there is no one even around to hear you..
"Really?"
I have moments like that.
There are some days when I say, "Really?....Really?"
And when I am really frustrated I even say it 3 (THREE) times!!
Usually by the time I get to 3 reallys it is almost funny and I end up smiling and laughing at myself.
Life is really funny huh? (I think I just wrote REALLY about 10 times!) :)
I was thinking about the story of the man that was asked to push on a huge boulder every day for eight hours a day.
Every day he valiantly pushed on that rock. He got more and more frustrated everyday because he could not move the boulder.
One day his master came to see how he was doing. The man said, "I am so mad...I have been pushing and pushing this boulder just like you asked me to, everyday, for eight hours a day and I can't get the rock to budge!!!"
The master then said, "You are doing exactly what I asked, I asked you to push on the boulder, I never asked you to move it."
I do not know the reasons for all things...heck, I don't know the reasons for MOST things. But one thing I do know, and that is...
...sometimes we are just aren't meant to know.

We are just meant to DO.

Let us all press forward with faith. Doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do.

I love you all!

2012 Family Focus

Hello family, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We hope you are all well and that you are excited about this new year, I know we are.

As you all know we had a family project last year building our ark. The year seemed to fly by, and now it is time for a NEW project...I know, you are all on the edge of your seats in anxious anticipation of our new project. Before I go into the new plan I need to tell you how last year went.

We set goals and asked for participation. We had some of you reply, but not all...and that made us kinda sad...but, it is all about free will and choice so that’s ok.

For the most part our goals were reached and I don’t know about any of you but for me personally...I changed, I grew, I learned, and that is what I wanted to happen for me. But I did want all of you to experience that as well, but again, I can’t force you so it will just be what it is, and that has to be ok too.

One of the things I learned last year is that it takes longer than a year to build an ark. I think I just thought that all the struggles would wait for us to get finished, and they didn’t. The storms came and went all while the work was slowly going on. So, with what began as a year project has become a LIFE project. We will just change our focus every year according to the needs of our family.

So this year...2012 we are building an UMBRELLA, to go over our ark. The work has to go on and the storms of life are not going to stop coming so....we are building an umbrella. So no matter when you choose to help build our ark you will be sheltered from the storm.

Our umbrella will consist of 4 sections. Each of those four sections will contribute to the strength of our umbrella. These four things are constants that have to be maintained while all around us is going crazy. These four things will help us weather the storm. These four things are...

1. Prayer. Everyday take the time to pray. I won’t tell you where to do it or for how long. Just Pray.
2. Scriptures. Everyday take the time to read the scriptures. I won’t tell you what particular scriptures to read or for how long. Just Read.
3. Attend the Temple monthly.
4. Do home and visiting teaching monthly.

I don’t need to tell any of you that life is hard. I don’t need to tell you that sometimes things just aren’t fair. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. But I do need to remind you that we have each other. Not one of us need to face our struggles alone.

Life is about making choices. Everyday we make hundreds of them. The hard part sometimes is to make good choices...or BETTER choices. We need to use our Agency to become better. To breathe fresh air into the lives of others instead of sucking it all out. We all have what it takes to succeed. We just need to DO IT!

The other thing that we are focusing on is FOOD. We can't just get on our ark without any food. We all need to work on getting the extra food we need, each of you in your own homes.
So, I am excited about 2012! I am thrilled about the possibilities.

Lets make it a good year!

I love you all!

Oh give me a home...

Hello family,
I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long.
My life has been so busy, I started a new job in November. I work for State Farm Insurance. I am learning so much and for the most part my brain is fried!!!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a quiet, peaceful, (if not lonely) Christmas.
I have been studying for my state exam to get my license to sell insurance so all of my spare time has been dedicated to that.
I take my test on the 19th of January, I can't wait for it to be over!
It is hard to learn how to study again after so many years of NOT studying. I think my saving grace is that I have been studying Isaiah....if that doesn't fry the brain I don't know what will!! :)
I do love Isaiah, I can't wait to meet him some day...

So, since my life has been crazy I haven't taken the time to be 'inspired'.
But today I did. Today I couldn't wait to come home and share the feelings that I have felt.

Today I attended a funeral. I went because the deceased was the Father-in-Law to one of my sweet friends. I went there to show my support for her. But, today....
today,
I WAS INSPIRED...

What an amazing man. What a sweet, kind, loving, wonderful man. I could feel his spirit as his family shared stories of his quiet yet meaningful life.
He is a man I wish I would have known.

In many ways he reminded me of my dad...and of my brother Ben, all mixed up in one person.
The tears really came when his grandchildren with a fiddle, a cello, and a guitar played and sang, "You are my sunshine".
And then the medley of his favorite songs...
I can't tell you the last time I heard,
"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play,
where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day."
Even now it brings tears to my eyes. It takes me back to my childhood, to those peaceful, chilly nights around a campfire, with the people I loved most.
Then there was, "This land is my land this land is your land..."
"Take me home country roads..."

I learned so much today from the Booth family as they shared their father with me. I learned that funerals are to celebrate life and to say good-bye. It is not for the one that passed on, but for the loved ones he left behind.
I was uplifted and humbled by the pure love of Christ that this stranger taught, even after his earthly life was over.
Like Isaiah, I hope I get to meet Everett Booth one day.

I love you all, my dear family and friends.
Life is good,
I am blessed beyond my mortal understanding.

Today I stopped...A poem for my Dad

Today I Stopped

Always something to go and do,
life, at times, feels like a race.
Running here and running there,
how in the world do I keep up this pace?

Studying, praying, pondering, my blog,
a phone call, a meeting, a card, a meal,
Excercise my body, strengthen my mind,
self improvement tapes while on the treadmill.

The leaves are changing,
quick to the hills.
Tomorrow they'll be gone,
How crisp the air feels.

Where are the kids? Are they ok?
If I don't fix them then tell me who will?
If they would just listen I know they'd be fine.
Then the wisdom of ages, counsels
...be still.

BE STILL, you say, that must be a joke
If I slow down the pain will catch up,
I must move faster, never stopping to breathe
I'm thirsty but can't pause to fill my cup.

I'm getting weaker, my patience is gone,
He said He'd help, but I don't think He will.
I can't figure out what more I can do...
His answers the same...it's always,
...be still.

I just want to scream,
at the top of my lungs
"I AM BEING STILL,
WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU MEAN?"

I turn to my scriptures, what do the prophets say?
Isaiah, Isaiah please help me see, please oh please tell me how to feel.
And then the old prophet whispers from the dust,
"Your strength will come by
...sitting still."

I run to the temple, the answer must be there.
The temple that sits on top of the hill,
I walk in the chapel, I sit patiently and wait,
while the organ wills my soul to
...be still.

Slowly I started to relax and breathe
today the anchor gently I dropped.
But mostly because my Dad asked me to,
Today, with the sunrise...
...today I stopped.

Today I stopped...to feel the breeze blow,
Today I stopped...to listen to fountains flow.
Today I stopped...to pick up an acorn,
Today I stopped...and watched Moroni blow his horn.
Today I stopped...to smell a fresh cut lawn,
Today I stopped...to ponder days long gone.
Today I stopped...to feel the sun on my face.
Today I stopped...to consider His amazing grace.

Isaiah said, "In returning and rest ye shall be saved"
His words I study at great length,
and then he said, and I quote,
"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."

Today I promise to be more gentle to me,
Just for my Dad, calm and patient I'll be.
He asked me to STOP, to breathe in, and then out.
I even promise that I will try not to pout.
I think I'm all grown, I'm rarely too bratty,
But this little girl still needs her Daddy.

I love you Dad.

Happy

Hi to all of my cute little readers...Tiffany. :)
I just want you all to know that I am recovering and starting to feel better.
I do appreciate that I have been able to 'vent' on some of my postings and I do appreciate your patience while I became less than I should be.
My mother always taught me that it is ok to get angry, to mourn, and to cry. It is even ok to sit on your pittypot for a while.
But it is so important to pass through those moments, to keep moving through those trials because if we sit still we will become enveloped in the experience and drown.

Life is good. Happiness is earned...

...and it is so worth it!

I love you.

Make it a wonderful week.

Manure Happens

In life we have so many different types of people. It is such a wonderful blessing to be a part of this world and to experience life.
I think of some of the people who are important to me and some who aren't.
Why do we choose some of the friends we do?
Are we instantly compatible, so much alike that we practically read one another's minds?
Are we polar opposites, drawn to one another because it brings balance to our universe?
Either way we do choose.
We choose to love and to be loved.
We choose to work on relationships or just let them die because it is just too inconvenient.

We choose.

Have you ever chosen to befriend a manure person?

"What's a manure person?" you ask...

We all know these people, actually it is quite sad when you think about it...

Manure is such a natural thing, it is a part of life. It is used in so many different ways. I recently read, an article CJ wrote, about families gathering manure to use to start fires when the weather turns cold.

Manure, if used correctly can make beautiful things happen to flowers and gardens.
So, the manure itself isn't bad, it stinks, but it isn't bad.
I guess it is like everything else, it's what we choose to do with it that matters.

We all know where manure comes from,
we all know that it is stinky and gross...
we all know that if it is left alone it will get a crust on it and it will dry out.

The people I am talking about today are the ones that love to walk up to a pile of manure and kick it, just to cause a 'stink'.

Let it go...

let the dung dry up and blow away.

Or use it to make something grow, or to keep someone warm.

Don't just make a stink...!!!

Make it a wonderful week,
and let's all try not to cause a STINK!!

I love you!

Worms

I have had a very interesting week...
in fact, if I really think back it started long before just a week ago.
This week was just the finale...
the amazing musical number they save for last...
Romeo dying,
the final set of fireworks on the Forth of July...
That was this week!
I'm not sure if I should think of it as a death,

...or a birth...

probably both.

Terry and I went to St. George with our friends and had such a great time. We went to see 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Grease' at the Tuachan Amphitheater. Both shows were amazing.
We had all day Saturday to play so we decided to visit a few of the historical sites, and of course, they all had to do with church history.
We visited the Brigham Young home, the Tabernacle, the Temple Visitor Center, and the Jacob Hamblin home. I was impressed with all of the tours and all of the sweet missionaries.
The story I want to tell you is the one the Sister told at the Brigham Young home.
She shared so much information with us, and then she told us that one of her favorite stories is of the Silkworm.

On the table in Brigham's office were several little trinkets,
one was a little jar of what appeared to be cotton balls, the size of a pecan.
The sister missionary picked up the jar and began...

...The early pioneers had silkworms sent from China, the little worms are totally dependant on humans for survival. They ate non stop for several years, until they reached puberty. Then they started to molt; to turn into moths.
They began to get little horns on their backs and sorta regurgitate everything they had eaten their whole life.
What comes out of their little worm bodies is silk. A very fine film of pure white silk. The silk forms a protective shield around their now vulnerable worm body.
When the pods begin to reach maximum maturity the Pioneer women would carefully take them off the Mulberry tree and put them in the pocket of their aprons. They would carry them around until they could feel movement, indicating that the transformation was complete and the little worm was now a moth.
Then they would drop the pod into boiling water.
The boiling water would kill the moth, the moth had to be killed or it would ruin the fragile fibers, and then the woman would unravel the silk.
Most pods produce approximately a mile of silk thread.

Then the thread would become whatever the woman wanted it to be.

I was so touched by the Silkworm story...
It sums up my dressbarn experience. I couldn't have heard the story at a better time. I believe it is Heavenly Father's way of helping me understand my life a little better.

Last week I was dropped into a pot of boiling water. I had done all I could as a worm. I had been forming the pod; cocoon, for a couple of years now and Heavenly Father didn't want me to turn into a moth...
...my mission is not to be a moth...
...my mission was also NOT to be the worm...
...my mission was to create silk...

And that is exactly what I did.

I have so many meaningful relationships that were developed over years of trust, tears, laughter and service.

The moth is dead...my dressbarn life is over.
All I have is the beautiful, pure white, fragile silk...

I get to choose what it will become.

I love my life.

I love you all.

Make it a great week.