Today is Sunday one of my favorite days. I love going to church and spiritually getting recharged and reminded of the things that my Heavenly Father wants me to do. My mission ...so to speak.
I especially loved today, because Jenny got to spend 3 nights with us for her Sleep Over. She is always sooo excited just to hang with Jeff ( Poppa ) and I. In her prayer over dinner she said
" thank you for letting me do a sleep over at Nana and Poppa who love me and I love them" Talk about melting your heart! Just knowing that we can make a difference in each of our grandchildren's lives, is sooooo worth it!
On the way home from church we were talking about what we could do today? I mentioned that maybe we could bake something to take to our neighbors, and for some of our friends who had Birthdays recently. Then Jenny said
"Nana, do you even know how to make cookies?" I had to laugh, I always try to sew, crochet and create in lots of ways with the girls when they come over but I don't do a lot of baking... just because of all the sugar, which I try hard to stay away from.
I thought oh my, Mom wound be ashamed of me for not baking a lot with them. Cooking was her passion and the way she served many. It also was comforting to her. Mine is not eatting or baking, it is creating with my sewing, quilting or crocheting...that is comforting to me and a lot better for my body :)
So you guessed what we did next? We got out the White Death ( white sugar ), Jenny is pointing to the label on the sugar container, but she doesn't know how to read yet, so she doesn't really think that was as funny as her Mom thought it was when she first saw it! But the label didn't really scare off my kids at all. They just think their Mom is weird ( that's hard to imagine huh? )
I decided to teach her how to make my Mom's famous Ginger Snap Cookies, Mom really was well known for her cookies, cakes, fudge and more. She was an amazing cook!
Then after we made them and got them in the oven, Jenny just watched them the whole time. Ok, by the way she is acting, maybe I should cook with her more often?:) She watched them carefully and was soooo excited when they were out and cooled ...so she could taste one!
As we were talking about these being my Mom's favorite recipe, Jenny said " I think my Grandma Johnson would be proud of me for liking Sugar and her yummy cookies" That is probably true? I think she would have been proud of me too!
My whole house smelled like my childhood home at Christmas time! So grateful that I have had the time to spend with Jenny and to share a recipe that has been handed down from my sweet talented Mom to me. Oh how I miss her! And man, she would have loved all of her great-grandchildren!
Got a photo of Oakley today, wearing the new headband I crocheted for her, today at church. Isn't she getting big? How I love creating for my grandkids and family and friends!
I loved the lesson that was taught in church today. Here are some of the notes about it. It made me grateful for the journey stories of my life!
Here is a story from Dieter F. Uchtdorf...
"I grew up in Zwickau, in the former East Germany. When I was about 11 years old, my father fell under increased scrutiny as a political dissenter, and my parents felt that the only safe choice for our family would be to flee to West Germany. It was decided that the safest plan was to leave at different times and follow different routes to the West, leaving all our belongings behind.
Since my father was at greatest risk, he took the quickest journey, through Berlin. My older brothers headed north, and each found his own way west. My sister—who would have been the age of many of you here today—together with Helga Fassmann, her teacher in Young Women, and some others took a train that passed briefly through West Germany. They paid a porter to unlock one of the doors for them, and after the train crossed the West German border, they jumped from the moving train to freedom. How I admired my sister for her courage.
I was the youngest child, and my mother decided that she and I would walk across a mountain range separating the two countries. I remember that she packed a lunch as if we were going for a hike or a picnic in the mountains.
We took a train as far as we could and then walked for long hours, getting ever closer to the West German border. The borders were tightly controlled, but we had a map and knew of a time and a place where it might be safe to cross. I could sense my mother’s anxiety. She observed the area intensely to see if we were being followed. With each step, her legs and knees seemed to become weaker. I helped carry her heavy bag filled with food, vital documents, and family photos as we climbed up one last, long hill. Surely, she thought, we had passed the border by now. When she finally felt safe, we sat down and started to eat our picnic lunch. For the first time that day, I’m sure, she breathed more easily.
It was only then that we noticed the border sign. It was still far ahead of us! We were having our picnic on the wrong side of the border. We were still in East Germany!
Border guards could show up any moment!
My mother frantically packed up our lunch, and we hurried up the hillside as quickly as we could. This time we didn’t dare stop until we knew with certainty that we had reached the other side of the border.
Even though each member of our family had taken very different routes and experienced very different hardships along the way, eventually all of us made it to safety. We were finally reunited as a family. What a glorious day that was!
There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take. Remember, you are truly a daughter of God!
With this in mind, I invite you to walk confidently and joyfully. Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises.11 That is why He commands us to “be of good cheer.”
As you joyfully use the map your loving Father has provided for your journey, it will lead you to holy places and you will rise to your supernal potential. You will grow into the daughter of God you hoped you would become."
I believe that every life is a collection of individual “journey stories.”
