seek for the positive

Lesson Learned:
"I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Now I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man or woman who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his or her course." What I am suggesting is that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my wise father would say: 'Cynics do not contribute. Skeptics do not create. Doubters do not achieve.' "


(Gordon B. Hinckley,"Be Not Afraid. Only Believe." )

There is still my joy

Be sure to push pause on the music playing below.  I don't love the little slideshow but it was the only video I could find with this song that was somewhat watchable. 

Lesson Learned:

I fell in love with this song. It's been such a long two weeks for my family. One thing I have learned though is exactly what this song portrays.

"There is still my joy."

Through all of life's experiences, trials, hardships, and afflictions....It is comforting to know that the one thing I have through all of it is my joy.  I can still have joy.

(2 Nephi 10)
"23 Therefore, cheer up your hears and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves--to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
24...that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved."

(2 Nephi 11)
"5....my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.
7 For there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time."

Because of that child we celebrate this time of year,  we can still have joy. We are free to choose that joy.

Change

I had an experience when I was younger that was really a defining moment on how I perceived change. And that is was a good thing. I had just had a summer of pure bliss with a really good friend.  Everyday was spent doing something unproductive and fun. I really felt I had gained a "best" friendship, so to speak. Then it seemed to happen overnight, suddenly we stopped hanging out and our friendship dwindled really fast. There were never any hard feelings or anything to end it. . .  it just stopped. I had a really hard time with this.  I kept thinking why something so great would just end.  Why couldn't that friendship be what it was forever. Then one night as I was praying I had this overwhelming feeling of happiness. And I realized a couple things. First, that change is good. Second, that sometimes Heavenly Father puts people into our lives for a specific reason and then when that reason has been fulfilled they leave. Simple as that. I look back and realize she was my friend at a crucial time in my life and helped me gain the confidence I needed to overcome future trials that were coming my way.


Lesson Learned:
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."
(Helen Keller )


I feel as though change is coming on. It's that same feeling I got when I graduated from high school. It's the same feeling I got when I started college, when I first met Brian, when I got married, when Porter came into our lives. Whatever the change may be, I still have a hard time with change, even though I know that it is a good thing. I just hope to remember that one good thing is ending to make room for another good thing later.

Rainy Days

The past few weeks have been some tough ones for me. Between sick baby, car troubles, car accident, and other  such stresses (that seemed to keep piling on, a kick me while I'm down kinda stress) things have finally started looking up (knock on wood). I can't help but feel grateful for times like these past few weeks because they tend to teach me more then any other time of life. 
It seems as though it hasn't stopped raining for a good month. And as everyone sits here and complains, I'll be honest I have loved the rain. Yes I wish it were warmer, and yes the days sometimes seem a little dreary but there is something about rain that just makes me happy. My sister Sara wrote a blog post about the such dreary weather and I really liked it.  
Lessons Learned:
"Sometimes our lives are rainy, when we want and even expect them to be sunny.  There will even be times when it is rainy for days on end and it seems like the world will not stop dumping on us. If we let them, those times might stop us from remembering and appreciating the sunny days we do have. (And we have had some beautiful, sunny days this month) But, if we remember to count our blessings, I believe we can find a measure of gratitude for the rainy times, and enjoy the sunny times that much more. I also believe that we can have moments of peace and calm, even when the storm is raging around us.Finally, I believe that sometimes we need the rain, even if we think we don't want it or need it. Flowers need both the sun and the rain to help them grow and flourish, just as we need both blessings and trials to help us grow spiritually. Sometimes we need the rain.

I still wish we could see a little more of the sun right now, but I know it will come.
It always does."
-Sara Carruth


I'm grateful for the rainy days because sometimes I think it's Heavenly Father giving me a little reminder of all the good things in my life. Another tender mercy found for me. 

Happy

Lesson Learned:
"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."
-Unknown

Good things to come

Lesson Learned:

(be sure to push pause on my music playlist)

Sometimes I just need a reminder that there are always good things to come. "Some blessings come soom, some come late, and some don't come til heaven. But for those who embrace the Gospel of the Jesus Christ, they come."

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Sisters

I love this story:

"I walked into the house, exhausted. It had been a long day, and I was starving. I sat at the table while my mom made dinner, telling her everything I had done that day. All of a sudden my little sister, Cherri, was at my side. She twisted her hands together nervously and didn’t quite look at me. “What happened?” I asked, not feeling very sympathetic. “You know your pearl necklace?” she replied in a small voice. “Well, I was playing with it, and it broke.” A million thoughts raced through my head. How many times had I told her not to play in my room or with my things? The necklace was hardly important, but that was beside the point. She had ignored my warnings one too many times. Somehow I managed to bite my tongue, and an exasperated sigh escaped my lips. “Come on, show me where it is,” I said. She took my hand and led me to my room. Pearls littered the floor, which wasn’t exactly clean to begin with. “What have I told you about playing in my room, Cherri?” “Not to,” she mumbled. “Okay, then, why did you?” I pressed. She just shrugged her little shoulders and looked at the floor. “I’m really sorry,” she said. “Help me clean them up, and don’t play in here again,” I said. She did so and left the room, and I put the incident behind me. The next day, I came home to an ecstatic Cherri. She grabbed my hand, jumping up and down. “I have something for you!” she said. “Sit here on the couch and I’ll be right back.” She raced downstairs and returned a few minutes later cradling something in her hands. “Here, I made it for you all by myself,” she said proudly. “Mom didn’t even help me at all!” She held out her little arms so I could see what she had made. Laying in her hands was a scrap of frayed black ribbon strung with meticulously arranged yellow and white plastic beads.“It’s a necklace!” she said, jumping up and down again. “I made it for you because I broke your other one. Do you like it?”I smiled. The necklace was a bit tacky, and yet it was beautiful. “Yes, Cherri, I love it.” I put it on and wore it the rest of the day to show my appreciation. I was so glad that I hadn’t yelled at my sister in anger and made her feel like I didn’t love her.I kept her little token of restitution in my drawer, a constant reminder that a pearl necklace could never be as special or beautiful as my frayed black ribbon with yellow and white plastic beads from a precious younger sister.”
(Liora Johns Phillips, “Pearls and Plastic Beads,” NewEra, Mar 2008, 22–23)

“So many of us make a great fuss of matters of small consequence. We are so easily offended. … I plead with you to control your tempers, to put a smile upon your faces, which will erase anger; speak out with words of love and peace, appreciation, and respect. If you will do this, your lives will be without regret. Your marriages and family relationships will be preserved. You will be much happier. You will do greater good. You will feel a sense of peace that will be wonderful.”

(President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Slow to Anger,” Ensign, Nov. 2007, 63–66.)

Being the younger sister is never easy growing up, but being the older sister might be a bit harder.  Oh the joys of sisterhood!  I love this story because it reminded me of me and my older sister.  And then it reminded me of me and my younger sisters.  Oh dear, I’ve been on both ends.  Unfortunately I don’t ever remember being that nice to my younger sisters though when they bothered me like that.  But I do remember looking up to my sister thinking she was the best person in the whole world, and if only I could be just like her, wear her clothes, have her friends, be her age, do what she does, say what she says, eat what she eats…etc…(You know what I’m talking about if you are a younger sister).  There is something special about the relationships that Heavenly Father lets us sisters have.  We truly are blessed.  So don’t take it for granted.  Lessons learned:

1.    It’s better to ask permission then forgiveness.

2. President Hinckley was a great man and had many wonderful things to say.

3.  Read the church magazines. They have great stories. 

4. Stop to think before you choose to get offended or angry.

5.  Love your sisters.  They can become some of your best friends.  True that.

6.  It’s ok to want to be like your older sister.

7. It’s ok for your younger sisters to want to be just like you and try to copy everything you do.

8. Bitterness only hurts you.

Choose Happiness

Recently I have found that I get to choose the way I feel. Sounds pretty obvious but I have discovered that with my new lifestyle of being a full time mom you don't get a lot for yourself. Sometimes I even find I have to find time to go to the bathroom. I felt myself getting more and more stressed out and feeling well not quite "my-happy-self." My wonderful husband gave me some advice that normally I would be giving to someone else in need, but in this case I got some of my own "medicine." He asked me if I had been saying my daily prayers and reading my scriptures. "Whoa!" I thought. I had been but not with real intent. It was more of a hurry and get it done because I have to kind of thing! Of course everything changed once I chose to make it meaningful. And then in return it became a lot easier to choose to be happy. To this day it still amazes me how the gospel works! All I know is that it does work and even sometimes everyone needs a bit of reminding that it does! Lesson learned:

"Yes, my beloved brothers and sisters, life is good if we live in such a way to make it so. Believing, desiring, deciding, and choosing correctly are the simple actions that define an increase in happiness and an increase in the inner assurance that transcends this life."
(Benjamín De Hoyos, "True Happiness: A Conscious Decision," Nov. 2005, 32)