Hidden Hearts

Perhaps if you are a Disneyland fan, like I am, you have heard of the hobby of looking for hidden Mickeys at the Disney resorts as demonstrated below.



 I have tried my hand at it, but I am not very successful.

I do however have a similar hobby, that I am quite good at.  I find hidden hearts



and when I find them I count them as a sign from my Heavenly Father of His love for me.

There are actually a lot of heart shapes found in nature. Thus supporting, in my mind, the idea that they are symbols of the Creators' love for His children.

This picture of hidden hearts is one of my favorite.



I like to share my hobby with Shad and he is good at helping me find hidden hearts.



Love notes from God, that I save and ponder on.



I especially enjoy finding hidden hearts in the less obvious places.  In a random stick stuck in the Spanish moss used to decorate a crafty service project I am working on,

 in a pile of dirt left behind by a mischievous puppy,



in the abandoned orange peel on my morning walk,

and even in the poopiest moments of life.

God's love is ALWAYS there, and I will see it (and feel it), if I am willing to look for it.

Today I am thankful for

tangible reminders of God's love for all of His children, me included.
good friends.
a husband who was willing to sit at the repair shop for 2 hours, waiting to get my car (that apparently wasn't really broken) fixed, so I didn't have to.

Little Black Rain Cloud

Sometimes my youngest son has a lot in common with Eeyore. He has a habit of thinking that bad things are always going to happen to him. At the start of church basketball season he predicted that he was going to get his nose broken during the season. Sure enough, it didn't take long for that very thing to happen. I kind of think he wanted it to happen, but maybe not.
When the son and I went to the oral surgeon to discuss having his wisdom teeth pulled the doctor shared with him all the possible things that could go wrong. He told him the most likely was that he would get a dry socket, which is where the blood clot that forms in the hole where the tooth was dissolves and leaves the nerve exposed to the air. It can be very painful but is easily treated. As we left the office the son told me, "I'm going to get a dry socket." When I questioned why he said "that kind of thing always happens to me." I suggested that he have a more positive outlook and even made a bet with him, if he got a dry socket I would wash his dishes the next two times it was his turn.
Day 2 (the most common time for a dry socket) passed with no problem. Day 3 - no problem. Day 4 - no problem. Day 5 - there was more pain than usual on the left side, but even the son didn't think it was a dry socket because it didn't hurt as bad as the dentist had said it would. Day 6, Monday morning (first day back to school after spring break) the boy's pain level on a scale of 1 to 10 was 27 when he woke up. He took an Advil and said it helped a little, but not much, but of course his mean mom still made him go to school. I called the doctor and they said bring him in, so during his lunch hour we took a trip to the the oral surgeon. It was most likely a dry socket. He was treated with some nasty smelling, nasty tasting dry socket paste that took the pain away in about 30 minutes. We get to go back every 2 days to get more medicine put in for at least a week and I get to wash his dishes as well.
Same thing with the son's report card. He thinks he's going to get bad grades and sure enough that's what he gets.
I need to figure out a way to get the kid to envision positive things happening in his life. Think of all the good things that could come to pass if he'd just think them.

This is the Day

I am still plugging along in my reading of the Old Testament. I am deep in the book of Psalms at the moment and actually enjoying it. I will admit that I probably don't retain much of what I read because I read several chapters each day. I have decided that this may be my first time reading the Old Testament clear through, but it isn't going to be my last. This time through I am reading for the "I did it!" experience. Next time I'm going to go a lot slower and do more pondering, referencing and analyzing. I should probably be doing that this time, but I still want to accomplish the goal I set and I need to keep moving to finish all the standards works in the next 6 months.
Today however one verse really stuck with me. I know I have heard it before and probably even seen it decorating a plaque or two somewhere, but today it spoke to me. It is found in the 118th Psalm, verse 24.
"This is the day which the Lord hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it."
I was sitting in my living room welcoming the morning. Wondering how the day was going to unfold with my boys home for Spring Break. I was desiring some help in the front yard and I knew that they were looking forward to a fun break ie. no work. As I read this message it really hit me. Heavenly Father has blessed me with this new day. He didn't have to give it to me. I could have not woken up this morning. Today is a gift from my loving parent, he knows what it holds and no matter what transpires I should be grateful for it and show my gratitude by enjoying it.
Wow! I wonder what a difference that could make in my life if I greeted each new day with that insight foremost in my mind.
No matter what happens today I will try to remember this is my day and to be glad in it.

On the Inside

Most mornings after all my family members have departed for their respective destinations, I sit in my living room chair and read my scriptures and an Ensign article while the sun streams in my big front window. It is a very pleasant part of my day, except for the fact that this window really needs to be washed. It is covered with dust and smudges and all manner of debris that interferes with my view. Each morning I lament to myself the fact that I live in Arizona with its dust storms that are extremely hard on windows. This morning I finally decided that I needed to quit mentally complaining and do something about the problem. I filled a bucket full of warm water and vinegar and headed outside to tackle the task. I was curious how many times I would have to empty the bucket and refill it with clean water to get rid of all the dirt. I washed and wiped and washed and wiped and washed and wiped some more. I was a little surprised that even though I was working really hard the windows weren't looking that much cleaner and my water really wasn't getting that dirty. Finally I realized that the majority of the problem wasn't on the outside part of the window, but rather on the inside. I finished up outside and went inside to see what I could accomplish. It was amazing how almost immediately the view was so much clearer. I started thinking about how this experience might apply to my life. How often do I perceive my "messes" as being on the outside? Someone else is the problem and if I could just get rid of that outside interference everything would be so much better. However, considering what I realized this morning, I wonder if perhaps the biggest problem might not actually be an internal one. Maybe if I started with myself and got rid of the dust and dirt and smudges on the inside, within myself, my vision and my life would immediately improve. It's something worth thinking about.

Lessons from Aunt Grace

I always find myself doing
an inventory of my life
when my birthday rolls around.

It seems like this
is the time of the year
when I am the most motivated to set goals
or change unproductive habits.
I don't set very many New Year's Resolutions
but I usually come up with a few Birthday ones.

Whenever I think about setting goals
I am reminded of a story I once heard
at BYU Education Week.

It was entitled "Lessons from Aunt Grace"
and was originally published in the Reader's Digest Magazine.

Aunt Grace was a maiden aunt who
had come to live with relatives.
She felt like an imposition and
was feeling sorry for herself.
She quickly came to realize that
this was the way her life was.
There was nothing she could do
to change the circumstances
she found herself in
so she decided to change herself.

She decided to complete 6 tasks each day
in order to hold her world together
and she recorded in her journal
how she accomplished these goals.

The 6 tasks were

Do Something for Someone Else.

Do Something for Myself.

Do Something I Don't Want to Do-
that Needs Doing.

Do a Physical Exercise.

Do a Mental Exercise.

Do an Original Prayer that
always includes counting my blessings.

Whenever I feel like
I need to make some changes in my life
these 6 tasks immediately come to mind.

As I think about them
I can usually see
where I am lacking
and what I need to work on.
Often when I set goals
a few of these tasks are included.
Focusing on these simple items
each day has helped to bring my
life back into focus on numerous occasions.

I am grateful for the lessons
I learned from Aunt Grace.

You can read the complete story here.

I have Righteous Children

Today I gave a talk in church.

These are the thoughts I shared. I was going to only print part of it, but I'm too lazy to go through and edit so just read what you want.

I have struggled with the topic that we were given to speak on today because at first I felt that it was a reflection on me and my parenting ability.

Look at me.

Now it might surprise some of you to learn that I am not perfect. I haven’t always done what I believe and know I should do, I worry and feel guilty that, where raising my children is concerned, I have not done enough.

I could point out at least half of this congregation that I believe are more qualified to address the topic of raising righteous children than I am and the other half probably think they could do a better job because they are teenagers and think they know everything. Personally, I would be happy to let any one who would like to to come and take my place right now.

Raising Righteous Children – as I have presented this topic to family and friends, As in – “Guess what I have been asked to speak about on Sunday?” I have repeatedly heard the response “You have Righteous Children”.

How and when do we know that we have Righteous Children?

Is it when they say their first prayer without any help,

is it when they give their first talk in primary,

when they choose to be baptized,

when that receive the priesthood,

or serve in a young women presidency,

is it when they attend church every Sunday for a year

or graduate from Seminary,

is it when they go to the temple for the first time
to participate in Baptisms for the Dead,

or when they go to receive their own endowments
and go on a mission,

or when they are sealed there to an eternal companion?

Is it when we see them actually enjoying a service project,

or “catch” them reading their scriptures without being forced,

maybe when they give a family home evening lesson
that is better than we could have given,

or when they share the gospel with one of their friends
or baptize someone.

Do these milestones prove that we have Righteous Children?

Yes and no.

My belief and understanding is that all parents have Righteous Children.

Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking I know some of so and so’s children and they are not Righteous or she hasn’t met that kid that lives next door to me or what about my son …, but wait.

In this month’s visiting teaching message there is a quote from Julie B. Beck the Relief Society General President, she says

“ You are literally spirit daughters (and I add sons) of Deity, offspring of exalted parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. You received your first lessons in the world of spirits from your heavenly parents. You have been sent to earth to prove yourselves…”

There it is – we all have Righteous Children,

literal offspring of exalted parents,

every day, all day, from the day they are born
until the day they die,

they will always be Righteous Children.

It is their noble birthright.

It is because of who they were and are.

Even if they don’t want to be Righteous Children
and they choose to not make Righteous choices
this doesn’t change who they are.

A Righteous Child of Heavenly Parents.

Sometimes I forget this most important truth.

I, and you, do not need to produce Righteous Children –

they already exist-

we just have to help raise them
back up to their Heavenly parents.

We just need to help them remember who they are
and why they are here
and what they already know.

An LDS mother, Patty Witt, when asked by a reporter for tips on raising righteous children replied

“ I think they just came that way. However, I do believe it has a lot to do with eating dinner together every day, and going to bed by 9 or 10 -- there's no substitute for that."
Maybe that doesn’t make a big difference to any of you, but it does to me, it helps me to know that I don’t have to start from scratch and create a Righteous Child. The Righteous Child is already there.

I just have to polish it and protect it,
feed it and take care of it
teach it and remind it who it is.

I need to treat it as something of great value,
which it is
and let it fulfill the responsibilities
for which it was created.

Still not an easy responsibility,
but more doable in my way of thinking.

When we look at our children, the children in the ward, the teenager that lives next door, or any other child as Righteous Children regardless of whether or not they are making righteous choices at this given moment in their lives I think it makes a world of difference.

Now I could probably teach a yearlong class, meeting once a week for 2 hours, on Raising Righteous Children, not because I’m qualified, but because there are that many ideas and thoughts and skills that could be taught on this topic. Lucky for you I only have 15 minutes and I have already used 5 of those so I have narrowed down my 45 page talk to a few less pages.

I want to focus on one thing that has given me much help and the much hope in raising my Righteous Children (remember, I’m not boasting, we all have them).

It is something that I read when I was having a difficult time feeling adequate for the task that was placed before me. You see, each of these Righteous Children we have been blessed with have the right and the ability to make their own choices. Sometimes those choices don’t coincide with their righteous nature, they are not righteous choices, and as parents we often don’t have and shouldn’t have the power to stop them from making these choices. Sometimes we feel powerless in knowing how to help them remember who they are and why they are here.

It was during one these times in my life when I first read about it in a book entitled House of Glory by S. Michael Wilcox.

Bro. Wilcox related the following story,“When I moved to Utah ten years ago, my children were entering their teenage years. Having taught teenagers n seminary, I knew how critical the next years would be, for during these years we win or lose so many battles for the souls of men. The more I thought about the world my children were growing up in and the pressures and opposition arrayed against them, the more anxious I felt.
I went to the temple one afternoon to seek guidance about my children. The calm, loving spirit of the temple seemed to magnify my natural love for my family, and I found myself offering a deeply sincere prayer filled with desire for my children. I told the Lord I was willing to offer any sacrifice if he would protect my children from Satan’s power and bless them with his Spirit until they could come to his house and receive their own endowment. I do not think I offered a unique prayer. It is the uttered and unuttered prayer of every true Latter-day Saint parent, and I think most parents would give the Lord the sacrifice he required.
As I sat in the temple, an answer was given in which the required sacrifice was revealed to me. I thought the Lord would demand some great thing for the blessing I was asking, and had it been some great thing I believe I would have been willing to fulfill it. Often we are more willing to do the great things than the small, everyday acts of obedience of sacrifice that comprise living the gospel.
However, the spirit simply whispered: “This is the sacrifice I ask of you. Be in this house frequently, constantly, and consistently and the promised protection you seek, which this house has the power to bestow, will be extended to those you love.”
At first I thought this counsel was unique to me, but I came to realize as I read and studied the scriptures that it is a promise with much broader application. I found this promise again and again in both the scriptures and in the words of our living prophets and apostles. It was not a special request and promise to me, but one that was extended to all the saints in behalf of those they love. “

Frequently, constantly and consistently attend the temple.

Why?

What good will that do?

One of the reasons I love the temple the most is because there I am reminded of the eternal nature of life. Birth is not the beginning and Death is not the end. In the temple I can see better who I am and who my children are. Inside the temple I see myself as a Righteous Daughter of a Loving Heavenly Father and I see my children that way too.

Also I think in the temple we are reminded of the role that Jesus Christ plays in each of our lives. How important our relationship with him and our children's relationship with him is.

In 2 Nephi 25:26 we read,
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our child may know to what source thy may look for a remission of their sins."

President Ezra Taft Benson counseled us to make the temple a “sacred home away from our eternal home.” He then explained the power the temple can generate in a morally deteriorating world:
“This temple will be a standing witness that the power of God can stay the powers of evil in our midst. Many parents, in and out of the church, are concerned about protection against a cascading avalanche of wickedness that threatens to engulf Christian principles… There is power associated with the ordinances of Heaven – even the power of Godliness – which can and will thwart the forces of evil if we will be worthy of those sacred blessings. This community will be protected, our families will be protected, our children will be safeguarded as we live the gospel, visit the temple, and live close to the Lord.”
Elder Boyd K. Packer has said,
"Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people.”
Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone promised that all who faithfully attend to temple work will have unseen angels watch over their loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them. Everytime a temple is built Satan's power is deminished.

I then shared the story of my son and his mistake that he "fixed" with the picture of the temple. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can read about it here.

The look on the face of one of the deacons sitting in the audience as I told that story was priceless. He is an only child and I don't think he could grasp the dynamics that exist between brothers that could escalate to that kind of experience.

In closing I testified that the temple can fix things. I have experienced that blessing in my life many times. The temple is here to bind our families together and to help us Raise Righteous Children.

I don't have perfect children,
but I do have Righteous Children,
and if you are a parent,
you do to.

Disappearing Gas, Doing Health, DI, a Disgruntled Daughter and Death Records

I guess today's post could be called the 5 D's. This morning I got a call from the hubby who was on his way to work. "I hope I make it to the office". Apparently when he got in the car the gas tank read half full (or half empty if you tend to be a pessimist like me). When he was almost to work he looked down and the gas gauge was past empty, thus the phone call. He did make it to the office and after discussing the situation with our mechanic he decided since he didn't smell gas or see any kind of leak he would put $5.00 worth of gas in the tank and see if the gauge went up. If it didn't then he would know something was wrong with the gauge and could fill it up the rest of the way and know he had gas until he could get it to the shop to get looked at. However, when he went out and got in the car the gauge immediately popped back up to half a tank. Who knows what was going on this morning. I asked him if he was wearing his glasses and he said he was. While we were in Utah the online health text book was off line being updated and so the teacher extended the class an extra week. The teenager thought this was a perfect excuse to ignore the fact that he was in summer school and not do any health, even though there were things he could do without the textbook. I mentioned to him every now and then that we should work on health, but he was always "too busy". I did manage to get him to do online indexing for family search with me for his service hours that needed to be turned in by the 14th, but that was the extent of his school work. Well, today I invited him to the computer and "gently" encouraged him to get busy. We spent over 2 hours working on projects that didn't need the textbook with him complaining the whole time that he didn't know why we didn't just do this in Utah so he wouldn't have to be wasting his time now that he was home. Why didn't I remind him that there was stuff he could do without the book? Why didn't I tell him to do health? Why am I such a horrible mother? It was so much fun to have some quality mother/son bonding time. It's a good thing I love him!! Then we tried to log on to the textbook. We no longer had access. The e-mail from the teacher said we had to re-register. We re-registered and it still wouldn't let us log on. Oh joy! Finally I called the text book support and had a nice man talk me though it. I was a little frustrated that I was the one making the call, but when I dialed the first time and got a sex chat line I was glad it was me calling and not the 16 year old son who might not have hung up as quickly as I did. I rechecked the number and I was off by one digit. I guess I shouldn't make fun of my husband and his glasses. After listening to complaining for the entire morning I was ready for a break so I went to the post office to pick up our mail that was on hold and then took a side trip to Deseret Industries. I felt kind of cheated that I didn't get to visit more of these stores while I was in Utah. I usually get to hit a few of them, but this trip I only managed to fit one in. I enjoyed browsing and relaxing for a while. All I bought was a church talk on CD about faith, but I had a good time. I stopped at the grocery store (have to start cooking again) and went home to listen to more complaining about what I was fixing for dinner. Daughter had dropped by while I was gone and left me monetary gifts in various places around the house. Last night she asked me to print off a job application for her after we got the Internet working. I was surprised that it was 8 pages long, but I do want her to get a job. After I printed it she said she needed one from 3 other school districts. I thought 8 times 3, that's 24 pages and made the mistake of saying "Why don't you print them off at your house instead of using our ink and paper?" Big mistake. Today, in her righteous indignation, she left me a 5 dollar bill on my printer, $1.50 on the bathroom counter for using the facilities, 50 cents on the cooler for the soda she drank and a check on my pillow for her phone bill. I don't know if she meant to be funny or not, but I found it rather funny. I have now started putting rental notes on her belongings that are laying around my house. One on the car parked in the driveway. Another one on the dog food in my fridge. Heck, I could get rich if I did this with all my kids! I do feel kind of bad because she did take care of a lot of things for me while I was gone on vacation, but should I feel bad when she pays the phone bill that she can't ever seem to remember to pay? No, I should be ecstatic! Tonight I decided to do some Family Search Indexing while the boys were all watching TV. I was doing death records and couldn't seem to tear myself away from them. As soon as I finished one set I would download another one. I don't know what it is I find so intriguing about learning how and when people died, but it is very interesting to me. I felt like I was part of a diphtheria epidemic (all those poor mothers who lost children) , a homicide (did they catch the person who bound and gagged that man and stabbed him to death?), a runaway team (was he driving the team or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?), a fall from a railroad trestle (was there a train involved?) a hanging (what brought that man to the point that ending his life seemed to be the only option?) and several premature births and tubal pregnancies (how grateful I am for all the advances in medicine that make surviving pregnancy and birth the norm). I guess we all know where my youngest daughter gets her morbid streak from. My son-in-law thought I was very strange when he caught me reading the obituaries in the newspaper in Utah (more than once). I think Utah obituaries are much more interesting than Arizona ones. Here they just give the basic facts - birth, death, survivors. In Utah they give you a life story, usually including what caused their death. They are much more entertaining, but then are obituaries supposed to be entertaining?? I can remember when I was in school one of our English writing assignments was to take something from the newspaper and write a letter based on the information we had or something like that. I don't remember the specific assignment details, but I remember I used an obituary of a young girl who had died of leukemia and took the perspective of her little brother who wrote a letter to the president making a very small donation to fight cancer so other little brothers didn't have to see their sisters suffer and die. I guess this obsession goes way back. Now, can anyone tell me how I can use this interest of mine as a money making vocation? 3 things I am grateful for today. A sense of humor - it makes life a lot easier to enjoy when I can laugh about things. Medical advances - that make living to a ripe, old age a reality for so many more people than 75 years ago. Family history - that helps each one of us connect to our families as well as to the time and place they lived in.