Taking Offense

If you are on a common, 

continuous search to be offended, 

you will always find what you're looking for; even when it isn't there.

It is easy to be offended.  It is easy to be provoked.  It is easy to look for the negative with all the stresses in this life we lead.  All I have to do is stand behind a counter, or drive down the road and I manage of offend someone.  

I attended a conference where a councilor spoke about how we take things personally, and about the way we respond to anger and yelling and gestures.  She spoke about being happy, and about how it was possible, no matter what place in life you find yourself.

So, I made myself a promise.   I would try to be kinder in the words that I speak.  I would try to choose to act instead of react to the problems that I face.  I would lower my voice when I am angry instead of raising it to be heard.  This has been a week of experimenting.

I have discovered that when someone is yelling, if I lower my voice, they lower theirs.  I have found that saying "I'm sorry" goes along way toward calming down a disgruntled customer.  I am experiencing the results of my own kindness.  

When I search for the good in others, I find it.  If there is a misunderstanding, I am trying to straighten it out as soon as I realize it happened.  I am learning that it is up to me to choose what I find in life.  If I look for offense, it is all around me, and I am miserable because of it.  If I look for kindness, it is also all around me, and I am happier for seeing it in others.  

I am learning that it is up to me to decide what I am looking for.

Mormon 9:31 Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

When I can not see

I will walk with faith

Even whenI cannot see.

"You can learn to use faith more effectively by applying this principle taught by Moroni: “Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”  Thus, every time you try your faith, that is, act in worthiness on an impression, you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. Those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger. The Lord knows your needs. When you ask with honesty and real intent, He will prompt you to do that which will increase your ability to act in faith. With consistent practice, faith will become a vibrant, powerful, uplifting, inspiring force in your life. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise".  Richard G. Scott

Five Minute Friday - Hands

Oh, it is Friday again (or in my case, another Saturday) and I really love these days of writing for five whole minutes.  This is where we link up over at Lisa Jo's and share whatever we want to without worrying about whether it is just right or not.  Today the prompt is on -

Hands.....

GO

For the past few weeks, I was able to hold my sweet new grandson in my arms.  I was able to clasp those tiny hands in my own well worn larger ones.  What an amazing blessing, to watch those we love bear children of their own.  To find the faces that look like ours so many years ago.  When I was a young mother, I used to think that the time would never pass quickly enough.  There were so many hands that needed my attention and my time.  So many things that my own hands had to do.  So much work and so little rest.
I never realized how quickly time really passes.  Sometimes now it seems to roll by like a noisy train wings.  My own children have grown, (most of them) and they are having families of their own.  It is so wonderful to hold onto these little hands that are a part of me as well.  Oh, so quickly those hands go from holding me to pushing me away and finally into letting me go.
I wanted those days to last forever.
And so, today, I cherish the moments of little hands.  I am willing to take a moment and breathe the smell of baby in and out.  I want to have hands of my own that are examples.  Hands that are tender and loving. Hands that are at peace.  Hands that bring comfort.  Hands to serve.  Hands to lift.  I want to be more than I have ever been. I want to be like Him.
I want to have Hands like my Savior.  Because I know that we are each His.  His hands were alway gentle and kind.  His hands succored the sick and lifted the dying.  His hands fed the multitude and dried the tears.  His hands are what I want mine to be.

STOP

Psalms 31:20 

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

Now it is your turn.  What can you write in your own five minutes?  Don't forget to join the rest of us over at Lisa Jo's!

Being Defeated

Being Defeated is often a temporary condition;

giving up is what makes it permanent.  

Every single one of us in our lives will suffer a little from defeat.  When I was young, we played sports, we raced bikes, we raced on our skateboards.  We played games.  I learned chess and checkers and cards.  I lost at most of them for a long time before I started winning.  I learned to roller skate (yes, at one time we had skates instead of blades!), and I fell down over 300 times on the first day of learning.  It was hard.  

I believe that every one of us needs to realize that defeat is only as permanent as we want it to be.  I can be beat for a game, or I never need to play it again.  I can fall down, but choose to get right back up.  It is always hard to keep trying, but losing is really a matter of attitude.  

I loved my skate board.  It was skinny and small and I could do jumps and ramps.  I have banged up my hands and knees and broken my fingers catching myself, but through it all, I had fun.  I ran, I raced, I lived.  

Sometimes, I think that we want everything right now.  We aren't always willing to work for it, or work toward it either.  It is like singing.  I love to sing, but I am only as good as I practice and study.  I have to practice reading the notes and work at getting them right.  When it all comes together, the music is amazing.  Giving up, is what makes it a noisy mess.  

One of my very favorite scriptures is found in Joshua 24:15

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

I love this because the people chose to be defeated.  They were on the "other side of the flood".  But Joshua did not make the same choice.  I love that he teaches that we all have choices.  We can make any one that we want to, but they all come with their own set of consequences.   Defeat is only as permanent as we choose it to be.   

Run With Patience

The Apostle Paul’s counsel to the Hebrews has great application for us today. He urged them, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1–2).

So many times in life, we forget to "run with patience".  We are so busy trying to go here and there as fast as we can, that we sometimes don't realize it is not the speed that is important, it is the race itself.  It is the time we have between the start and the finish that matter most of all.  We get so focused on the finish line itself, that we forget to enjoy the race.  To welcome those we meet.  To race beside our friends and family.  We forget to truly enjoy the being together.  The love, laughter and even tears that bring us together in these wonderful moments.  Often, in the race, we find that the very best things are those which come from the waiting and the wanting and the dreaming.  We find our happily ever afters in the reaching.  The good is so much more appreciated and enjoyed when we are not sure that we will find it.
One of my favorite quotes of all comes from Neal A. Maxwell.  In a meeting years ago, He said,

"The goal is not only to win the race,

But to run it in honor and dignity,

In testimony and worthiness." 

For me, I have ceased to believe that we must cross the finish line, in first place and completely out of breath.  Instead, I have come to understand that the important event is simply that we cross it being our best selves.  Knowing that we are worthy for the other side.  We all have questions.  We all have concerns.  At one time or another in our lives, we are even afraid.  But the goal has never been to win all by ourselves.  The goal has always been to make it home with as many of our loved ones as it is possible to bring.  In hiking, we slow our steps to the steps of the hiker at the back.  I think in life it would help us so much more to do the same.  Often, the one at the back has so much to give if we will only take the time to slow down and listen.  

Wordless Wednessday - Fun In The Sun

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 - Nothing

OH, Friday, My favorite time of the week.  Lisa Jo's is the place where once a week we take the chance to just write, and not worry if it’s just right or not.

For five minutes flat.

Here’s how the game works: you simply stop, drop and write. Set your words free. Don’t edit them, don’t fret over them, don’t try to make them perfect.

Come take the Five Minute Friday challenge.

1. Write for only five minutes.
2. Link back over at Lisa Jo's and invite others to play along.
3. Go high five the word artist who linked up before you with an awesome comment.

It’s liberating; give it a a try and see.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt:

Nothing….

START

Nothing
by Patricia A. Pitterle

I am not nothing and I know it,
Though it's sometimes hard to see.
I've been taught that there is value
In blessings He has given me.

I am a child of Heavenly Father
And my spirit is divine.
I seek to follow in His ways
By doing good and being kind.

I see my faults so clearly
All the darkness, all the sin.
I want to cast them all aside,
Open my heart and let Him in.

I can't seem to find perfection
No matter how I try,
I can't erase what has been done,
Though I wish and hope and cry.

And now, at last, I come to Him
With tears upon my face.
He takes my hand, walks with me
And heals my past disgrace.

I am not nothing, with Him by my side,
He fills my heart with peace.
He teaches me that I have worth
His love will never cease.

I am not nothing, for I know I'm His,
Someday my eyes will see His face.
The past mistakes that I have made
Become as nothing, through His grace.

Stop

Ok, now it is your turn.  What few words can you write in your own five minutes?
Don't forget to come back over to Lisa Jo's and link up with the rest of us so that we can see them.

The Wounds We Give

No one Heals themselves
by wounding another.

We all cry.  Life can be scary or painful or just plain miserable, but at one point or another, we all get hurt.  It is easy to want to lash out at someone else, to want to hurt them like you have been hurt.  I have found in my life, that the more I try and hurt someone else, the more miserable I am.  The friends that become enemies, the tears in the night, the ache in my heart, have all taught me that I will never heal myself by hurting anyone else.  
I love the story of the Prodigal Son.  I love the fact that the father had TWO sons.   Both needed forgiveness and blessings.  One experienced poverty, deprivation and despair.  The other experienced jealousy and envy.  Both received the blessings and love that we needed.  
This life is not about a competition.  If I make it to heaven, it doesn't mean that you won't.  If you make it, it doesn't mean that I can't.  Our Heavenly Father loves us all.  He wants us to return to him.  He cares for us individually.  He knows our hearts, and our pain.  He has "engraven you upon the palms of His hands".  

 "Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.” Jeffery R. Holland

Wordless Wednesday - Here's Look'in At You!

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.

The Light in the Fridge

If we are not supposed to have midnight snacks,

Why is there a light in the refrigerator?

I must admit, I love to snack.  I could feast on Oreo cookies and chocolate cake several times a day.  I would look like it too!  But I am not sure if the way I would look would completely stop me from doing it.  I do know, that the way I would feel keeps me from eating sweets more than every once in a while.  (As long as I don't buy the packages of Oreo cookies!)

I taught a lesson a week ago on the scriptures and how they are supposed to be a feast for us.  How the Lord never intending them to be something that we turn to every once in a while.  I talked with the girls about what they think of when they think of a feast.  I talked with them about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays and even Easter.  How, when we think about those meals, we can even smell them in our minds.  We look forward to them with anticipation and with excitement.  We put together the dinners and desserts with love and joy.
The scriptures are very much like a compass or a map or even a GPS.  They will guide us on the path we should go if we will only use them.  Too many of us treat the scriptures like they might be a snack, something we eat every once in a while.  Something that we take out and nibble at from time to time.  But to really feast on them means that we look forward to the light that is in them . We look for that light, we search it, we embrace it, we welcome it.
It becomes the light that leads us home.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  Psalms 119:105

Insignificant

Never think

That what you have to offer

is insignificant.

There will always be

Someone out there

that needs

what you have to give.

Sometimes, it is hard to be a mom.  At least, I have found it so.  Our society today, wants to know what we are, who we are, who we have become.  We get our pride from our accomplishments in life.  We get our sense of self.  Mostly, those accomplishments are based on what the world thinks are good, and bright, and smart and beautiful.  They are not based on what we find within ourselves.  

For a very long time, I thought that motherhood was somehow not living up to my potential.  I always wanted to be a doctor.  I always wanted to help others.  Instead, I married and helped my husband.  I had many children, I worked at pretty mundane jobs.  I have struggled to find the good in myself.  To realize that I am not insignificant to the world.  

I have learned that motherhood is my most important calling on earth.  I have had the experience of touching the souls of God's children.  Of loving them through their trials. Of teaching them that He loves them.  I have learned, that of all my tasks, this one lasts the longest and means the most.  My heart is full as I watch my grandchildren come into this world one at a time.  It is even more full as I watch my children step up and become amazing mothers and fathers.  

I have learned that there are those in life who need exactly what I have to give.  I have never been insignificant.  

“MOTHERS ARE ENDOWED WITH A LOVE THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER LOVE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.”  Marjorie Pay Hinckley 

You are a child of God who He entrusted to your mother’s care, her hands substituted for God’s as she bandaged a skinned knee or wiped away your tears. Her words of love and wisdom guided you through rough patches, instilling in you the confidence to succeed. The things she taught you became the lessons you now teach to your own children. 

Being a mother is so much more than a biological process. It’s a heavenly job created by God before this life. In heaven, all of us who live now and all who have ever lived on earth lived with God as His spirit sons and daughters. God has a plan that allows all of us to come to earth, acquire physical bodies, and grow through life’s experiences, eventually returning to Him again after we die.

And I leave with you one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon.  This is from the story of the 2000 stripling warriors who were taught by their mothers. No matter how much we might think that what we say does not matter, it does. Our children will remember us.  We will never be insignificant.   

Alma 57:21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

Stories We Tell

Fears,

Are Stories

We Tell Ourselves.

We all do that, at least,  I think that many of us do.  I have been afraid of so many things in my life.  Afraid of the dark, afraid to try, afraid to succeed, afraid that I would not have any friends, afraid that my friends wouldn't like me.  If you really think about it, there is so very much to fear in our lives.
I am on a vacation with my new Grandson and grand daughter.  I am spending grammy time, without fear.  I am learning to love them and hold them and kiss them and squeeze them and call them both George.  For me, the fears are about being unwanted or unaccepted.  They are about plane crashes and car problems.  They take place fully in the magical realm that is called my imagination.  Part of overcoming the fear, is to beat it, on small step at a time.  It is not easy, but it is so very possible.  In the midst of all my stories of fear, I will try and write, but don't be surprised if we take a little break here.  Babies in my life are amazing things.  They remind me of God's love for each of his children.  They snuggle, they cry, the eat, the wet, all in all, they remember those parts of like that we need to be reminded of every once in a while.
I think babies remind me that they cannot conquer their fears on their own.  It takes a family to calm a child.  It takes a Grammy to hold Alexander and a dad to read Emma Bear her favorite stories.  It takes the mom to get everything ready and to hold hand tickle her precious daughter.
It takes us all to over come the stories of fear that we have told ourselves of why the best cant happen.  Of why we don't deserve this.  Of why it doesn't have the meaning that our hearts know it has.
Fear is what is inside us.  We choose to bury it there in the darkness, or bring it out into the little light and have a little more fun.
Use your imagination for all the good that surrounds us.  Figure out how you can change your own little corner of the world.  How can you share happiness instead of hurt and sorrow.  It is up to each of us to find  the imagination inside that will let us be free.
The dream is ours.  The stories are ours too.  What amazing work of art have you to share?
Make it a masterpiece.  Because when I look at this little man, I know that he is capable of so many more things than I could ever do.  He has not and will never be the fear.  The fear is that I won't know him as much as I want to.
As much as my heart aches to hold him, to whisper stories of his family, to remind him that he will always be loved.  I want fear to have no place in his heart, because his heart is already full of the stories for those who love him best.  Those stories will get him though.  Sometimes love is enough and then some.

Let It Go

-----Learn
-----to let things
-----you cannot control
-----go.

I have several children and grandchildren who love Disney.  We watch all things Disney in our home and probably own most of the movies.  The favorite this year has been the movie "Frozen".  Now, I have to tell you, that you have never seen the movie frozen until you have sat in a living room full of children all singing at the top their lungs (and just slightly off key), the words to the song "Let It Go".  I have grown to love it and it always makes me laugh.  

The message to the song is interesting.  I think that it is partly about pretending to be something you are not, and also about leaving everything behind.  Nether one of those things works for any of us.  We all have things in our lives that we wish didn't happen.  We all wish would could "let it go".  Unfortunately, it never completely goes away.  We learn to move on, we learn to not dwell on it.  We hopefully learn the lesson that we needed.  When we try too hard to pretend to be what we are not, eventually, we are going to not be able to keep it in.  Something has got to give, and usually, that something is us.  

There can be so much hurt in our lives, but there can also be so much sharing and giving and loving, if we will only open our hearts and let it in.  For me, that is the message of frozen, not to let it go, but to let it in.  

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, Let it go
Turn my back and slam the door.

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in
Heaven knows I tried.

Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always had to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well now they know.

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway.

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
Up here in the cold thin air I finally can breathe
I know I left a life behind but I'm too relieved to grieve.

Let it go, Let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, Let it go,
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway.

Standing - frozen in the life I've chosen
You won't find me, the past is so behind me
Buried in the snow.

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go,
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway...

Sunday Scribblings - Forgiveness

Forgiveness is not always easy.

At times, it feels more painful

than the wound we suffered,

to forgive the one who inflicted it.

And yet,

there is no peace without forgiveness.

Marianne Williamson

The picture above was of one of my daughters who discovered at the aquarium where we were visiting, that when you put your hands in this fish tank, the fish immediately swim to your fingers and start lightly nibbling.  She loved it once she worked her courage up to try, but no matter how much she told the other girls that it did not hurt, not a single one was willing to put their hand in there for the fishes to taste.  

In this case, there was no wound for her, except for the unbelief of those around her. The peace comes in doing our own individual best, not in convincing anyone else that they need to be just like us.  She had her own amazing experience because she wasn't afraid.  One of my all time favorite scriptures reminds me to trust the Savior in all my fears.  I love this one.  

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Peace is Better

Be selective in your battles

for sometimes,

Peace is better

than being right. 

Ahh, we have a couple of extra dogs up this weekend.  The biggest one that you see there is Madden.  He is 11 weeks old.  As you can see, he is pretty big already and going to get a lot bigger in a very short period of time.  The little angry dog with teeth is our Yorkie, Yoda.  He is not happy at all with a new bigger dog visiting our house.  He runs around growling and showing his teeth a lot.  Obvioursly, he has not learned when and with whom to pick his battles.  

In his case, it is easy to see how Yoda needs to be a little more selective in his battles.  The rather large puppy might not hurt him now, (although those teeth are sharp as my shoes can now attest!) but Yoda ought to be forming a friendship and not a case of mortal enemies!  Sometimes, peace really is better.

We all have experiences like my little seven pound dog.  We want to be right.  We want to know the answers.  We want to protect our own territories.  We want our kids to not be picked on.  But sometimes, it is better for us to find a way to have peace in our lives rather than always being right.  We learn more by forgiving rather than holding grudges.  Every single one of us make mistakes.  Every single one of us has sinned and every single one of us need the peace of the Saviors love.  

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Misunderstanding

The worst distance between two people

Is misunderstanding.

I am definitely getting older.  When my older children were young, we experienced lots of misunderstandings.  Someone would mutter under their breath, someone else would hear, someone would push or shove or take.  Someone would use words that were not nice.  They could and would make each other cry.  One of my most used expressions at the time was, "if it makes someone else cry, it is not fun or funny!"  I know that they got tired of hearing it, and it took many, many years for them to finally understand (I hope) that teasing is mean.  It is tremendously hard on people to be mad fun of.  It hurts their hearts and their spirits.  We have learned together that the worst distance ever between us is always a misunderstanding.  

In this crazy age of technology, it is easier than ever to develop misunderstandings.  The way we write, the punctuation that we leave out.  The shortcuts we take all lead to misunderstandings.  As I try to teach the young women I am working with at church this principle, I know they think I am old fashioned.  I know that sometimes they tease on purpose.  They MEAN to hurt each other.  That can be the hardest to bear of all.  So I work on teaching them that no matter how angry or hurt they think they are, it is never, ever all right to treat anyone in a way you would not want to be treated.  Even if they treat you that way.  

It hurts my heart when they are unkind to each other.  It is so hard for them to understand that every single moment can help to encourage someone else.  You can literally be the reason that their day changed for the better.  

I found a good scripture for this one in the New Testament.  I hope that it touches you as it has touched me.  May the words we speak always bring happiness to the Lord.  

Colossians 8:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Wordless Wednesday - Dr. E and Baby Brother

 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.

Building Faith

If the blessings were immediate,

Choosing the right,

Would not build faith.  

This was my daughter last summer learning to boulder.  I can't tell you how many times she fell in the pool.  It was trail and error all evening.  But she tried.  The goal was to climb out of the water and, using her hands and feet, make it over to the other side.  It was so much harder than she thought it would be.  It looked easy, but it really wasn't.  She did not give up, and she actually made it pretty far before the evening was over.   

Now, she believed when she started that it was an easy task.  The blessing of making it to the other side would be immediate.  She wanted to show us that she was strong enough to do something that was that "easy".  She found out that what appeared easy was not easy at all.  The blessing that she was looking for was not to be found.  Yet, she found the tenacity to keep trying.  She had to struggle to get out of the water.  She had to use strength she did not know that she had in order to move fingertip by fingertip across the rock.  

She might not have succeeded quite the way she imagined, but she learned that she could try hard things.  She learned not to give up.  I love that she had the faith in herself to try.

One of my very favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Mormon.  I love it because it reminds me that faith is not knowledge.  It is hope and belief.  It is being willing to do our best even when it is hard.  It is being willing to keep trying even when we fail.  The blessings come after the trials and often in ways we never imagined.  

Ether 12:6   And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

A Piece of Cake

As I've grown older I've learned: 

that pleasing everyone is impossible, 

but making them mad is a piece of cake!

I have a knack for doing things to annoy others. I suppose that is something that we can all say to one degree or another. I always wanted everyone to be happy, to like me, to want to be around me. I suppose that you could say that I wanted to be "popular". I have learned as I have gotten older, that it is not my job to make others happy. It is not my job to be popular. I am however, supposed to be the best that I am capable of being.  One of my favorite scriptures can be found in John, in the New Testament:

John 16:22   And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

 I take this as a promise from the Lord, that although we have sorrow here upon the earth, there will come a day when we will rejoice, when we will have joy.  We all, each of us, go through times of sorrow.  We cannot escape them.  Those times will mold us and shape us and help us to appreciate all the blessings that we are really given.  I find that those times help me to keep everything in the proper perspective.
None of us want sorrow or pain.  Most of us don't like change.  Many times we only see the here and now and not the bigger picture that is our life.  But, if I am honest with myself, I know that those trials are just as important in my development as are the joys.  I just don't like them as much!  So today, I am going to be grateful for the silly, happy, crazy times.  I am going to be grateful for the love of family and the shelter of home.  I am join to be grateful that I can't please everyone, because I know that I really can please Him.
And in that joy, my heart is full.

Those beautiful moments

Live for the moments

You can't put into words.

Enjoy the music.  This is one of my amazing daughters.  She has had so many struggles in her short life, and overcome so very much.  We are indeed blessed with the moments that we have.