Don't Waste It Whining

Life is too beautiful

to waste it whining.

Sometimes, life can throw us a few curve balls that really test us to our limits.  Perhaps it is your children, or a friend or a speeding ticket.  Maybe it is someone who gossips about you or puts you down.  Maybe it is even someone in your church or your school.  It can even be that three mile hike that turned out to be more like 6 miles and felt like 20!

My point is that we all have problems.  We all have adversities in out lives.  We all have reasons to whine.  It is not that we have reasons, it is simply what we are going to do about it.  I am not a fan of whining.  I have found that it makes me more unhappy and the journey seems so much longer than I thought it would be.  

My sweet daughter was with me on our "forever" hike that we all felt was never going to end.  She helped me over the rocks and through the rough spots.  She smiled and laughed and sang and just about when I was going to give up she said, "look mom, isn't that tree great?  It even has a seat.  I love the way it twists.  Can you take my picture?"  

So, here is her picture on a tree that twists in the middle of a miserable hike.  Don't you just love her smile?  She remember how much I love to take pictures on interesting things.  She knew how much I really do love nature.  She reminded me of all that with a smile and a seat upon a tree.

I have always said to my children, "If you are going to do it anyway, do it with class."  I love that line.  We know when we have to do hard things.  We even know that we might not like them.  But we really don't have to whine about them or complain or do our best to make sure every one else has just as bad of a time.  Sometimes, the best way to handle a situation is with a little class and a smile, or maybe just pointing out are really cool tree.

Life really is beautiful and no misfortune is so bad that whining about won't make it worse!

We should honor the Savior’s declaration to “be of good cheer.   (Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other!) Speak hopefully. Speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try not to complain and moan incessantly. As someone once said, “Even in the golden age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too yellow.”  Jeffrey R. Holland, The Tongue of Angels.

Wordless Wednesday - Off To The Rescue

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.

Your Decisions

The more you love your decisions,

the less you need others to love them.  

We have a little something in out lives called free agency.  That means, we have the responsibility and the opportunity to choose for ourselves.  Have you ever noticed, that when we are choosing wisely, we don't make excuses?  Yet, when we are choosing not so well, we tend to make all kinds of excuses about our choices.  Human nature seems to be to want acceptance even when we know (or especially when we know) that something is wrong.  

I used to have a very hard time making decisions.  I was so afraid that no matter what I decided, it would be wrong.  There was a lot of solid (for me) evidence behind that belief.  As I was faced with trials, I had to learn to make decisions quickly.  It was not easy.  It was not something I wanted to do. But it was very, very necessary.  
Now, I make a lot of decisions.  I make ones at work that people do not like, I make them with the public, I make them with family, I make them with employees and I even make them with the school.  Not everyone likes the decisions that I make.  However, I am learning that when I know it is right, I don't need the approval of those around me.  I just need to be comfortable in my own skin.  
This is what I want my children to learn.  When we have to excuse our decisions, we need to look at them again.  For instance, if my daughter is late getting home;  I say, "honey, what time did you get home last night" (mind you, I already know the answer).  She says, "about 12:15, I know we were late mom, BUT...."  It is the buts that will get us all.
So I am trying to teach them the language of responsibility.  "Mom, I got home at 12:15.  I am sorry.  I know I was late".  Now, it is up to me to decide the punishment for that tardiness, she decided to be late.  She made the choice.  Now she needs to be willing to live with the consequences that go with that choice.
It is the same for all of us.  We choose our own path.  We get to make our decisions.  I really is up to me and if I learn to take responsibility for my actions, than I am less likely to get caught up in bigger and not necessarily better, excuses.  
I learn to love my own decisions.  I learn to stand by them.  I learn to be responsible for myself.  
After all, isn't that what we all want for each other?  And isn't that exactly what Heavenly Father wants for each of us?  What are you waiting for?

1 Nephi 3:7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Monday Memoirs - Peace and Serenity

It's Monday again and I hope that you take a moment to write on your own blog something concerning the prompt in your own life.  There really are no rules, just something that you want to pass on to your family and friends.  Link up at the bottom and share with the rest of us.  

Where do you find peace and serenity? 

PEACE noun

1. The absence of war or other hostilities.
2. An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities.
3. Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations: roommates living in peace with each other.
4. Public security and order: was arrested for disturbing the peace.
5. Inner contentment; serenity: peace of mind.

SERENITY
noun (plural serenities)

1. The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled: an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city

Once upon a time, I used to believe that peace was never possible. I had too many struggles in living to even think about finding peace. Church was a place that I went to, sat on a bench and tried my best to keep six little ones “sort of” reverent. I don’t know if I even got a single thing out of the Sacrament talks until after the majority of my children were grown. My ideas of peace have changed a lot over the years.

I used to imagine peace as lying next to the ocean or a lake or a river and just relaxing; spending time communicating with God, and learning to know myself. As I have gotten older, I have learned that peace and serenity both come from within and not so much without. Peace can be found in simple moments of life when there is no arguing or hostilities. In the case of our children, dinner time is not the time to argue. It is our efforts for peace in our world of chaos. Peace can be found in uplifting music, in reading good books, in studying the Scriptures and in spending time with my family. Peace doesn’t have to be quiet, (although that is such a nice minute or two to find), it just needs to fill my heart.
Serenity means something a little more difficult to me. It means to find myself filled, to know
that I am enough, to feel His spirit in my heart and in my soul, to really hear the answers to prayer and know that I am not alone. It truly does mean to find a place of calm within myself. A place where my troubles no longer are all I think of. For me, serenity is being free from worry and stress.
When I was young, I thought that you had to be old to experience either of those things, but as I have grown, I have learned to find them in the smallest moments and the wonder of the everyday blessings that are so much a part of my life. I have learned to see the tender mercies of the Savior in the world around me.
I find peace as I say my prayers, and mean them. I find peace as I help children with homework and kayak on a mountain lake. I find peace in the soaring of eagles and the beauty of a thunderstorm. I find peace when I see God’s hand in the world around me. I find peace when I quit looking for a quiet life and focus on amazing blessings. I find peace in the small, everyday matters of the heart.
I find serenity as I come to know my Heavenly Father. To realize that I am never truly alone and to find His promises are sure. I find serenity in the calm that comes after the storm. In the blessings that always follow a trial, and in the knowledge of His redeeming love.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Carest thou not that we perish?

"They (the Disciples) set sail upon the Sea of Galilee. The scriptures tell us that Jesus was weary, and He went to the back of the ship and fell asleep on a pillow. ² Soon the skies darkened, and “there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves.” ³The storm raged. The disciples panicked. It seemed as though the boat would capsize, yet the Savior still slept. At last, they could wait no longer and they awakened Jesus. You can almost hear the anguish and despair in their voices as they pled with their Master, “Carest thou not that we perish?” ⁴Many today feel troubled and distressed; many feel that, at any moment, the ships of their lives could capsize or sink. It is to you who are looking for a safe harbor that I wish to speak today, you whose hearts are breaking, you who are worried or afraid, you who bear grief or the burdens of sin, you who feel no one is listening to your cries, you whose hearts are pleading, “Master, carest thou not that I perish?” To you I offer a few words of comfort and of counsel.
Be assured that there is a safe harbor. You can find peace amidst the storms that threaten you. Your Heavenly Father—who knows when even a sparrow falls—knows of your heartache and suffering. He loves you and wants the best for you. Never doubt this. While He allows all of us to make choices that may not always be for our own or even others’ well-being, and while He does not always intervene in the course of events, He has promised the faithful peace even in their trials and tribulations".
In our own storms in life the Savior is our solace and our sanctuary. If we seek peace, we must come unto Him. He Himself spoke this eternal truth when He said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” ¹⁷ When our souls are anchored in the safe harbor of the Savior, we can proclaim as did Paul: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed".                    Finding a Safe Harbor, Joseph B. Wirthlin

Five Minute Friday - Fill

Oh, it is Five Minute Friday again.  How I love this day.  The link up has moved over to Kate's Place, but the rules are the same and the hearts long to mesh one with another.  Won't you join us there as we fill each other with words of love?  Don't forget to comment on the one who went before you.

The word today is:

FILL

So Fill Your Heart With What's Important, 

And Be Done With All The Rest.

START

When we took the girls to camp this year, we wanted them to really focus on filling each other's buckets.  It was metaphorical of course, but we wanted them to really know that we can be kind, loving, patient, understanding, hopeful, thankful, happy and Christlike in all we do.   It isn't as hard as you think.  
We had a wishing well in the center of the great room at camp.  We put buckets in the wishing well, and during the day, the girls would put little notes in each others buckets.  They really seemed to love this, and gave each other encouraging thoughts all through camp.  
Sometimes, our buckets seem empty, but as we strive to fill the buckets or each other, we will find that our own bucket gets filled as well.  And I have noticed, that when my Heavenly Father fills my bucket, He tends to fill it all the way to the brim until it overwhelms me with goodness and love. 
When we are each filled with God's love, we can see and do and understand things that would otherwise be invisible to us.  Filled with his love, we can endure pain, conquer fear, forgive freely, renew strength, lift up the feeble knees and the hands that hang down.  We can bless and help others in ways surprising even to ourselves.   

We all have differences in life, and it can be so easy to point out the things we don't understand and to even make fun of them, but instead of spending out time pointing, wouldn't it be more Christlike to spend our time treating each other the way that He would.  

Let His love fill you and overflow from you as you work on filling up those who need it most.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

STOP 

 Now it is your turn.  What can you write in just five minutes?  Don't forget to visit the one who linked up before you and fill their bucket too.  

The Long Way Around

WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!

I went hiking with all the girls in girls camp this year, It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  As we did this hike, all around the fingers of the lake and back and forth looking for something, anything that resembled a trail, I couldn't help by compare it to my own life. It seems to me as if there have been plenty of times when I just had to take the long way around.  I knew the road to travel, but for whatever reason known only to my crazy brain, I just had to try it my own way.  

I know that I have learned from those experiences.  I know that I have even become better because of most of them.  But often, I have had to question why the learning seems to be so much harder for me that it ought to be.  What is it that tempts me along the paths of the hard road?

I have learned that we all go through those "long way around" times in our lives.  The closer that I am able to be to my Heavenly Father, the easier the road is to find.  Many tears later, I wonder why I would not listen in the first place.  

It would be easy to blame those times on my life, on the things that happened to me to put me in that place, but that is also not the whole truth of it.  At some point, in each of our lives, we get to choose.  We get to make choices in spite of (or maybe even because of) our pasts.  We get to get out our own compass and map and find the right trail.  

I have learned that my past does not have to define my future.  I can change.  I can choose.  I can become.  We all get to do hard things.  The question is, are you making excuses, or are you making a trail?  It really is completely up to you.  

An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties. It means that its going to launch you into something great. So just focus and keep aiming.

And remember, you really can do it! 

Wordless Wednesday - Weeding

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.

Looking Sideways

I found this great quote on Pinterest.  I think it is now one of my newest favorites.  It is so easy to look sideways at everything.  It is easy to compare ourselves at our "worst", to everyone else at their Sunday Best.  It is so easy to get caught up in the world.  It is easy to look at beauty and not imagine ever being there.  It is easy for me to see my chubbiest and my grey hair and my wrinkles and not ever see the good qualities that I have taken a lifetime to develop.  
I just need to put on blinders and not worry about what sideways is telling me.  If I look up, the only words are hear are filled with love.  I know that I am a daughter of God.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Fear not.  You are my sheep.  
There is nothing the the words of God that is designed to make me feel like I am worthless.  Instead, there is so much in the scriptures that reminds me of those things that matter most in my life.  There are so many words that remind me that I am loved.  That I am valued.  That I am His.
So, my challenge to all of us, no matter what we might think of ourselves, is to simple look up.  Stop looking sideways and keep your focus on the One who matters most of all.  

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught, “Disciples of Jesus Christ understand that compared to eternity, our existence in this mortal sphere is only ‘a small moment’ in space and time (D&C 121:7). They know that a person’s true value has little to do with what the world holds in high esteem. … The Lord uses a scale very different from the world’s to weigh the worth of a soul” (“You Matter to Him,” Ensign, Nov. 2011, 20, 22).

Monday Memoirs- Reminiscences

So, I am trying to start something new on Mondays.  I am learning to research my own ancestors, and am using words and sentences to help me remember parts of my own life as well.  I want to leave a Legacy for my own family to find.  So, the challenge is to write about the prompt and come back here and link up to share what you have written.   There is no time limit, so write however you would like too.  Write a sentence, paragraph or page but write something today!  Don't forget to come back with your link!

REMINISCENCES

Where did you attend first grade?

Memory Triggers- Favorite teacher, classroom walls, best 1st grade friend, favorite activity.

I went to first grade at Laird Elementary School in Tempe AZ.  I don't even remember the name of my first grade teacher, although I do know that I loved her.  She was kind to me.  School was about 1/2 mile from my house, and I walked with the other neighborhood kids every day.  This would have been around 1965 and we were not allowed to wear pants or shorts to school.   I had "dirty blond" hair (that is a color by the way and it was not actually dirty!) and also white glasses that were very visible on my face.  

My mother said that I broke everything, so she bought me glasses for kids that were plastic.  They were very old fashioned and I cringe even today when I see things like them come back in style.  Amazing how the things that go around come back around again, even when they really should stay gone.  

The girls all had to wear dresses to school.  It wasn't until I got into the older grades that I learned how to sneak shorts under my dresses.  In first grade, I did not know those things.  I was a tom boy and loved to swing and slide and run and was forever ruining my dresses.  I remember wishing that I could be a boy so that I could wear pants.  

We had to be polite in first grade.  We did workbooks and writing and learned our letters too.  We also learned classical music and listened to it often in class.  I loved school when I was young.  I wanted to do well, but really struggled sometimes.  I think I was a bit of a daydreamer and that was frowned upon by the school.  We were supposed to draw what we were told and write what we were told and really not think for ourselves.  

I learned to read in first grade.  It was very boring stuff called "Fun with Jack and Jill".  I remember because I didn't like those books, but they opened up a different world for me later on.  Our slide was very high and silver metal.  You couldn't slide down it when the sun was too hot.  We had swings and a merry-go-round also.  I loved to grab the bars and "fly" as it twirled.  We also had monkey bars that I loved, but was forever in trouble for getting on because it wasn't "ladylike".  In my life, I came to hate that word!

I was the smallest girl in first grade.  I tended to be picked on by the bigger kids, and my mom was divorced, so that alone made me different.  In those days, parents were supposed to stay together and when they did not, the children were the ones who struggled.  Of course, women made less than men then, so I think it was rough on my mom too.  I remember that she worked every night.  I went to a babysitter's house in the afternoons until my mother got home.  

School was always something that I looked forward too, at least in those early years.  I had friends, and I wanted to do well.  It is so different today than the lessons that I had then.  I think that I was learning in first grade, what my grandchildren are learning in Kindergarten.  It is amazing when I think of how much knowledge these children today are learning.  

Ok, now it is your turn to write about first grade.  What are your memories about that time?  Don't forget to come back here and link up so that I can read what you write too.  

Sabbath Day Scribblings - Much more gently

"If we could look into each others heart's and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care."

Marvin J. Ashton 

1 Peter 4:8-10

8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Five Minute Friday - Begin

Today is not just another day.

It's a new opportunity,

Another chance,

A new beginning.

Embrace it!

Today is the last Five Minute Friday hosted over at Lisa Jo's place.  She has passed the baton onto someone else.  Today is a day of Good-byes and New Beginnings.  
The rules are always simple:
Write for five minutes without worrying about whether it is just right or not.
Link up over at Lisa Jo's.
Go and read and comment on the person who linked up before you.
Let’s write on one word for five beautiful, sacred, unrushed, unedited minutes —-> the word is BEGIN: 
GO

I can't tell you how many times that I have had to start over, to begin again.  There is one thing that I have learned in my life and that is that no matter what happens to us, no matter what choices we make, no matter what others think or act like, we always have the choice to begin again.  We get to choose to forgive.  We choose to move on, past the hard place, to find the promised joy at long last.  
There are times in my life when i have wished so hard that things would not go the way they were heading.  I have had to learn that endings are most often difficult.  But with the ending is always a chance to begin again.
I love that idea when I think about my Savior and how much He loves me.  He will take my sins and remove them from me.  All the red stains become as white as snow when I am willing to turn my life to Him and begin, once again.  
Hope is in the beginning.  It strengthens me and carries me onward through my trials.  Through the endings that are so very hard.  He comforts my heart, eases my mind and lets me start over to become.
The sweetness is always in the ability to begin. 

STOP

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in your own five minutes?  Don't forget to go over to Lisa Jo's this week and join up with the rest of us.  I hope to see you there!

Patience and a Hike

A moment of patience

In a moment of anger

saves you a hundred moments

of regret.

We went hiking several weeks ago, around a lake called Willow Springs.  It was supposed to be a 3.5 mile hike, but since the girls picked the trail, it ended up being closer to six miles.  Not on flat ground mind you, but over rocks and through brush and in holes and around obstacles.  I really did not think that I was going to make it.  I thought they just might need to send an indian travois back to drag me home.  

My mind could imagine that it would take about ten girls or so to get me back.  I never imagined in my wildest dreams that my feet would hurt so much.  I think I sprained areas that I never knew existed.  

I was, of course, last.  My two girls were with me, one on each side holding me up and helping me around the last two miles of trail.  The girls were angry because every single time we caught up with the group, the group would start off an leave again without giving me a chance to rest.  

This was an important lesson for my sweet daughters.  Sometimes, anger is not the best way to handle things.  You see, if I would have stopped, I think that I would not have been able to get going again.  Heavenly Father knew that, even if my daughters did not.  So, I kept walking and walking, and walking and stumbling and stumbling and stumbling some more.  

When we finally made it to the picnic area, I was done for the day.  I could literally not walk anymore.  I could wobble, but not walk.  My girls were still angry, but I let them know how I felt, and how grateful I was for all their help, and how much it helped me to make the journey because of their positive attitudes.  I needed them there that day.

I could have been angry, I never was, but I suppose I could have felt left out, left behind and out of the crowd and angry if I would have focused on that.  Instead, I did nothing but praise every single  one of those amazing girls who managed that hike.  They were all troopers, but especially my own two girls who were willing to be my little "hiking sticks", one of each side as I kept putting one foot after another.  

I have no regrets.  My feet still hurt, I had to get new shoes, and I don't know when I will actually feel better, but that is ok.  There are still no regrets and no sorrows.  

I am grateful for that beautiful day of hiking and kayaking and sisterhood.  

Wordless Wednesday - I'm A Big Girl Now!

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.

Holding On and Letting Go

I've got 99 problems, 

and 86 of them 

are completely made up scenarios 

in my head that I'm stressing about 

for no logical reason!

After going through the past couple of weeks with animal injuries and Kitty dying, I am learning a lot  about problems in general.  I tend to be a worrier.  I worry about all the things that might happen, all the things that could possibly happen and all the worst case scenarios that I can imagine.   This is exhausting.

I am good in an emergency.  I can deal with blood and guts and screaming and crying with no problem.  It is before the emergency (or even after) that I am not so good.  I love the above quote, because in my case it is totally true.  I completely make up the worst scenarios in my head, you know, the ones that could never happen.  

The problem with that is that when something does happen, I am not prepared because it is not one of my own scenarios!

Take our poor dog Gracie.  She was attacked by a black lab about too weeks ago.  The lab did a lot of damage (600.00 at the vet).  She had cuts that took many stitches to fix up.  She had wounds to her abdomen and her chest.  However, Gracie never worries.  

Oh, she did attach herself to us a little extra careful for a few days, but now that the cone of shame is gone, the stitches are out, and she is feeling better, she is right back to barking and running and just loving everyone.

Now, I know that Gracie is just a dog, but she is teaching me an important lesson.  She is teaching me how to live with every fibre of her little being.  She romps and plays and loves and sometimes even drives us slightly crazy, but she lives in the moment.  She loves in the moment.  And if you scratch her ears, she lives for all the attention that you are willing to give her right now.  

Maybe, just maybe, I need to learn to let go to the 86 made up problems that I am stressing about and just learn to let them go right into God's hands.  My own "cone of shame" seems to be my willingness to get sucked into the stress.  Maybe it is time to take it off and let it go.   I need to trust that this moment, is the one I am supposed to be living in.  I need to learn to have a little bit of faith in His timing.  

Memoir Monday- Discipline

Prompt: Describe a disciplinary method your parents used on you as a child that you use(d) on your own children?

My parents used a lot of ways to discipline, that i never have used in my life.  The one way that has stayed the same is grounding.  When I was a teen, I was often grounded to my room.  I wasn't an ordinary teen.  I did not rebel with drugs or bad friends, or running off.  My form of rebellion was to go to church.  Of  course, it probably helped that the church I went to was not the same as the one my parents wanted me to go to.  

When things were at their worst, I would sneak out my bedroom window and go to church, knowing that when I got home, there would be a beating and a grounding to go with it.  I was grounded from church for every seeming infraction.  I have stayed up to three months in my bedroom when my parents were home.  They "did not want to see my face".  

My parents couldn't ground me often from friends, I didn't really have any.  They couldn't ground me from babysitting, because I bought everything I needed with my own money and they did not want to buy anything that I might need.  I never thought I would ground my own children, but after all the other things I learned, this one, somehow has still stayed with me.

Of course, when my children are grounded, they still have to go the church and school.  They spend extra time on chores and homework, and they hate it as much as I used to!  Especially because I only use grounding when there is something that they really want to do instead of stay home with me!  

I have learned that grounding has to be fair.  They need to know it is a consequence based on their own actions.  They need to know that it is coming and that I expect the problem not to happen again.  I do think that grounding can be effective, although I don't believe in grounding for everything and I never ground them to their room.  I want them to be part of the family and part of what we do.  I want them to realize that although I am disappointed in their behavior, I will always love them and want to be with them.  

My family means the world to me.  They are the best blessing that I could ever have.

Sabbath Day Scribblings - The Class to Forgive

Never sacrifice your class to get even with someone who has none.  Let them take the gutter; you take the high road.

“Of You It Is Required to Forgive”
President Gordon B. Hinckley
First Counselor in the First Presidency

A spirit of forgiveness and an attitude of love and compassion toward those who may have wronged us is of the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us has need of this spirit. The whole world has need of it. The Lord taught it. He exemplified it as none other has exemplified it.

In the time of His agony on the cross of Calvary, with vile and hateful accusers before Him, those who had brought Him to this terrible crucifixion, He cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

None of us is called on to forgive so generously, but each of us is under a divinely spoken obligation to reach out with pardon and mercy. The Lord has declared in words of revelation: “My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.

“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

“And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds” (D&C 64:8–11).

Forgiveness can be so very hard, but I have learned in my own life, that it is one of the things that bring me the most comfort of all.  When I am angry, I do not remember that the person I am angry with is a Child of God.  I do not remember that I too, make mistakes.  I only focus on what they have done to me or mine.  

When I forgive, I turn it all into the hands of a loving Heavenly Father, who knows their hearts better than I ever could.  He knows if they truly repent, or if they seek forgiveness and mercy for their sins.  I have need of that forgiveness for myself.  Who am I to deny it to anyone else.  

I know, that He alone is able to judge without anger or malice.  He alone, can make my own sins bearable to me.  

Five Minute Friday - Finish -Trying something new

So, today is five minute Friday.  It is a day when we write, just to write, without worrying about whether it is just right or not.  Today the prompt is finish.  

Don't forget when you are done to link back over at Lisa Jo's place and read some other words about finishing.  I hope to see you there.  

Never be afraid

to try something new.

Remember

Amateurs built the ark,

Professionals built the titanic.

FINISH

GO

Life is full of trying new things.  Babies learn to crawl and walk and run.  Children go to school and recess and learn to read and write and do math.  We become teens and learn to drive and date and find love.  We grow into adults and we think we are finished with all of that, but it comes around again.  One big cycle, one finish after another.  One new thing more.  

I have been places in my life that I would wish to change if I could, but the Lord had other ideas for me.  Things I needed to know so that I could finish and grow and evolve.  To learn new things is scary, but to discover the finish can be even worse.  It is that leap of faith off into the unknown place.  That instant when you realize you have done all you can and it is time to move on.  We finish school, we finish work, we finish with small children, we finish with teens, all things grow and develop and change.  All times in their seasons and in God's timing.  

2 Timothy 4:7 says simply:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

And so, I do the same.  I love the quote that says, "The goal is not only to win the race, but to run it in honor and dignity, in testimony and worthiness".  Marvin J. Ashton

We each try and finish the race.  We each stumble and fall, sometimes even crawl to where we know we need to be.  But not a single one of us can finish on our own.  He will pick us up in the storms our our lives and carry our burdens upon His shoulders and help us to run our own races in testimony and worthiness.  You are not now, nor have you ever been alone.  You can finish what He has called upon you to do.  You are His and He knows your name.  

STOP

Now it is your turn.  Don't forget to share your own thoughts!  I hope to see you back over at Lisa Jo's.  

Good-byes are hard to do

We had to say good-bye to Kitty this week and it was a hard thing.  She got sick and died before I could get her to the vet.  I did not even realize that she was ill.  My girls really miss her already and want another cat, but we just can't.  Too many of the older kids are allergic no matter what we try and a couple of the Grandkids have asthma, so kitties are out of the picture for now.  Still, it is never easy to lose a friend and this one slept with the girls, purred at them, and really loved them.  Their hearts are sad and it is hard to understand how this takes time too.  This week has been full of tears and missing and good-byes.  It is a time to remember that friends are those who love of unconditionally, just as we are, messy rooms and all.

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.
It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”
― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

Good-bye Kitty, we will never forget how much we loved you and needed you in our lives.  

Broken Crayons

So how do you best respond when mental or emotional challenges confront you or those you love? Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening at this pulpit: “That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there” [Thomas S. Monson, “We Never Walk Alone,” general Relief Society meeting, Sept. 28, 2013]. 

There are times in each of our lives when we are "broken", when we are discouraged, when we are down, but those feelings do not make us less valuable than we are.  Our ability may be damaged for a time, but the Lord does not look at that in judgement on our person.  He knows what we need.  He loves us, He wants us to be happy.  His is an unconditional acceptance of us in the face of our trials.  He knows that this too shall pass.  

My daughter, when she was young, loved to color.  We were sitting in church and I went to pull all the crayons out of my bag for her to color on the program.  Somehow, (in a large family there is never anyone to blame!) the bag had been sat on and all the crayons were broken in pieces.  I told her that she could use her dad's pen instead and she looked at me and said, "that's ok mommy, the broken ones still color."

What a lesson for me to remember.  In my own fight with depression and discouragement, I still have worth.  I can still make a difference.  Just like the broken crayons, I too, can still color.