Sometimes, it is just a bad day.

“Gossip, as usual, was one-third right and two-thirds wrong.” 

-L. M. Montgomery, Chronicles of Avonlea-

Yes, I broke my arm.  Two weeks ago, I slipped on the ice and fell on my elbow.  But today, I am finally back to work.  Imagine my surprise at the rumors going all around town.  Have you ever had anyone spread things that are totally false about you?  This has been my week.  Sometimes, you just have to put it all aside and take a moment to laugh! 
I am learning that there is very little I can control in this life.  But the one thing I can control is my own attitude.  I get to determine whether I fall apart, or whether I just move on.  I get to choose whether to let someone get to me, or whether I will let it go.  I get to decide to cry, or to simply and lovingly, laugh.
Things happen to all of us that we don't choose and can't control.  Part of living is learning how to appreciate the learning that happens in spite of (or maybe because of) our individual trials.
As hard as it is to ignore the spiteful words, that is what I need to do.  So today, I choose to be kind to others as well as myself.  I choose to laugh and pass it on.

“Isn't it kind of silly 

to think that tearing someone else down 

builds you up?” 

- Sean Covey, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens -

God Is In the Details

"Small events and choices 

determine the direction of our lives 

just as small helms 

determine the directions of great ships."  

M. Russell Ballard

Sometimes we feel that we are alone and that God has forgotten us. The snow is deep, the road is rough, the struggle seems like it will never be over.  But He is always with us, extending His merciful arms toward us.  He will help us up the hill, step by step, until the struggle is over and we arrive, finally, at the top in His arms.  God is in the details of our lives.  He is in the little things as well as the seemingly big things.  He is concerned about our hearts' desires -- especially when we are choosing to live our lives in alignment with His teachings. He is always there to help us on our journey.  Reach up, reach out, and find Him.  

Sabbath Day Scribblings

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted 

but getting what you have, 

which once you have got it

 you may be smart enough to see 

it is what you would have wanted 

had you known."  ~Garrison Keillor

"How do we, amidst the challenges of our lives, gain the vision necessary to do those things that will bring us closer to the Savior? Speaking of vision, the book of Proverbs teaches this truth: 'Where there is no vision, the people perish' (Proverbs 29:18). If we are to prosper rather than perish, we must gain a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us."

—Elder O. Vincent Haleck, "Having the Vision to Do", General Conference, Apr. 2012

Wise and Wonderful Things

Wise And Wonderful

by Patricia A. Pitterle

Majesty and magnitude,

Unimaginable power 

And love,

Master of creation, 

Father of all.

With infinite skill 

He created life.

His hands filled seas

and moved mountains.

His hands 

Had the strength 

To design the mighty elephant,

And the gentleness 

To softly craft

The smallest butterfly wing.

All His creations 

Bear witness

Of His work and glory.

All things testify

Of His goodness, grace

And unconditional love.

Our bodies are created

In His image.

And to act in His name.

We are each

children of our 

Heavenly King.

We have hands 

To serve others,

Eyes to see their pain,

Ears to hear their needs,

Mouths to teach His doctrine,

And hearts to feel His love.

We are made

For wise 

And wonderful things.

We are here

Through the trials,

Heartaches and sorrows,

To find our faith,

To find our trust,

To find our joy.

To learn

How to return back home,

To Him.

The Storms of Life

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” 
― Haruki Murakami -

I read this the other day and was so overwhelmed with short bit of wisdom that I found here.  My life, for the  past year, has been filled with seemingly one storm after another.  There was a time, when I wasn't sure what would happen, or how I would handle it.  But I am making it through, I am surviving, and I am not the same person that I used to be.
I am working on the person that I want to become.  The Lord gives us understanding as we struggle through, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.  As we grow in understanding, we become more  like Him.  All the trials and the problems in life help us to grow, to learn and to become.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Trials

“Anxiously you ask, 'Is there a way to safety? Can someone guide me? Is there an escape from threatened destruction?' The answer is a resounding yes! I counsel you: Look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. It calls, 'This way to safety; this way to home.” 

― Thomas S. Monson - 

5 minute Friday - Cherished

Five Minute Friday: Cherished

Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.

We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to finger paint. For joy in the process. No matter how messy the result.

Got five minutes? Come and write with us! 

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here at Lisa Jo's and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. That is like the one rule we all really care about. For reals.

OK, are you ready? I’ve had this word in my own heart all week. Usually I’m wondering what the prompt will be and whether or not I will find the meaning in my own life.  But this week, this one is just perfect.  This week I think I needed this one word…

Cherished…

:GO

It is hard to push the keys on the computer.  Last Friday, I learned what cherish really means.  I learned that love is more than a thought and a word.  I learned that I have to be served sometimes.  No, I need to be served sometimes.  And love is the result of cherished service.  

Last week.  I broke my arm.  I slipped on some ice and fell on my elbow.  I knew it was broken as soon as I felt pieces in me move differently than they should.  My daughter and her friend went and got the first aid box from the car and splinted my arm.  I talked (or groaned) them through it.  

My husband came and got me, took me home to change into pj bottoms and bring extra clothes as I know they would be cutting the shirts off me.  He had to help me to the bathroom, collect my things and dress me.  Then we had an hour drive to the hospital.  Once there, we discovered that my elbow would need surgery and that I would have to be flown on a helicopter to the valley where I could get the care I needed.  He could not go with me, so he would need to drive three more hours to join me there.  

My son met me at he hospital and stayed until John could get down.  The day was filled with pain and surgery was a relief.  

Throughout all this, I have come to realize how much I am cherished.  My husband slept in a chair to be with me for two nights.  He has cared for me and watched over me for a week now.  He fixes meals, feeds me, helps bathe me, and is there for me through all of this.  My grown children have made sure that I know I am cherished and loved in each of their lives.

For me, cherished is being beside me through all of it.  The hard times, the rich times, the anguish and the aching.  Being cherished is holding on through the tough times, as well as the good.  It is knowing that I am more than the trial.  I am more than the pain.  I am loved.  I am cared for.  I am cherished.  

STOP

Tender Mercies - Faith

"Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire or effort....The Savior said, "Come unto me" and "Knock, and it shall be [given] you".  These are action verbs- come, knock.  They are choices.  So I say, choose faith."  Richard C. Edgley

I read this today and it made me think about my own faith.  Sometimes I know that I want the Savior to come to me.  I want Him to make the decision and take it out of my hands.  Sometimes, I don't want to be the one making the choices.  I just want them made for me.  I just want to know that maybe I am doing it right after all.  I want someone to tell me that I am good.  That I am where I should be.  That I am doing what He wants me to do.  I want Him to come to me so that I don't have to risk choosing unwisely. 
The internal me, the thinking me, the one who knows better, understands that He does not do it for me.  He does not come to me without my first asking it of Him.  He stands at the door and knocks.  There is no handle on His side.  He does not come busting in, like the hero in one of my favorite fantasy tales, He does not save me, at the last second, from the villians of my life. 
But I have learned that, whenever a trial is given, whenever my heart is aching, whenever I think I have failed, there is a blessing hidden in the sorrow.  He stands with me through it all.  He never leaves my aching.  He waits for me to ask Him in for the healing to begin.  I must be the one to turn the knob and open the door toward Him.  I must make the effort to invite and welcome Him into my home and my heart.  He loves me, He is waiting, but the choice is mine.