In the lives of Others!

Happy Sunday!
It's late and so I will leave this quote for tonight.
Will write about what I learned today...tomorrow!

Good Night dear friends!

Thoughts for the day!

Thoughts that I need to remember today and always!
Good Night dear friends!

Service lifts you ...as well as others!

I watched this video last night and was touched by the message. I have 2 dear friends with MS and so I can only how they could relate to this. Even with all their struggles, they still keep going and  still have hope and courage.
Yes serving, lifts you as well as Others!

You can watch it HERE:

Good Night dear friends, hope you enjoyed your Sabbath.

This is harder to do, than one might first think!

We are all very different, everyone would agree on that. But for some when certain situations happen, it can let others not only feel bad about what happened ...but also wonder if there are more things they have done wrong. For others, they can let things roll off their backs and not take it personally. But for those of us out there that live life very PERSONALLY...it is hard not to feel bad or disappointed.
For me, I have to realize that I need to be a bit more like a Duck, and let things roll off my back without getting so upset, offended and or hurt. I need to look at the situation and the person for what it is, and if I didn't do something on purpose...then I need to let it go and learn from it.
I am 55 years old and believe it or not... I have have a rubber duck in my medicine cabinet ( that a dear friend gave to me ) as a daily reminder to live the best way I know how, and not to take things so personally!
But some days it is much harder to do than one might think!
Still it is a daily goal of mine!
Thanks for listening dear friends and Good Night!


Maybe I should even get a tiny one like this and wear it around my neck all day! So I really don't forget this principle! :)

Give me your eyes!

Heard this song today while I was putting some stuff away.
My house is silent again, that is hard on my heart. Lauren and Nik are still here...but had a lot of errands to do today. So I have been by myself most of the day.
I miss my kids already!
I loved the words to this song today...Give me your eyes!

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tar
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath

There's a man just to our right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well, I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all alone

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?

Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
That I keep missing

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Songwriters
HEATH, BRANDON / INGRAM, JASON

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing

 Talking about how some times we get so busy and wrapped up in our own problems, that we forget to see others and their struggles. Some times if life gets too busy and fast pace, then there is a chance that we might not even care any more. Sure see a lot of that in the world today.
This song was a great reminder for me to simplify my life and try to see myself, my family and OTHERS as the Savior sees them!
Good night dear friends!


found this story Here:

Summer must be coming!

I found the best quote the other day...



Miss Audrey soaking up some Vitamin D!

Brad and Kai in Austin, just trying out their new toy!

Kai surviving theTexas heat ...with his new Sprinkler!

Finding our purpose!

I have always known that part of my purpose here on earth... is to use and develop my creative talents. Use them to teach, to make my home more lovely, to use as gifts to show my love and appreciation to others or just to serve someone else. I am grateful for that talent. Speaking of that talent....that is all that I did today, and it felt great. Well, I am a bit tired and my back is hurting but... it feels good to be back in my room ( opps Studio: ) creating again!
Good night dear friends!

The Gift!!!!!

Just watched this sweet story of one small gift from someone, that has made a huge impact on the person who received it and also to thousands around the world. Taking care of each other...isn't that what life is all about?
Hope you take a minute or two to watch this.
Good night dear friend

You have to see this inspiring story HERE:

Doing Good to Others!

Teaching our children Service at a young age was very important to Jeff and I. We prayed daily that they would have kind and compassionate hearts. We tried to come up with different ways in which our family could serve. It has been one of the biggest blessings in our lives.
 As our kids are now adults, I watch them interact with Others, I am amazed at the level of concern and compassion that they have, and my heart is full of gratitude. They got it, they got the lessons that we tried so hard to teach. It just does your heart good as a parent, to see your kids grow up and make such a GOOD and BIG difference in the world. They truly love Others!

When I read this sweet story from a book called "To The Rescue ", I realized that this Mother in the story was trying to teach the very same lesson.

"Sunday dinner was a big event in the Monson home.

"Every Sunday Gladys would prepare a plate of food for Old Bob; before the family sat down to dinner, she would send Tommy off with the plate. One Sunday he asked, “Why don’t I take it down later?”
"His mother responded, “You do what I say, and your food will taste better.”
"He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he headed off for Old Bob’s, waiting anxiously as aged feet brought his neighbor to the door. Bob reached for a dime to reward the delivery boy. “Oh, Mr. Dicks,” said Tommy, “I wouldn’t want to take your money. My mother would tan my hide.”
“My boy, you have a wonderful mother,” Bob said as he patted Tommy’s blond hair."

"When Tommy got back, his dinner did taste better. “I didn’t realize,” he recalls, “I was learning a most powerful and important lesson about caring for those less fortunate.”

 

"Why does our happiness increase when we help others find happiness? How can parents help their children learn this truth?"

 

"When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated."

 

 

 

How you make people feel!

Well, we didn't go out last night so we are going out tonight!
Love this quote and believe in it!
Good night dear friends, thank you for how you make me feel!

Serving others!

One lady that spoke today was from Hawaii! Her talk was great but one thing that really stuck out in my mind was a quote that she read, which was...

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” ― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu.


So true, that is why serving others is so important!
That's it for tonight, short and sweet. Angie and I have been busy baking and doing all the other fun things that we do at Sleep Overs at Nana and Poppa's house!
Good night dear friends!

Let's be gentle with each other!

Great article and also a great reminder to us all!
Hope you have the time to read it. Good night dear friends!

Let’s be gentle with each other. Let’s read each other’s signs.

Melody Ross Thursday 4 April 2013 6:10 am

http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/her-husband-had-an-accident/

Found the article HERE:

After a dear friend telling me about a hurtful experience she’d had this week. I began thinking again about a story I have told a few times…. a story that my children will tell to their children, and maybe even beyond that… because it was such a learning experience in our family, maybe even a turning point.
It’s a story that I think about often because we were the main characters in it 3 or 4 years ago, and even though it was something that lasted less than 15 minutes it changed all of us and now I see others differently, especially when it seems that they might be main characters in the same story…or one a lot like it. I used to be too embarrassed to tell this story… but I am not anymore. This is a human story that everyone needs to hear, I truly believe this. I hope you will stay with it, it’s kinda long.
As we move along… I want you to think about some of the big signs with big messages that I bet you wish you could wear around your neck sometimes so that people would be more gentle, or even that you could put around the neck of someone you love — so that you didn’t have to go into a big long story to defend yourself or someone else– so that people would just stop judging and and just be kind.

I need to start this story by giving you a little bit of background. You see, my husband had an accident in 2004 that injured the frontal lobe of his brain. It has taken 6 years to get him back, but in the middle there, between 2004 and now, lots and lots of stuff happened. He was essentially out of it, but not just that, he changed to someone else, we lost him.
His personality changed completely, he could not work, he was angry and depressed and could not cope with human beings.  He did not feel love or affection, really he only felt anger, rage, and he was suicidal most of the time. He did not remember a lot of things. He could not take care of our family or even himself, really (and I want to mention again that through lots of miracles, he is 100% recovered now…we are so thankful….he is even BETTER than he was before his accident).
But during that time he would have these confusing and amazing glitches of time when he would be totally normal. It was bittersweet. They would last for an hour sometimes, and sometimes for days or even weeks then he would sink back down into that horrible place. When he was sick, I protected him fiercely. I didn’t want anyone to see him like that. I had faith that someday he would recover but man oh man it was lonely. I wished every single day that I could just walk around with a sign like this…

because on the outside I looked like I had EVERYTHING GOING FOR ME I looked like I might just have a perfect life but I was hiding a very painful secret…
Well, a lot of other things happened too. You can imagine what might happen over the years while we have a 7 acre farm, a pretty big international business that we own with lots of employees, a life that  HE managed before his accident, while he just let me do the fun and creative stuff. Now we had lots of medical bills, lots of sorrow and lots of distractions, we also had LOTS of kids — and no one competent managing the business.
Well, after a few years, I couldn’t hold it all together. Our business was suffering for all of the reasons listed above and a few more reasons on top of that and we discovered that we were really SINKING. Well, one day when he was partly lucid…he was THERE…he was coherent — I told him the condition of our life.
He kind of panicked and he went straight to work figuring out what he could do. It was insanely heartbreaking when he would “wake up” after weeks or months and I had to tell him how much things were deteriorating financially, etc. It was very hard. But when he could, he did what he could before his mental illness sucked him back into the prison it kept him in most of the time.
He called a sign place and had a huge sign brought out to our house…the kind that you can put letters on, and it was electric and lit up. He put it by the road in one of our horse fields. Then he drove our Suburban, both of our trucks, my classic Thunderbird that he got me for my birthday a few years earlier, our tractor, all of our tractor implements, the boat that I worked 10 years to get for him (and that caused his brain injury, incidentally), and he lined everything up along the fence and he put a price tag on every single thing. Then, he put the letters on that big huge sign and plugged it in.
You have to understand that we had worked for MANY years for those things. We started a business in our twenties and we sacrificed everything we had for all of those years to make it work. We owned almost all of it outright, but, when I told him that the business was struggling, this is what he did.
Sooooo…there it was. All in a row. All of our stuff –out in our field.
All of the neighbors driving by, our friends, the community, people who knew us most of our lives and people who knew nothing about us…we were just the young family who lived in that beautiful little farm house on Beacon Light road with the perfect lawn….or what USED to be.
You see, in addition, for months, our once beautifully manicured yard started to be filled with weeds that were now several feet high. I just couldn’t keep it up. The lawn was a nightmare. Everything was just falling apart all around me and my heart was broken over my husband, too. It was humiliating and exhausting and horrible, really.

Well, the sign was not up in the field for more than a few hours, when my husband’s phone rang. It was someone who saw all the stuff and my husband’s phone number on the big huge sign. We were sitting out in the yard while he was still coherent and he was feeling devastated about the condition of our lawn. I was apologizing that I just couldn’t do all of it. He was so heartbroken at his limitations and that he had left me to try to handle our life alone. We were trying to make a plan.
He answered his phone. I saw that he was just listening. I could hear that the person’s voice was getting louder and louder and louder. My husband just listened. He turned his back to me a little so I wouldn’t hear. But I could hear it. It seemed to go on and on and on.
These were the things I could hear on the other end of the phonecall:
“You are bringing down the value of my property with that ugly sign!”
“What are you doing?”
“That is the most obnoxious sign, do you have a permit to have that out there?”
“Are you starting a used car lot?”
“You have got to get all of that moved and out of here or I am calling the authorities”
I sat there, mortified, embarrassed, humiliated, mad, sad, devastated. I was certain that this would snap my husband back into his dark hellish place.
But, when the man was done ranting, my husband waited a second and then very calmly said something that I will never, ever forget.
“Sir,” he said, “There was a time in this country, in this community…when if you drove past your neighbor’s house and saw every single thing they own was for sale in front of their house…and that their lawn had not been mowed for weeks….that you would stop and say….WHAT IS GOING ON, SOMETHING MUST BE TERRIBLY WRONG, WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP YOU?”
The man was silent, and then my husband went on to tell him a few details about what was going on with our family.
The man waited a moment and then his tone changed. He apologized. I mean, really apologized and then said:
“I am going to call all of my friends and see if any of them need any of this stuff….”
***************************************
I wish with everything in me that we could have put a sign up on that big stupid lit up billboard in our field that said OUR LIFE IS FALLING APART, but all that we really could put up is a sign with the price of everything that we owned that was worth any money.
WHAT IF we could all wear a sign that said what WE REALLY MEANT? What if we could go straight past the small talk or the masks, and we could actually go straight to the heart of the matter. What if our friends and family wore signs like this?

…we would treat each other differently.
I think we should just try to imagine it. That when a friend is quiet…or not showing up to stuff she usually shows up to, or acting a little “off”, or a family member is wearing pajamas to the grocery store for weeks on end, or not answering the phone, or the lawn is not mowed…

whatever it is…
IT IS A SIGN. It is not a sign that can be read in words and letters, but it is a sign that someone needs to be treated gently. That they need help. Most of all, that they need love, understanding, and that they DEFINITELY DO NOT need to be judged.
Every time I think of this story I want to be better. I want to do better, I don’t want any silent signs to go unread before my eyes or my heart. I don’t want to make up my own answers to what must be going on. I don’t want to assume…

Let’s be gentle with each other. Let’s read each other’s signs.

Another good Samaritan... strikes again!

What a great story! Radom Acts of Kindness...I love it!

Good Samaritan note goes viral on Reddi

.               .

Andy had been traveling and was asked to pay the mandatory baggage fee. After handing the employee his credit card, Andy was told his card had been declined. Embarrassed and upset, Andy stepped away from the counter to call his bank and double-check his balance.
Upon returning to check out, the man found a note left for him on the back of a receipt. The note read:
"Hey, I heard them say your card was declined. I know how it feels. Your bag fee's on me. Just pay it forward the next time you get a chance. Have a safe flight. :)"

Andy was overwhelmed by the kind act and decided to post the photo to thank the anonymous giver.
"If you're reading this, thanks for making my day," Andy posted online.
But according to Andy, the financial help wasn't even the best part of the surprise note.
"Seriously, reading their note gave me goosebumps and gave me faith that there are still good people out there," Andy told Yahoo Shine.
Many commenters have asked Andy what he will do to pay it forward to someone else. Andy said he hoped to come up with something spontaneously, just as it happened to him.
Many other users on the popular site left comments sharing their own "good Samaritan" moments.
"I was walking down a busy avenue in my city one day and saw a meter maid beginning to write a ticket for a car parked by the road. Obviously the meter was expired. As I witnessed this and approached to pass this event, I reached into my pocket and found some change, I passed between the meter and the maid, casually dropping a quarter into the machine, giving the person a few more minutes of time," one user commented.
"The meter maid was dumbfounded and my group and I paused down the street a bit to see her on her radio requesting advice on what to do. She ended up moving along and not writing the ticket."
Another user described an experience he had when he overheard a young mother describing a problem with her car to a mechanic.
"I heard her ask the counter guy if he could see why her lights were dim on the car. He went and tested and found the battery was dead, but the alternator was charging. I overheard her talking with the guy about batteries, and when she saw the prices, she kept asking if he had anything cheaper/smaller that would work," the user wrote.
"As she was leaving without a battery, I walked over to the guy and asked which one she needed for her car. He pointed. I handed him my card and rang it up. I grabbed the battery and borrowed some tools and walked out the front door just as she had finished buckling the kids in. I asked her to pop her hood, and she at first looked at me like 'What?' and then saw what I had with me.
"She asked me why, and I just said, 'Because someone did something nice for me once.'"
A few weeks ago the Deseret News reported on a similar act of generosity. In Massachusetts, a doughnut store celebrated a 55-person pay-it-forward chain after one customer first decided to pay for the customer behind her in the drive-through.
I read the story HERE:

 

Trust verses Love

This quote (below) is very sound advice. For those of us who  have had abuse in the past, you truly understand how hard it is to trust someone. And when the one who abuses you, is someone who is suppose to love you, or says they love you...then that trust is broken.
 I knew something was wrong when I told someone( when I was just little ) that I loved and trusted; and they didn't believe me! Then I started to doubt myself and my gut feelings. I began to think then it must be just me, I must be a bad person if all these people love and trust my abuser..why didn't I?
  But the help that I received after breaking my silence about my abuse was..to learn to trust my gut again!
 I would be guided and told who I can trust and not trust. And when I get that feeling, and the feeling is "this person can't be trusted " then no questions ask...I stay away or have my kids stay away!  I don't care how much other people love them, or how popular they are...I owe it to myself to listen to that still small voice inside. It will never lead me astray and that is something I know I can trust! And the when you know you can really trust someone, then there is a LOVE there that is hard to even explain, it is simply the BEST!

Good night dear friends!

What should I really be doing today?

I heard a wonderful talk in church yesterday. Here are some of the the notes that I wanted to remember from about this subject...which was Doing What God Would Want Us To Do Each Day!  I think that it is easy to get so busy with all my To Do List every day, and even easier to forget to ask my Heavenly Father what He wants and needs me to do.  I also really loved the reminder that we all have talents and that it is important to share our talents with others, to make their lives better. I do think that it is important not to waste the talents we have been given. And to all of those people who claim that they don't have any creativity or talents....I loved this quote!

"You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter." ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf
When I read the last part of that quote of FAMILY MEMORIES and FLOWING LAUGHTER, it made me think of the photos of the kids when they were little. I thought of them as sweet family memories, but when the kids see them all they can do is laugh and asked questions like..." Why did you cut my bangs like that?" "Why were my pants so short and my waistband so high?" Oh I thought and still do that they were too cute. Yes, this is a photo of Amy and Brad...not sure if they would want me to identify them? But just look at those cute faces...yes, that has got to be Amy and Brad! :)

I work with the most amazing women at our Quilt Shop! I have said it before, but they are so talented and are some of the most giving women that I know. They spend hundreds of hours and quite a bit of money... creating these BEAUTIFUL quilts, only to give them away to any one in need. Each time a quilt is donated, or I hear of all the quilts that were made others in need... I feel in awe, and honored to know them. They are great examples to me... of doing what you can to help others, even if it takes a great sacrifice of time and effort.
So I am grateful for the talk that was given and for the reminder it was to me. I am still tired from my trip last week, so I am going to head to bed. Good night dear friends!

Our light!

Last night our internet service quit, that is why I didn't do a post! And since tonight is Date Night, I thought I would go ahead and do my blog right away!
I loved this quote, it is so true...there has been many times in my life that when things were really tough, someone who shared their light with me, made all the difference! And I want to say Thank You!
I hope we all try harder to keep our own light burning and be ever watchful to share the light you have, with others in need. I think this is something we all are suppose to do on a daily basis!
Have a great day!

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."   ~ Buddh 

 

"There is no delight in owning anything unshared."  ~ Seneca

A little child should lead thee...

Loved this story...so true! Good night dear friends!

 

It was just a few more days until Christmas in San Francisco, and the shopping downtown was starting to get to us. I remember crowds of people waiting impatiently for slow-moving buses and streetcars on those little cement islands in the middle of the street. Most of us were loaded down with packages, and it looked like many of us were beginning to wonder if all those countless friends and relatives actually deserved so many gifts in the first place. This was not the Christmas spirit I'd been raised with.

When I finally found myself virtually shoved up the steps of a jammed streetcar, the idea of standing there packed like a sardine the whole way home was almost more than I could take. What I would have given for a seat! I must have been in some kind of exhausted daze because as people gradually got off, it took me a while to notice that there was room to breathe again.

Then I saw something out of the corer of my eye. A small, dark-skinned boy, he couldn't have been more than five or six, tugged on a woman's sleeve and asked, "Would you like a seat?" He quietly led her to the closest free seat he could find. Then he set out to find another tired person. As soon as each rare, new seat became available, he would quickly move through the crowd in search of another burdened woman who desperately needed to rest her feet.

When I finally felt the tug on my own sleeve, I was absolutely dazzled by the beauty in this little boy's eyes. He took my hand, saying, "Come with me," and I think I'll remember that smile as long as I live. As I happily placed my heavy load of packages on the floor, the little emissary of love immediately turned to help his next subject.

The people on the streetcar, as usual, had been studiously avoiding each other's eyes, but now they began to exchange shy glances and smiles. A businessman offered a section of newspaper to the stranger next to him; three people stooped to return a gift that had tumbled to the floor. And now people were speaking to one another. That little boy had tangibly changed something, we all relaxed into a subtle feeling of warmth and actually enjoyed the trip through the final stops along the route.

I didn't notice when the child got off. I looked up at one point and he was gone. When I reached my stop I practically floated off that streetcar, wishing the driver a happy holiday, noticing the sparkling Christmas lights on my street in a fresh, new way. Or maybe I was seeing them in an old way, with the same open wonder I felt when I was five or six. I thought, "So that's what they mean by And a little child shall lead them...."  Written by Beverly M. Bartlett

"Somehow not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to make you glad."
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Power of Kindness

One of the lessons today in church... was about kindness and the power of it. It was an amazing lesson, taught by one of my dear friends, who is an amazing teacher. I just kept taking more and more notes. I think the story about Kindness and Mothers was encouraging and of course I loved all the quotes!
Hope you had a wonderful Sabbath! Good night dear friends!

“BE KIND, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard BATTLE.” Plato
  “One who focuses on faults, though they be true, tears down a brother or a sister. The virtues of  patience, brotherly kindness, mutual respect, loyalty, and good manners all rest to some degree on the principle that even though something is true, we are not necessarily justified in communicating it to any and all persons at any and all times.” ~ Dallin H. Oaks

                “When we are filled with kindness, we are not judgmental. The Savior taught, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”  He also taught that “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what   measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”  ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

                “But,” you ask, “what if people are rude?”
                Love them.
                “If they are obnoxious?”
                Love them.
                “But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?”
                Love them.
                “Wayward?”
                The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them.

                “I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course.
                “What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults.”   ~ Gordon B. Hinckley 

     “Kindness has the power to lead people from their mistakes" ~ George Albert  Smith               
                 
                "Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion. He healed the sick. He spent    much of His time ministering to the one or many. He spoke compassionately to the Samaritan woman who was looked down upon by many. He instructed His disciples to allow the little children to come unto Him. He was kind to all who had sinned, condemning only the sin, not the sinner. He kindly allowed thousands of Nephites to come forward and feel the nail prints in His hands and feet. Yet His greatest act of kindness was found in His atoning sacrifice, thus freeing all from the effects of death, and all from the effects of sin, on conditions of repentance." ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin


              Story told by George Albert Smith:
 "I remember a few years ago I was on a train going north. I saw sitting in the day coach of that train a woman that I had known. … She recognized me as I passed down the aisle of the car. She spoke to me, and I asked: “Where are you going?” She said: “I am going to Portland, [Oregon].” I knew that the family were not well-to-do. I knew that this woman was the mother of a large family of sons, so I said: “What takes you to Portland?” She said: “I have a son there in the   hospital.”
                I was not aware that any of her children had moved away, so I questioned a little further, and   then she opened her heart to me. She said: “My youngest boy, a few weeks ago, left home and did not tell us where he was going. We received no word from him, but he thought he would go  out into the world no doubt and see it for himself, and the first intimation that we had of his whereabouts was when a telegram came from the Mercy hospital in Portland, stating that our boy was there sick in that hospital.” She said: “Of course the message shocked us very much. There was only one thing to do, and that was to raise means and go at once to that boy.”
                … She was prepared to sit up during that long ride, day and night, not resentful of the unkindness and thoughtlessness of her boy, but only thinking that he was hers, that he belonged to her, that God gave him to her, and that our Heavenly Father expected her to use every possible means to    enrich his life and prepare him for the opportunities that awaited him. So through the long hours of the night, as the train rumbled over the rails, this good woman sat there, yearning for her boy,     every mile taking her just a little nearer to that lodestone that was tugging at her heart. Finally when she arrived, quickly as she could, she made her way to the hospital. It so transpired that   the place where I was to remain was not far from the hospital so I went over there to see what had occurred.
                There was that sweet mother sitting by the bedside of her boy who had been seized with a serious attack of pneumonia, and he was lying there in pain. She was not scolding him because he had been unmindful of her; she was not resentful of his thoughtlessness and of his carelessness, she was just thankful to be with her boy that God had given to her. She was now trying to nurse back the child for whom she had entered into partnership with her Heavenly Father, to bring him into this world. He, by the way, was about 16 years of age, but her baby. She was trying to encourage him by telling him the things that would make him happy and contented, holding out to him the opportunities that would be his when he was well. In the place of distress and anguish that filled that room prior to her entrance there, there was a perfect halo of light and of peace and happiness spread over the countenance of that boy as he looked up into the face of her who had offered her life that he might be, and who on this occasion had come that long distance to sit by his side and nurse him back to life."
                "I wonder sometimes if these mothers realize how wonderful they are in the eyes of their children in a case like that. That boy had resolved before his mother had been there many minutes that never again would he be recreant to her, never again would he be unmindful of   what she had given to him, but determined that the name which had been given to him in honor would be kept by him in honor so long as life should last."
When a child goes astray, why is it sometimes difficult to react the way the mother in the story did? 

                “May we be models of kindness. May we ever live up to the words of the Savior: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

A great opportunity!

I am still in California. Our dears friends that we were visiting, asked if I would extend my visit and speak at a church Women's Conference today? Of course I said YES! I love the opportunity to speak and hopefully share not only my heart, but the experiences that I have gone through...in hopes that it might help another.
I love the quote...
"WHAT DO WE LIVE FOR IF NOT TO MAKE  LIFE LESS DIFFICULT FOR EACH OTHER?"

I love the quote also that says " Each generation should help the next"
Isn't that the truth? And when we share and help another, it seems to bless our lives... 100 fold!
The same thing happened, as always today. I was a bit nervous about speaking on such a short notice, still when I prayed if I should stay and do it, the answer was a definite YES!  So I tried to prepare as much as I could and finally when I got up to speak,  I was able to deliver the message that I had hoped to deliver. Of course the energy of so many incredible ladies helped, and I am sure all those prayers that I have sent upward so fast and furious the last couple of days helped too! You could tell that theses women were attentive, and relating to many of the same experiences that I had had. I guess that is one of the main reasons that I love doing my Motivational Speaking. I love the connection I get to make with so many of the women afterwards, some of them will probably even become dear friends of mine... and you know how I love to make new friends. But it is neat to meet these ladies personally, hear some of their stories and struggles and because of these life's experiences...we make a connection.
One lady who I met today gave me the most incredible compliment. She had lost her husband 6 months ago today ( I was amazed at her strength, you could feel it ) and she said that today there had been a lot of emotions because today was their Wedding Anniversary. Now I don't know myself, but have heard that the first year is so terribly hard because of all the 1sts that you miss. Your 1st Christmas apart, 1st Birthday without them and so on, so after hearing this, I couldn't believe that she even felt like coming to my class. But she explained that when I stood to speak that there were many things that she had either felt or needed to hear. She then hugged me and said " YOU WERE MY ANNIVERSARY GIFT"! What an honor, here was a women who had so much to be heartbroken, discouraged and even sad about ... and yet she got up this morning, got dressed and decided to come to this Sister's Conference. I am amazed that she did that and wondered if I could have had such strength? Or would I have stayed in bed in my pajamas and cried and cried about all that I was missing? What a great example she was to me to keep going, keep moving forward, if only one step at a time. Keep living life, even if at times you really don't want to. Don't give up... instead keep going, trying, doing and blessings will follow. She was the perfect example of that to me. It made me realize not to take my relationship with my husband for granted either. Time is fragile, and we simply never know what time we will have left here on earth, but not matter what we need to make the most of that which we have been given.
So even though I put a ton of energy, prayers,and preparation into my talk... honestly I get soooooooooo much more in return, when I personally get to meet and connect with these ladies. They were beautiful inside and out. How glad I am that everything fell in place for me, to be able to have this great opportunity! I won't share my talk with you tonight but will at a later date. It's late and I am beat...happy ...but beat! Good night dear friends and especially my NEW friends!

“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.”

Tom Bodett quotes       “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

    

“I think we all wish we could erase some dark times in our lives. But all of life's experiences, bad and good, make you who you are. Erasing any of life's experiences would be a great mistake.”

Luis Miguel quotes

Faces

For some reason I seem to notice people's faces alot more these days. It seems like you can tell many things by looking at a person's face or really studying their eyes and even the sound of their voice; if their voice sounds tired or weak, maybe I recognize many of these faces because some of them have been the same as mine. My kids say they can always tell when I am in pain by the look on my face, even if I try to hide it from them... I can't!
 The other day I saw a dear friend of mine, now it had been a while since we had seen each other and I noticed that when I looked in her face that she seemed to not only be tired, but very sad and worn out. After talking to her for a while..I soon realized why. She had been going through some really big trials. My heart ached for her as I listened; and wondered what I would think or feel...under the same circumstance?
Then the other day I stopped to talk and catch up with another friend, she is always so happy and positive. As we spoke she shared with me some struggles she was having as a Mother and quite frankly...I was shocked, I had NO IDEA that she had been going through so much!
My Grandmother used to always say " If everyone's problems were hung out on a line, you'd take yours and I'd take mine" sooooooooo true! Some of the things I have been going through lately have seemed so overwhelming to me as a Mom. She on the other hand never knew what I was going through either.
 So back to FACES, there are times when your faces are easy to read and at other times we put on our Happy Mask and truly masked how we are feeling. I think there is a lot of good to be said about people who TRY to be happy; but I actually think it is a bit dangerous to always try to APPEAR happy. Then no one knows your pain and can't help or comfort you.
The truth is... we are all fighting our own battles.. May we take time out to try and read people's faces a little more, see if they are ok and ask what we can do for them. Because even though we are all fighting our own battles, it doesn't mean we have to fight them ALONE!
Good night dear friend, I am going to take this FACE which has PAIN written all over it, and go to bed!
P.S. I will leave you with these
three sweet faces of my grandkids, see if you can tell what they are thinking? :)