Tough, tough day!

Today started out early when I went to a friend's house for an Estate Sale. I have been to Estate Sales before...only one or two. But never to an Estate Sales of a dear friend, it was tough to watch everyone just go through their things...as if they were just junk! I caught myself wanting to buy it all... so that  their stuff didn't go to strangers but by someone who knew and loved them.

After that I went to my friend's funeral. It was truly a celebration of her life and to hear from her children and grandchildren through a song...was inspiring and touching to say the least.
Here are some of the notes that I took as her children talked, so many of us left the funeral...inspired and wanting to be a better person. That is the life of an amazing person!

First her 3 daughters spoke they said...
...Our Mother had a life of abuse but she broke the cycle and created her home to be a Safe Haven for them. And she also raised a family of children who loved the Lord and knew how to keep covenants to the Lord.
...She was determined to go to college and graduate, she was the first in her family.
...She became an attorney and was one who was adamant on protecting children.
...She taught us to always focus on finding the good in people.
...She was all about service to others!
...She shared with us her love and testimony of the Savior, which was evident in her everyday life.
...She made us who we are...because of her love.
...She was the greatest example to us!

Her son who spoke near the end said that he had a dream over a year ago...where his Mother died. He woke up crying and said it really shook him to the core... to think that anything would happen to his Mom. So he decided to write down 10 Principles and Lessons that his Mom taught him. 
1.HOW TO WRITE...He said when other kids got in trouble they probably got put in time out or got spanked. But in their case, his Mother made them write a paper about whatever it was that they did. He said he remember well writing a 3 page letter on Honesty...but couldn't remember what he did :) He said that his Mom said "it was their OPPORTUNITY " to learn from the mistake they made. And why they shouldn't do it again!
2. RESPECT, CHARITY, GRATITUDE and SERVICE...she made us write Thank You notes for everything and to everyone. Teaching us how important every type of service was.
3. HOW TO COOK... she always took the opportunity to let us cook with her. Dinner time was valuable to her.
4.WHAT CONVERSION REALLY MEANS..she shared how she became to know about the church and what that meant to her. She always told us how grateful she was for the knowlege that she recieved. She also shared her testimony of Forever Families with them.
5.HOW TO SET A TABLE... Mom was particular about how to do that, and through that I learned alot about how important it is to pay attention to detail. Plus, that crossed over to details about being OBEDIENT.
6. HOW TO ARGUE...she was stubborn, but that made her an effective Attorney. It has benefited many children throughout her life.
7. HOW TO TREAT YOUR SPOUSE...because of the hard life she had lived as a child, she was determined not to ever marry. But when she met and fell in love with my Dad, she said it was her greatest gift. She always told us how blessed she was... to be married to him. Their love for each other was a great example to us! In her wedding band Dad had it engraved with the words "You are the perfect one for me "
8. HOW TO FORGIVE..You would have to know the life my Mother before.. to truly understand how teaching us to forgive was such a big deal. But to talk about her life isn't appropriate here... but let me tell you, she taught us all how to overcome things and to forgive not matter what.
9. CHARITY...it was evident in everything she did. She always taught us to serve and give to Others. She taught us by example! She was a Christlike Example to us and others.
10. ALWAYS AND FOREVER... It was a children's book she always read to us, about a Mother's love. And she always ended all of our conversations or her letters or cards to us by saying she loved us always and forever. This principle taught us that she knew we could be a Forever Family if we live a righteous and obedient life. My Mother knew there was life after this, she bore that testimony to us always.
And because of her and my Dad, I know she will ALWAYS AND FOREVER, be my MOM!

One of the hymns we love to hear is... I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES because the words are a testament of our chance to live again too!

"To all who have lost loved ones, we would turn Job’s question to an answer: If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” ²⁰

Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so.

With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again. “Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’” ²¹ May the whole world know it and live by that knowledge..."  ~Thomas S. Monson

I left this sweet friend's funeral with a determination to
... write more letters to my children so that always know that I love them and what I hope for them
... to take more photos with them ( so that we have memories saved together )
...to send more gifts to my chidren and grandchildren ( so that they will have something as a reminder of how much I love them ) a tangable gift of my love!
...to be more forgiving
...to look more for the good in others
...and to tell Jeff and my kids and grandkids more often...just how much I love them!
...and to be a better Mother,Grandmother, Wife, Sister and Friend!

So you can imagine now why my day was so tough. I haven't really accomplised anything and everything makes me cry. It hits too close to home for me, and it makes life seem even more precious.

Good night dear friends! I truly love and appreciate each of you!

God is in the DETAILS of our life!

Our son Bradley served a mission for our church in the Phillipines after he graduated from High School. He was our first to serve a mission, and sending him clear across the world was some times worriesome for his Mom :) 

I remember well when we would miss a weekly email from him ( it didn't happen often but when it did, it was hard. We waited all week to get his emails and hear about his life. Those letters was something that were priceless to me, they showed me how much he loved the Lord.  And it showed me how selfless he was becoming as he served and loved the people in the Phillipines. 

 So when I read this article HERE:

by Jason F. Wright about his daughter on her mission and how the he believes the Lord is in the details of our life... I totally agree with that. Many times He has answered my small and maybe even silly prayers, but it just reminds me that I matter, my life matters and my family matters to Him! And that is a really blessing in my life! Hope  you enjoy the article.Good Night dear friends!

Notes in the shower?

Ever since I can remember, I have scribbled down notes on any kind of piece of paper I can find. The funny thing is, I know what you are thinking...why not just get a notebook and keep all your notes in there? Well, I have done that too, the problem is, there is a notebook in the kitchen, and one in the car, then another one in my sewing room, and on and on. Then I try to combine them and just end up forgetting to write in the main notebook because it is somewhere else and so I get yet ANOTHER notebook.

Last week when Lee was home for a short visit, we were at Target and you guessed it...all the school supplies are on sale...NOTEBOOKS for only 17 cents! I couldn't help myself, I got 10 of them and then the next day without him ( because he gave me such a hard time ) I purchased 10 more!

I realize at the age of 56, chances are good that this isn't issue of mine probably isn't going to change! :)  I have told the kids and Jeff for years that I need help for my Paper Issues, but do they get me help? No, they would rather just have something to tease me about... family! :)

But thinking about it tonight makes me smile... because I have a friend who has chocolate hidden or stashed all of her house, I shouldn't tease her because when I pass away, think of all the notebooks and pieces of paper that my family will find. And what they probably don't know, is that even though something is written on the back of a gum wrapper, top of junk mail, back of newspaper or even on a piece of napkin, it was something important to me at the time..maybe a new sewing idea, someone's name that I met at the store and didn't want to forget, a phone number, someones birthday, a quote that I just heard, or even a memory that I just thought of and knew I should write it down.

So what do you get for the person ( like me ) that has this problem? Well I think I figured it out, I found it on Pinterest...this would be great, I have thought of a ton of ideas when I am in the bath or shower! Glad to know that someone is trying to help my out with my issues! :)

check it out HERE:

I agree...except it this quote should say Keep NOTEBOOKS! :)
Night dear friends!

A Father's love and commitment!

I just loved this story, probably because I love to write notes and cards. I do think they make a difference, this story proves that they really do!  Read it ( but have tissues near by).
Have a great day dear friends!

Father with cancer communicates with 14-year-old daughter through napkins. 

                  

For Garth Callaghan of Glen Allen, Va., writing simple notes on napkins for his daughter’s lunch did not initially seem like an important component of her meal, but nine years later, he feels differently.
“[When Emma] started public school, either my wife or I would put a note in her lunchbox from time to time. It wasn’t a daily occurrence, and it was just really simple, like, ‘Have a great day,’ ‘We love you,’ ‘Good luck on your test,’ really basic, simple things,” Callaghan said in an interview with the Deseret News. “(But) as she became older … she started treating the napkin notes as if (they) were a required part of her lunchbox. She would often check in her lunchbox, and if there wasn’t a napkin note written, she’d come by with a lunchbox in her hand and kind of open it up and say, ‘Napkin note?’ That told me that there was something there, that there was something that was just as important as water in her lunch.”
After recognizing his now 14-year-old daughter’s positive reaction to his napkin notes, Callaghan began putting more effort into the messages.
“Between work and school and homework and sports and all these other things that are in our lives, we only have a couple of times a day that we can actually connect,” Callaghan said. “There’s the time that we drive her to school, we’ve got five or 10 minutes in the car. We have hopefully meal times, so we have hopefully half an hour or 45 minutes together as a family for dinner. And then we always make time with her at bedtime … so creating that additional moment of lunch, of her opening up her lunchbox and thinking about her dad, thinking about something that I’ve written, because she knows that that quote or that saying … generally has a purpose, even if it’s only a micro-moment … it’s really, really important to our family.”
But the role of napkin notes became even more meaningful when Callaghan was diagnosed with kidney cancer two years ago.
“I have been battling cancer for a couple of years now. … I’m not going to die from it, not this time, I mean. I may eventually, but not this time. But things like this just solidify my belief that as a dad, for myself, I owe it to my daughter to do whatever I can to impart wisdom, my philosophy on life, how to be a good person in the world, whatever I can, and one of the ways she’s receptive to it is napkin notes,” Callaghan said.
“If I sit down and talk with her about how to be a good friend, it’s a little bit of a more difficult conversation than if I write a couple of sentences on a napkin on how to be a good friend.”
As the primary lunch-maker in his home, Callaghan believes that when parents include “napkin notes” in their children's lunches, the notes can make a positive difference.
“It’s such a simple act, it just takes a few seconds a day, but if I can get one parent more to do this, I’m convinced that that relationship between that parent and that child is going to be a stronger relationship,” he said.
Emma Callaghan also values the napkin notes. She began gluing the notes from her father in a book to keep them as a physical reminder of her father.
“The reporter (with the Richmond Times) asked (Emma) why she had been saving the quotes … and putting them into a little book, and she said, ‘My dad was really sick and I was trying to save a piece of him,’” Callaghan said. “She had never expressed that to me, and it just completely blew me away.”
For Callaghan, the physicality of the napkin notes resonates with his daughter more than an email or text message.
“I know (writing out napkin notes) sounds crazy because I’m a computer guy, and I love apps, I love texts and I love iPhones and everything like that, but there’s absolutely something humbling and down-to-earth about writing a real note,” he said. “It’s tangible, it’s something she can hold, and, frankly, she turned it into her own thing where she started saving them.”
Since sharing his experience, Callaghan has received positive feedback on his Napkin Notes Facebook page.
“You are going to ROCK 3rd grade! We love you. — Mom & Dad,” Ariane Herrholz Grabill wrote for her child on the Napkin Notes Facebook page. “It’s not poetic, but it’s the first of many,” she wrote about the napkin.
After realizing the power a note can hold for someone, Callaghan began sending napkin notes in the mail to people who could use some encouragement.
“I don’t believe that this is the solution to all the world’s ills, and world peace isn’t suddenly going to come about because parents are doing napkin notes, but maybe our individual relationships will get a lot better,” Callaghan said. “I am very purpose-driven with this. I really feel that this is something that is so simple, and so easy to do, and will make such a difference in their child’s life.”

I found this wonderful story HERE: