Be Positive

Good one to remember.  We all can get overwhelmed with negativity.  We all struggle, we all have issues, we all hurt, we all are doing the best we can in a very negative world.  The only way to combat the negativity is to find the positive and surround yourself with it as much as possible.
I did an experiment a couple of years ago.  I tried to change every negative thought into something positive.  I tried to find the good in every single moment, (no matter how much it made me want to cry).  I did not succeed all the time, but by focusing more on the positive, I discovered that I felt a lot less negative with myself and the world around me.
By choosing not to dwell on the negative, I found myself feeling more positive every day.  Perhaps, it is time to resurrect that experiment again.  The more we focus and dwell on the negative, the more we find that accentuates that negative in our lives.  The more we try and focus on the positive and be grateful for it, the more the positive is accentuated in our day to day existence.
In other words, we literally find that which we seek.
So today, try and be a little more positive with yourself and with others.  Try to find things to appreciate.  Try to look just a little harder for the bright side of things.

Becoming Like Him - Day 11 - Teach

For my 31 days of writing, I am linking up over at Heading Home and over at the Nester. There are several of us that are taking the 31 day writing challenge. Kate has suggested that we spend 31 days of Five minute writing. You can use the prompts or write about anything you would like, you just need to write.

I am sharing my journey for 31 days as I strive to become more like Him. My prayer is that you can find hope and peace in my words.

START

I have been teaching since I was 14 years old.  I love to teach.  I love to help others to learn the things that matter the most to me.  I haven't always been a good teacher, I had to learn what worked and what did not.  I believe that teaching is one of the most wonderful things that we are called to do.  Not all of us teach school, not all of us are mothers or fathers, not all of us teach in church, but we all come in contact with people.  We all have an opportunity to touch the lives of others.
There is a scripture in Matthew that describes teaching really well.  It says:

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven".  Matthew 5:19

Think about it for a minute.  We are accountable for what we teach others to do.  If we set the example of doing wrong, and encourage others to go along with us, that we are not good teachers.  But if we do what is right and teach others to do those things, than we become the teachers that God need us to be.  I think we all have chances in life to teach.  What makes a teacher truly great is that they teach by the Spirit.  They teach with compassion and kindness and love.  They teach with stories and humility.  I think they teach like the Savior.
Some of the very best teachers that I have ever had, were not rich or learned.  They were humble.  They were kind.  They were Christ-like.
It didn't even matter what religion they were, they were the ones who loved everyone, even if you weren't popular or didn't understand.  Even if you asked lots of questions and had lots of comments.  They were kind and caring.  They believed in me and taught me to believe in myself.  They taught me to be more than I thought I could every become.

Teach your children that strength 

doesn't come from what you can do,

but from overcoming the things 

you thought you couldn't.

Adversity - Haunts me daily

"Adversity is the state in which man most easily 

becomes acquainted with himself, 

being especially free of admirers then."  

John Wooden

Can you remember a time when you were involved in a bad situation?  A time that was creating much adversity in your life?  I know that I have seen so many of those times in my own life.  During those times when life's problems confront me, I tend to start having feelings of self-doubt and loneliness.  I even start to question if I am loved and needed.  Sometimes, it seems as if my friends have left my side and I am all alone.    There does not seem to be anyone around me who can help me work out those difficult issues.
I have learned that it is not easy to face our weaknesses at any time, but I have come to know that the times I make the most changes and see things the most clearly are during those times of adversity that I hate so much.  As I learn to deal with my trials, my character becomes clear to me and I learn a little more about myself.  I literally come to know myself through my journey. 
I love the scripture that says:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27

I believe that it takes courage to look inside ourselves and recognize our weaknesses.  To finally be able to recognize them and to surrender them to a loving Heavenly Father is the start of changes in our own hearts.   Through Him, we will become strong.

31 Days of Hope - Day 26

FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY

This is my favorite part of the week.  We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that is posted over at Lisa Jo's
No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.

Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

So come join us on Fridays.  Come be a part of a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.  Gather together with us to share what five minutes can mean. Just five minutes.

Your words. This shared feast.

Our most important requirement for participation: There’s really only one absolute, no ifs, ands or buts about it Five Minute Friday rule: you must visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.


OK, are you ready? Here is my best five minutes on:::

Voice…

START

When I was young, I did not believe that I was lovable, or good, or worthy of love.  I went through many years of my life looking for the feeling of love.  I thought that love was something that had to be pursued.  I used to think that I didn't have a voice because of the things that happened to me.  I thought that my past was so bad, it took my voice from me.  That I couldn't ever make it back to my Heavenly Home.  I used words to try and get attention for others, but I didn't have a voice to make my heart heard.  I have had to learn that I do have a voice.  That no one can take anything from me permanently.  I have a voice in how the past affects my present and my future.  I have a choice to have a voice in the world around me.  I have a voice as a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend and a woman.  I might not have had a voice in my past, but I choose to have a voice now.  That voice gives me hope.  It gives me strength.  It gives me love.  I choose to use my voice. 

STOP 

Sunday Devotional - Continue in Patience

CONTINUE IN PATIENCE

"Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind."  Leonardo Da Vinci

The student Directors

We had a concert last week for the choir that my daughter and I are singing in.  All week, we had several four-hour long practices.  We went over everything as it was all required to be memorized and that can be quite difficult when you are my age!  I thought I would never accomplish so great a feat!  Ten songs, all memorized.  Both the words and the music easy to understand and exactly what the director wanted. 
We also have two student conductors.  They are both majoring in music and are leaving to go on to a University in the fall.  They each composed or arrainged a piece of music for the choir to sing.  These songs were very important to each of them.  The music was so important to these two young men that they made us practice their pieces over and over and over again!  Miracle was pretty frustrated because she thought we needed to work equally on all the music.  (Her sense of fairness is highly developed!) 
Miracle asked me why we were spending so much time on them.  I explained to her that they had wrote these pieces and wanted them performed in the best way possible.  They had sweated over the music, re-wrote the music several times, listened to the music probably thousands of times, and agonized over the placement of each note, word, dynamic and pause.  They each knew what they wanted the music to sound like.  They knew what message they wanted to come across.  Their minds knew, but they had to get that knowing into sound.  They not only wanted the piece to be perfect, they wanted us to sound perfect.  They wanted us to be amazing!

Sometimes, we, as mothers, can be just like these student conducters.  We know all the good things about our children.  We know what their potential is, we know what they are, and we have a glimps of what they can become.  We want them to be the nearly perfect vision that we have of them.  I used to tell my older children when they were much younger, "I am going to love you no matter what choices you make.  You could be in jail and I would visit you and love you.  But my job as a mother is to help you become the kind of person that other people will also love.  I am supposed to teach you to behave in a manner that will show the rest of the world what kind of person I know you really are."
  Sometimes, in our quest to teach our children how to be, we may be just like those two student conductors in music.  We may forget the "encouragement" part that goes along with mothering and focus completely on the correction part of mothering.  We just might forget to acknowledge the successes and spend a little too much time remembering the mistakes. 
In my own quest for perfection, I sometimes forget that my children are not in the same place yet.  They are still growing, learning and becoming.  They are still improving day by day.  And just like that music composition, they will get there, as we continue to love them, validate them, and pray for them. 
Our children are our greatest composition masterpieces.  Let us remember and celebrate what they are now as well as what they can become. 

"The mother, more than any other, affects the moral and spiritual part of the children's character. She is their constant companion and teacher in formative years. The child is ever imitating and assimilating the mother's nature. It is only in after life that men gaze backward and behold how a mother's hand and heart of love molded their young lives and shaped their destiny."- E.W. Caswell

"The noblest calling in the world is that of mother. True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions. She who can paint a masterpiece or who can write a book that will influence millions deserves the plaudits and admiration of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters whose immortal souls will be exerting an influence throughout the ages long after painting shall have faded, and books and statues shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give."- David O. McKay

The Catalog Mom

Some of you might remember the old Montgomery Ward store.  It was  a large department store that was in our neighborhood.  This was back before the time of online ordering.  You had to go to a real brick and mortar store and shop for what you needed.  They did have a catalog department though, for the things that you might need that the store did not carry.  Those items had to be ordered and than picked up at the store at a later date.
With all the online companies now, it seems pretty crazy that we did business that way back when.  The kids all liked that store for different reasons.  The boys liked to play in the clothes racks and disappear from sight.  I think they believed that if I could not find them, they could have more fun.  The girls loved to look at the clothes that were store made.  At that time in their lives, I made most of what they wore, or bought it second hand, so it was a real treat to get new clothes. 
The Montgomery Ward store sent out very large catalogs every year.  The kids loved getting those catalogs in the mail.  They would take turns pouring over the books, looking at all the things that people could buy.  Their favorite section was the toy section.  They would pour over those toys for hours and circle the items that they wanted for birthdays and Christmas.  They would write their names on the page next to their circles and I was supposed to look there when it came time to buy presents.  That book, tattered and well looked at, sat under the coffee table in the living room until the new one came out every year. 

  When the older children were quite young, they would sometimes get mad at me.  Maybe I yelled, or punished them in some way.  Maybe I didn't listen close enough, or understand enough.  Maybe, I just didn't spend enough time with them.  Sometimes, it is very hard to balance all that you want to do with those things that you need to do.  It can cause quite a conflict in a mother.  On those really bad days, I used to tell the kids that they could pick out a new mother in the Montgomery Ward catalog. 
They would go through the catalog and pick one of the models out to be "their new mother".  We would usually sit down and find something wrong with her.  She was too skinny (I loved that one!)  so she probably wouldn't cook for them.  She had mean eyes.  She was too beautiful and probably wouldn't spend enough time with them because she would be too worried about her hair or her makeup.  We would do a lot of those pretend games.  Inevitably, they would decide that they were glad to have me.  I would give them a hug and they would go on to other things.  I might forget a lot of memories as I get older, but I have never forgotten that they chose me over all those other women in the Montgomery Wards catalog.  


Sometimes, as I struggle through my life, I am tempted to think that I cannot make a difference.  When I have had a trying day with my children and probably lost my temper a time or two, I start to wonder if they wouldn't be better off with another mother, a different mother, a better mother, one who is always kind and good.  One who is more perfect than me.  One of those women in the catalog.  And then, I remember their squishy hugs and sticky kisses as they chose me. 
I remember that one person can make a difference.  And most of all, I remember that somehow, I am enough.

When you walk into a room,
you either add to the room
or take away from it.
No matter what happens,
You have made a difference.

Believe me if....

When I was a youth, I had the unique experience of being in Rexburg Idaho during the summer of 1976.  I was there during the time when the earth dam burst.  I was staying with a friend from school who lived there and we were in Rexburg when the Teton dam gave way and caused a flood of water accross the state of Idaho. 

The water flooded most of Rexburg and the surrounding communities.  There was so much devastation and sorrow.  Carmen and I were able to join hundreds of others packing sand bags along the Idaho Falls river until the flood waters had started to receed.  We were able to keep the waters from flooding the temple in Idaho Falls as well as keeping the waters out of most of the homes that were situated along that river, but we couldn't do anything for Rexburg. 
Soon after the flood receeded, we went to work , along with hundreds of others.  We passed buckets from one to another and "mucked out" the basements of homes.  We watched people lose nearly everything.  All their possessions, their pictures, the momentos and keepsakes.  It was so hard to watch mothers cry over the photo albums where every picture was in ruins!  However, I also watched people who did not even know each other, volunteer to help.  Busloads of people came from all over the country to pitch in and help clean up the ruins. 

We all stayed at Ricks College up on the hill.  It was the only place clean and not-touched by the floods.  The college fed and housed the people of the city.  We would walk into town and volunteer to go where ever we were needed most.  I will never forget what it was like to see dead animals along all the roads, upside down televisions on the roofs, couches on the highway. 
It was so overwhelming!  At 16, I had the privilage of having my life changed by learning to help others in much worse circumstances than myself. 
The principle of helping one in need is well expressed in the touching love story of Thomas Moore, a famous nineteenth century Irish poet, who, when he returned from a business trip found his wife had locked herself in her upstairs bedroom and had asked to see no one. Moore learned the terrible truth that his beautiful wife had contracted smallpox and her milky complexion was now pocked and scarred.
She had looked at herself in the mirror and demanded that the shutters be drawn, and that she never see her husband again. Thomas Moore did not listen. He went upstairs to the darkened room and started to light the lamp. His wife pleaded with him to let her remain in darkness alone. She felt it best not to subject her husband to seeing his loved one with her beauty marred. She asked him to go.

Moore did go. He went downstairs and spent the rest of the night in prayerful writing. He had never written a song before, but that night he wrote not only words but also composed music. As daylight broke, Moore returned to his wife’s darkened room. “Are you awake?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, “but you must not see me. Please don’t press me, Thomas.”

“I’ll sing to you then,” he said. Thomas Moore sang to his wife the song that still lives today.

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art

Moore heard a movement in the corner of the darkened room where his wife lay in loneliness. He continued:

Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.
Irish Melodies, “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms,” st. I; cited in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, p. 542.


The song ended. As his voice faded, Moore heard his bride arise. She crossed the room to the window, reached up and slowly withdrew the shutters, opened the curtain, and let in the morning light.

My prayer for you today is that you may remember that your purpose in life is to live it so that another's burdens may be lifted.  That you will always help to bring the light into the darkness in the lives of those around us.  And may you find what is inside of a person is the part that matters most of all.