Sabbath Day Scribblings - I Believe

I believe in Christ

like I believe in the sun - 

Not because I can see it, 

but by it, I can see everything else

C. S. Lewis

A Simple Moment - Flying

This Moment

A single photo – no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips,

and joy to my heart.

Five Minute Friday - Still

Every Friday, I join with others in my favorite day of the week.  It is taking simply five minutes to write without worrying whether we get it right or not.  This week, we are being hosted Here.  Over at the site aptly named (in) Courage. 
Take a few moments and stroll around this site looking for your own five minutes of sweet inspiration. 
 I hope to see you there.  The word this week is:

STILL

Start

Each time I look at that very simple word, still, my mind and my heart travel into the Old Testament to a wonderful place in Psalms 46:10
"Be still and know that I am God......"

I find it so interesting that the Lord did not counsel us to be busy;  to hurry about our day to day activities.  To miss the small moments of laughter or growth.  Instead, He counseled us to "Be Still". 
I often think that I need that sweet stillness in my life.  That time of breathing and pausing and thinking and being quiet.  That time when I can look around me and really see all the miracles in the day to day. 
I have found that I miss so much by being busy.  Time flies and I miss the pitter patter of small feet running down the hall to snuggle under the covers.  I miss the feel of a tiny hand clasped tightly into mine.  I miss the way each one of my children would run their fingers through my hair and take comfort in the closeness. 
When I am still, I can feel the knowledge of the things I need to do today.  I can hear the whispers of the spirit reminding me who I am and what I need to do.  When I am still, I fell the strength of testimony swell within my heart.  I ponder the words in the holy scriptures, with all their meanings. 
When I am still, I take time to really trust my Heavenly Father.  I take a moment to let Him bear my burdens and my grief.  When I and still I can remember and focus on the joy that is to come.  When I am still, the darkness parts beneath my gaze and my eyes more easily focus on the path I need to follow.
When I am still, I remember that I am a child of God. 

STOP

But I just couldn't end this without the words to one of my favorite hymns.  I hope you love it as much as I do. 

BE STILL MY SOUL

1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
   With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
   Leave to thy God to order and provide;
   In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
   Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
   Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
   To guide the future as he has the past.
   Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
   All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
   Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
   His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
   When we shall be forever with the Lord,
   When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
   Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
   Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
   All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.  

Text: Katharina von Schlegel, b. 1697;

trans. by Jane Borthwick, 1813-1897

Homemade Hula Hoops - Writer's Workshop

This is one of the most successful projects that we have ever done.  It was easy, it was inexpensive, it was and continues to be fun for everyone. 
I am linking up for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.  Welcome to another fun filled week of inspiration!! Pick your poison...


This Week's Prompts:

1.) A moment you realized your child was growing up.
2.) Amy Winehouse died. Another name amidst a growing list of talented celebrities lost to addiction. Your reaction.
3.) What do you miss most about the school year?
4.) Share a favorite craft or game that will keep your kids busy for at least 20 minutes.
5.) Write a post where the first and last sentence contain any form of the word "boss."

I picked number 4.  Share a favorite craft or game that will keep your kids busy for at least 20 minutes.  I found this idea from my friend Launi, over at Gracious Rain.  She had really good directions, and the project looked like so much fun that I really wanted to try it with my girls. So, we waited for the grand-daughters to come visit and decided to have a project day.  I had no idea it was going to be as successful as it was.
We made the 60 minute ride down the mountain to Home Depot for supplies.

We had to get this poly tubing.  It comes in 100 foot rolls for $7.98 per roll. 

Then I had to find connectors.  They came in a package of 15 for $4.95.

You need to use a tube cutter to cut the tubing in 10 foot increments.  My husband did it for us, so it was not as difficult as it would have been with only a knife (my tool of choice).  We cut 4 lengths for our project.  Twist the connector most of the way into one side.

Then twist the other side of the tubing onto the connector.  Make sure that you untwist the tubing so that it doesn't kink in the middle.  

Now, take duct tape (We loved to colors!) and wrap at an angle around the tubing.  You are going to go all the way around.  The tape was $3.97 a roll, and each roll did three hula hoops.  

We bought several colors and all the girls had their own hula hoop.  It only took me an hour to make four of them.  They were a huge hit and I had to make more for the neighbors!  I figured that it was under $3.00 each, they helped make them themselves, and they are still playing with them today.  All in all, a very worthy project!  I have a feeling that we will be making more of these next year.  I really hope that you enjoy them too.  

And because I do try and end my blog on a spiritual note, I just want to remind you that Heavenly Father loves each of you.  He wants you to have joy in your life.  The joy of simple things and simple moments.  The joy of wonder and delight.  The joy of family.  May you always be able to see through the trials to the joy.  

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Thomas S. Monson, “Be of Good Cheer,” Ensign, May 2009, 89

“How might we have joy in our lives, despite all that we may face? Again from the scriptures: ‘Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.’ ”

Nearly Wordless Wednesday- Practicing for the Big Time

They grow up way too fast!

Forget Yourself and Go To Work

We had a wonderful Chruch meeting on Sunday.  JT Maner is going on a mission and he spoke to us as well as two of the missionaries.  I thought they were all three amazing speakers.  One of them shared the following story about President Gordon B. Hinckley regarding the importance of working hard on his mission:

“I was not well when I arrived. Those first few weeks, because of illness and the opposition which we felt, I was discouraged. I wrote a letter home to my good father and said that I felt I was wasting my time and his money. He was my father and my stake president, and he was a wise and inspired man. He wrote a very short letter to me which said, ‘Dear Gordon, I have your recent letter. I have only one suggestion: forget yourself and go to work.’ Earlier that morning in our scripture class my companion and I had read these words of the Lord: ‘Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.’ (Mark 8:35.)
Those words of the Master, followed by my father’s letter with his counsel to forget myself and go to work, went into my very being. With my father’s letter in hand, I went into our bedroom in the house at 15 Wadham Road, where we lived, and got on my knees and made a pledge with the Lord. I covenanted that I would try to forget myself and lose myself in His service.
That July day in 1933 was my day of decision. A new light came into my life and a new joy into my heart. The fog of England seemed to lift, and I saw the sunlight. I had a rich and wonderful mission experience, for which I shall ever be grateful” (“Taking the Gospel to Britain: A Declaration of Vision, Faith, Courage, and Truth,” Ensign, July 1987, 7).

I listened to this and I thought about the importance of losing my own self in the service to those around me.  I have discovered, as I have gotten older, that I feel better and I am closer to my Heavenly Father, when I find things to do that help others.  I am amazed at how simple service can heal my heart and make me feel more worthy of Him.  So today, no matter what your beliefs might be, I hope that you will listen to this simple story and go and do likewise in your life.  Lose yourself in the service to others.  I have found that it is easy to get discouraged, to want to quit, to feel worthless and unloved.  But I have also discovered that when I actively go and help someone else, those feeling wither and die inside.  I discover that I do have worth and value.  I discover that what I do matters.  And most of all,  discover that He loves me.  So, whoever you are, "forget yourself and go to work".  You just might find yourself loving the service. 

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God

who is sending a love letter to the world.

~Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojarhiu)~

I've seen and met angels

wearing the disguise

of ordinary people

living ordinary lives.

~Tracy Chapman~

How wonderful it is

that nobody need wait a single moment

before starting to improve the world.

~Anne Frank~

Sabbath Day Scribblings

Isaiah 40:31   But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

A Simple Moment - Learning to Swim

This Moment

A single photo – no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips,

and joy to my heart.

Five Minute Friday - Full Heart

Today, is my favorite day of the entire week.  A day to relax, unwind, and just enjoy myself as I write for five wonderful, creative minutes.  No editing, no worry, just pure writing.  When I am finished, I will be posting my link over at The Gypsy Mama's Five Minute Friday.  I hope to see you there. 

The prompt today is:  Full

Definition of Full:  Holding or containing as much as possible. 

START

Whenever I think of full, I think of my heart.  Overwhelmed and brimming with love and gladness.  I think of those around me who fill my life to overflowing.  I think of family.  Children grown older and full of life.  Moving out of my home and moving on into their own. So grown up, yet still so young in my eyes.  I still remember what it felt like to hold them close in my arms.  To smell the baby smell and breathe in their sweet scent.  To feel the overwheming need to keep them safe.  To dream of the people they would become.
I think of those children having children of their own.  Those sweet little grandbabies that are somehow, so much a part of me.  I think of how my heart swells until it feels as if it will surely burst with all the love that is stored inside, and yet, no matter how full it feels, there always seems to be room to squeeze just one more little bit inside. 
I think of the laughter, the love, the tears, the sorrow, the joy.  All of these things fill my heart to capacity.  I think of the new baby grand-daughter that we are expecting soon and the way my heart fills with love for her mama and all that she will endure for this sweet, soon to be treasure. 
I think of a full heart when I think of my Savior.  My heart wants to burst with gratitude for His many sacrifices in my behalf.  For the many times when He carried me through my sorrows and pain.  My heart is full when I realize that He loves me perfectly.  In spite of myself.  He loves me, He loves me, He loves me.

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in just five minutes?

In a full heart there is room for everything, 

and in an empty heart there is room for nothing."

~ Antonio Porchia

The Simple Things

Today, I am linking up again with Mama Kat over at Mama's Losing It for Thursday Writers Workshop, and with Undercover Mother  for the Bigger Picture Moments.
The rules are simple:  Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list HERE. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!


The Prompts:

1.) The simple things…
2.) Write an entry inspired by the word: Yellow.
3.) A memorable sporting event.
4.) Sex education! How old were you when you learned about the birds and the bees? Who taught you? Describe that experience.
5.) This month the theme of Oprah’s magazine is intuition…write about a time your instincts were wrong.
6.) Create a video where you share your opinion on when bloggers should stop blogging about their kids.

I chose The Simple Things, to write about this week.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. ~Socrates

I live in a crazy world.  A helter skelter, chaos reigning, busy as a bee, world.  It seems to me as if I can't possibly fit everything that needs doing into one single twenty-four hour period.  Even if I didn't need to sleep, (but who gets everything they need?)  So, as I looked at the prompts for today, the "simple things" and "Whispers" really jumped out at me.  I had to wonder, just what whispers of simple things do I value?  What am I giving up to live the life that I am living?

The first simple thing that I value is my family.  They are my whispers of life, love and my world.  Although I know and understand that life is much more than just the few moments we spend here, I treasure each and every whisper in each and every minute that is spent with my family.

The whispers of laughter, the smiles, the hugs, the kisses, the teasing, the understanding and the love.  All those sweet, simple little whispers of joy that don't cost any money, but do take time.  I have discovered that all of the simple things in life are fleeting and whiz by way too fast.  They are so quiet, that if I am not watching and listening, I will miss them.  But they are also the things that I remember the most, long after the event has faded into dreams and years and sweet memories. 

I also place a high value on the simple whisper of faith.  The faith to keep me going through the hard times are well as the good times.  The faith to give me the strength to endure and push on when, what I really want to do, is curl up and cry.  The faith to know that all things will work out (even if it doesn't seem like it now).  The faith to believe in something infinite and good.  The faith to know that this really will pass and that I am doing exactly what I need to be doing.

The simple whispers in life are the ones that make me most aware of  the world around me.  They are the things that remind me to breathe in and breathe out.  To take a moment to feel, to experience, to hold, to touch, to taste, to hear, and to really see.  It is the simple whispers in life that seem to reach out and grab me by my heart.  They engrave themselves on my mind and my soul.  It is those sweet whispers that make me realize what life is really all about.

"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences 

come from little things…

I am tempted to think…

there are no little things."  Bruce Barton

Wordless Wednesday - Nothing Like a Busy Day

Replacing the Computer

"I testify that the Savior's Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair." ---Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I sit here, quietly alone in my office at work.  The light dims, the noises come and go.  The building squeeks and squawks as it settlings into the evening like the heavy sun drifting down out of the sky.  I am waiting for a phone call, the one that will set me free and let me go home to my family, at last.  The computer systems that run the front counters at my office must be replaced.  The framework will all still be there when I am done, but the insides, the important parts, will be new and better than before. 
In our money saving organization, there is no such thing as techs who drive out to the office and replace everything for you.  No, I have to learn to replace them all myself.  Matching pink to pink and green to green, one by one until the many plugs and connectors all have a place and the machine whirrs into existance at last. 
Now we are at the waiting.  The part where the systems are rebooted and reprogramed by invisible hands in a long distance fashion.  Still, I must remain to put on the finishing touches and finally have the system up and running for tomorrow.
Silence surrounds me, and I can't help thinking that sometimes, my soul craves the silence.  Every once in a while, I need the peace of a moment.  A time to reflect, to review, to just think and ponder.  My life can be like the replacing of these complex machines.  They have been busy and are now used up and wore out.  They need to have new software and hardware, to be fixed up so that they run better, and yet, still run very much the same.  
There are past parts of me that are no longer important to the person I have become.  Things that need to be put away, forgiven and forgotten.  Things that are used up after have been reviewed so often.  I wonder why it is that it is so easy for me to forgive others, and yet so very hard for me to forgive myself?  How can I look at the mistakes of those that I love and forget them, while dwelling on and reliving my own? 
What is it that makes it so hard for me to apply the gift of the atonement to my own life?  Don't get me wrong.  I want the atonement to be for me.  I need it to be for me.  I pray that it is for me.  Yet, there is within myself a sliver (or a mountain) of doubt.  I wonder how can a perfect, wonderful and very loving God ever forgive me.  I wonder that His love could reach through the darkness that I see and find the me that is within. 
Yet, I do know it is true.  I know it is true when my children make mistakes, and I love them.  I know it is true when I see someone completely turn their life around.  I know it is true when I see sorrow and despair. 
I haven't figured out why it is so hard to apply it to myself.   But my heart still knows it is true. 
Like the computers at my work, we have all done things that are in the past.  Things that should be forgotten.  Unlike my work, the Lord never leaves us to figure it all out for ourselves.  He has given us guidelines to help us on our way.  Scriptures that teach us of the people that we need to become.  He has planned for us because He knew that we would make mistakes, that we would all fall short of what was enough.  He made a way for us to come back Home to Him in spite of ourselves.  But, we have to be willing to let go of all those things that we are hanging onto that pull us away from Him.  We have to be willing to let Him make us into a new and better piece of equipment.  The framework will still be there, but the inside of us, the really important parts, will become who He needs us to be. 

"If any has stumbled in his journey, there is a way back. The process is called repentance. Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift. Though the path is difficult, the promise is real: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18)."

Thomas S. Monson, "Preparation Brings Blessings," Ensign, May 2010, 66

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Brother, I am committed

• 

  
  

  "Commitment is a little like diving into the water. Either you are committed or you are not. Either you are moving forward or you are standing still. There’s no halfway. We all face moments of decision that change the rest of our lives. As members of the Church, we must ask ourselves, “Will I dive in or just stand at the edge? Will I step forward or merely test the temperature of the water with my toes?”

  Dieter F. Uchtdorf
  Second Counselor in the First Presidency
  July 2011, Liahona

A Simple Moment - Kung Fu Fighting

This Moment

A single photo – no words –

capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment

I want to pause, savor and remember.

A moment

that brings a smile to my lips,

and joy to my heart.

Five Minute Friday - Loss

My absolute favorite day of the week!  {Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Five Minute Friday. It’s just that I spent some time with my family this weekend, and I haven't had access to a computer anywhere.  But, it was an amazing weekend and I really want to try and share my five minutes worth today.    
So, today, take a few moments to write and share you own five minutes.  Once you do, link up over at The Gypsy Mama and share with the rest of us.  For this week only, you can even take a few more than five minutes.  Link up;  come on, you know you want to!  

The prompt this week is LOSS

START


I have lost so many things in my life.  Sometimes I still ache with it.  The sense of being alone and lonely.  The wishing that it never happened.  The regrets, the pain, the despair.  Most of all, the overwhelming sense of grief and questioning.  They fly through my head no matter how much time has passed.  Could I have made a difference?  Should I have done more? Or less? Would things have turned out differently if I only would have.......
Loss has a way of making me feel like I can never, possibly, be good enough.  Like nothing I do will ever be able to make it better.  I see loss through the eyes of the people I love the most.  I feel it in the beat of their hearts and see the sadness in their faces. 
Loss leaves a mark like a tattoo on your heart.  You never feel quite the same.  You spend moments, days, months and years looking and waiting for the time to pass and for you to be able to go on without the pain.  Perhaps even to be whole again.
I have found that it never, completely goes away.  Loss is always there, just under the edge, waiting to put in an appearance.  I still have moments of grief, moments of memories, moments of wishing.  But interspersed with them, I also have moments of treasure, moments of contentment, moments of trust.  
I have discovered that life does go on.  That loss impacts every one of us in some way as we engage in this journey.  We are human.  We feel, we touch, we love, we cherish, we age, we need, we grieve.  
Loss reminds me that here is not the only life.  It is not the only place to be.  It is not even, necessarily, the best place to be.  It is just the only place  that I remember.  This journey is simply a preparation for the release and the coming together again.  It is but a blink in the course of who we really are.  
The more I love, the greater my circle of loss, but also, the greater my joy.  I find my greatest gifts in the time soothed memories of those who have loved me.  I learn from them in ways I never imagined.  I think it is the possibility of losing again, that makes me cling so tightly to the living.
Loss has given me faith.  Faith to breath, faith to wait, faith to hope, and faith to move on at last.  I may not always like or appreciate the journey, but I know that all things pass away and the time will come when I will understand and rejoice at last.  


STOP




Now it is your turn.  If you haven't all ready, take a moment and think about loss.  How have you changed?

Writer's Workshop - Through the Window

Today's entry is for Thursday.  This is the time of the week when I join with Mama Kat from Mama's losin it for the pretty much world famous writer's workshope weekly challenge.  I am late this week because we went to the valley for a wonderful family-filled weekend.  Those moments come all too rarely in my life, and when they do, I just grasp them with both hands and hang on.  It was wonderful!
The prompts from the workshop this week, were just a little bit hard for me. 

1.) Write about a time you had to crawl through a window. (inspired by Barb from Half Past Kissin' Time)

2.) List 10 shows you're glad have seen their last day.
3.) A bad day.
4.) Share a joke that always makes you laugh.
5.) On a piece of paper write down something that makes you happy...take a photo of your paper and wa la...there's your post.

Bonus Vlog Option!
6.) Has your child thrown a temper tantrum in public? Create a video where you describe what happened and how you handled it.

I chose door number one for a time when I had to crawl through a window.  This was a time that I still remember vividly today.  A time that I hope never to forget.

When I was much younger, my parents did not know quite what to do with me.  You see, I did not have bad friends, I had morals, I tried to be good.  If anything, they would often comment that it wasn't normal to be good!  They wanted me to be rebellious.  I did not even get into trouble like most kids.  You know, back when I was a girl, grounding was quite popular with parents.  They grounded you from your friends, they grounded you from activities, they grounded you from the phone (yes, we used an old fashioned corded phone in those days).  But my parents, grounded me from church.  It was the only thing they could take away from me that I really loved.  So, when other children lost their allowances, I lost my opportunity to go to Sunday School.  It was so hard on me!
I tried to be good about it.  But I really got to thinking how it wasn't very fair (especially when I reached my 17th year).  After all, I worked full time, went to school full time, was mostly an "A" student, and they took the one thing away from me that I thought was sacred and untouchable.  So, I quietly and stealthily shimmied out the window one beautiful Sabbath morning, and took myself to church.
You should realize that my window was quite high.  I ripped my shirt getting out of it, and of course, I had to wear pants in order to preserve my dignity, but I threw my skirt and shoes out onto the ground in a bag,  and took myself off to church for the day.
I knew there would be consequences.  I knew they would involve physical punishment, and I knew that I would not like it.  But for that one beautiful Sunday morning, I made a choice that I was very proud of.  A choice that would stand with me throughout the rest of my life.
I made a memory where God came first.  And that, my friends, has made all the difference.

Wordless Wednesday - I can do a flip!

Whining Only Makes It Worse

"No misfortune is so bad 

that whining about it won't make it worse."

- Jeffrey R Holland

Oh yes, I have been (and sometimes continue to be) guilty of whining.  It just seems as if things can go wrong, I can be misunderstood, I can make mistakes, I can take things personally, I can choose to whine.  

The interesting thing for me is that I really never see myself as whining.  I always seem to have a good excuse for that activity.  Mostly, the excuses involve the way that I perceive I am being treated.  It is almost as if I try and blame the whining on someone (anyone) else.  I have discovered that I really don't want to be strong, or polite, or brave.  There is a part of me that wants that moment of childishness.  That one single, solitary moment to indulge the child within me and make excuses to simply whine.  That is why I love the above quote so much.  No matter how you look at it, whining only makes things so much worse.  

Take when I have a migraine for example.  I hate migraines (no, I am not whining!)  I really do.  They hurt, they make me sick to my stomach, they throb, they can take away pleasure from my life.  Most of all, they have the effect on me of making me cranky!  

However, all that aside, there is one big thing that they have taught me.  When I whine about it, when I cry, when I give into the pain, it only makes it so much worse.  A migraine (which for the record, is pretty much the worst pain ever!) stays at a dull roar until you start crying.  When you start crying, it becomes a dragon out of your worst nightmare.  It becomes overwhelming.  I can't even describe the pain that it puts me in.  

So, the one thing I have learned is that I never, ever cry when I have a migraine.  I never get upset.  I never get emotional.  It is one of the hardest struggles I have ever been through.  I can promise that I want to whine, I want to cry, I want to fall apart, but the penalty is much too high for me to give into those desires.  So, I keep it in.  I keep calm.  I keep to myself.  In short, I do all the things to make sure that I don't lose control, that I don't cause myself more pain. 

The trick for me is to learn from the Migraines and keep the whining to a minimum in every part of my life.  To remember the pain that comes from crying and complaining about it, and not keep doing it anyway.  I have learned that whining really does make it worse.  

"Each day is a special gift from God, and while life may not always be fair, you much never allow the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future.  You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity, and the sour sound of whining will certainly frighten away any opportunity for success.  Never again.  There is a better way."  Og Madino

Looking out for number one

“Happy people [are] more likely to demonstrate more empathy and are willing to donate more money to others in need. When we are happy, we are less self-focused. Looking out for number one is more characteristic of sadness than of well-being.” (Psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman in his book, Authentic Happiness, p. 43)


I read that today and it just struck a chord within me.  We live in a society where everyone seems to advocate "looking out for number one".  We throw things away instead of using them.  We break something and we "just have" to buy a new one.  We all own TV's and computers and hi tech equipment that we "just have to have".  Seems to me that we are so involved with collecting things, that it is easy to forget what we are really here for.  It is easy to forget that those things don't matter in the least.  That there are many, many amazing gifts in our lives that are not things.  I have learned in my life that I am happiest when I lose myself in the care of others.  When I place others before myself.  I am happiest when He uses me for His purposes.  When something I do is what someone else needed.  I am most content when I remember to use my hands in doing His will.  In helping His children.  When I use my heart for love and kindness.  I am most happy when "number one" takes a back seat to my family and friends.  I like to remember the six Be's from Gordon B. Hinckley.

• Be Grateful
• Be Smart
• Be Clean
• Be True
• Be Humble 
• Be Prayerful

"Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves." 
— Gordon B. Hinckley


So today, let us try just a little harder to make the burden a little lighter for someone else.  Let us be just a little better than we were before.  Let us put aside our complaints and find the things we have to be grateful for.  Let us be, just a little more like Him.  

Sunday Devotional - Safe in our home

One of the General Conference talks that I have come to really love was given by Elder Cree-L Kofford called, “Your Name is Safe in Our Home.”  In this talk, he describes the concept of keeping a person’s name “safe” at home. He says:

“What a blessing it would be if all of us could follow that counsel, if each of our names truly could be safe in the home of others. Have you noticed how easy it is to cross over the line and find fault with other people? All too often we seek to be excused from the very behavior we condemn in others. Mercy for me, justice for everyone else is a much too common addiction. When we deal with the name and reputation of another, we deal with something sacred in the sight of the Lord.

There are those among us who would recoil in horror at the thought of stealing another person’s money or property but who don’t give a second thought to stealing another person’s good name or reputation.

The old adage “Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his footsteps” is as good advice today as it was the day it was first uttered. Someone once said,

“There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it ill behooves any of us
To find fault with the rest of us.”

The first place to start to make a child’s, a parent’s, a sister’s, a brother’s, or a grandparent’s name safe is in our own homes. If we watch how we discuss others at home, even those who may not live within the walls of the home, that we are showing our family members that home is a place where we value and respect others in our Heavenly Family."

May we all strive to make the names of others "safe" in our homes.