Twice a year, in April and October, I am uplifted and fed spiritually by leaders from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love these weekends because I am gifted so much enlightenment, such as:
"Families are the best way to teach and pass on moral virtues."
"The best technology cannot be a substitute for revelation."
"Knowledge does not reduce pain."
"Repentance is not a punishment, it is a PRIVILEGE!"
"The happiness of our spouse is more important than our own pleasures."
"Children are great imitators. Give them something great to imitate."
"Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts."
"God will always bless us for our loyalty, but rarely shows us his timetable."
"Those that are the hardest to love need love the most."
I learned these nuggets, and many more, on accident. Because I listened to General Conference on purpose.
*If you would like to watch any or all of the messages, you may do so by clicking here.
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Heart full of friends
moving stinks. Really, it is not the most fun I've ever had. The effort to pack and clean is just, well, exhausting. Then there is the emotional roller coaster--happy for new adventures, sad to leave friends, excited for the new house, crying because you listened to that song that reminds you of where you've been living.
People don't like saying "goodbye". It feels final, as if you will never see the person again. We say "good bye" when we hang up the phone. Why is it so much harder when we move? No idea.
While all of this moving and change can be hard physically, emotionally and sentimentally, it helps me to see how blessed I am in my life. I have lived in beautiful places. I have met many wonderful people. The thing that I do love about moving is that it means I get to collect more friends. I love bringing people into my circle, and I love been pulled into theirs. I adore crossing paths with someone in this life, even if our paths have only crossed for a few months. Knowing these people makes my life richer and happier. And my heart is full!
There is a saying that goes something like, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." My kids and I recently completed an over 2,000 mile drive across this country. We attended our new congregation on Sunday and I realized that these are new people that will be brought into my circle and I will be brought into theirs. My life's path will begin new crossroads and a new chapter is being written. And my heart is full!
Moving may not be the most fun because of the work involved, but it is the best way to fill your heart full of friends.
I learned this on accident, because I chose to have a positive attitude about moving, on purpose.
People don't like saying "goodbye". It feels final, as if you will never see the person again. We say "good bye" when we hang up the phone. Why is it so much harder when we move? No idea.
While all of this moving and change can be hard physically, emotionally and sentimentally, it helps me to see how blessed I am in my life. I have lived in beautiful places. I have met many wonderful people. The thing that I do love about moving is that it means I get to collect more friends. I love bringing people into my circle, and I love been pulled into theirs. I adore crossing paths with someone in this life, even if our paths have only crossed for a few months. Knowing these people makes my life richer and happier. And my heart is full!
There is a saying that goes something like, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." My kids and I recently completed an over 2,000 mile drive across this country. We attended our new congregation on Sunday and I realized that these are new people that will be brought into my circle and I will be brought into theirs. My life's path will begin new crossroads and a new chapter is being written. And my heart is full!
Moving may not be the most fun because of the work involved, but it is the best way to fill your heart full of friends.
I learned this on accident, because I chose to have a positive attitude about moving, on purpose.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Running is my therapy
Changes in life can bring a lot of stress. They also can be a time of reflection. Our family is undergoing changes which are bringing a bit of both.
My husband took a new job in a new state and that has left me and three kids to sell a house and prepare to move over 2,000 miles away. That can be stressful. We've lived in our current home and area only 18 months; pretty short on the home-owner scale. During those 18 months we've had a love/hate relationship with the home and area. We didn't want to leave our previous home of nine years, the home we have been living in was configured so differently, it took months to adjust. It took longer than we would have liked to make friends and build relationships here.
Have I mentioned that change does not come easily to me? When I felt that this move was going to happen, my first instinct was to reject it and "brace for impact." I talked to a dear friend who told me that I could choose to embrace change. If the change is going to happen, then I can choose how I respond to it.
Some people don't like to listen to music when they run. They say they like the time to think and have their head clear. Me? I do my deeper thinking and pondering when I'm listening to good music. The words pouring directly into my head seem to have more meaning. A song I can sing the words to, without thinking, suddenly takes on a new message when I am concentrating on those words and the story behind it. Usually during a run I do not listen to music or anything. However, when I'm going to be gone longer than an hour, the earbuds go in and the music goes on. My music of choice is a mixture of 80's, country and Christian. Ecclectic!
On this particular run I was thinking about the upcoming move and reflecting on the experiences we've had here. We had lived here about a year when my husband and I felt that change was in the air and it was time to look for a new job move closer to family. It wasn't long after that decision was made that I started to really fall in love with where I live; the house, the neighborhood, the people, everything. About 45 minutes into the run, I hear the words, "It must have been love. But it's all over now." Tears. "It must have been good, but I lost it somehow." Sobbing. I wondered if I had wasted 12 months of living here by not loving it sooner. Then I realized that I had grown to love something and I know we are always better off for loving...even if it takes longer than expected.
Two songs later, Garth Brooks begins crooning to me. "I'll never reach my destination, if I never try..." "Don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied but choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide...There's bound to be rough waters and I know I'll take some falls. With the good Lord as my captain I can make it through them all." Now I was REALLY crying. I thought about how my husband and I really have embraced this move. We chose what job we wanted, we chose where we wanted to move to. We were dreamers!
The final 10 minutes of my run I stopped the music and took out the ear buds. I listened to the birds singing. I noticed the leaves starting to bud on the trees and I avoided puddles left from the recent rain. I reflected on how much I have loved where I live, and how grateful I was to have spent 75 minutes saying "goodbye" to this neighborhood and part of the country that has been my home.
Running was therapy for me on this day, and running with music was inspirational and healing to my soul. I learned this on accident, because I listened to music on purpose.
My husband took a new job in a new state and that has left me and three kids to sell a house and prepare to move over 2,000 miles away. That can be stressful. We've lived in our current home and area only 18 months; pretty short on the home-owner scale. During those 18 months we've had a love/hate relationship with the home and area. We didn't want to leave our previous home of nine years, the home we have been living in was configured so differently, it took months to adjust. It took longer than we would have liked to make friends and build relationships here.
Have I mentioned that change does not come easily to me? When I felt that this move was going to happen, my first instinct was to reject it and "brace for impact." I talked to a dear friend who told me that I could choose to embrace change. If the change is going to happen, then I can choose how I respond to it.
Some people don't like to listen to music when they run. They say they like the time to think and have their head clear. Me? I do my deeper thinking and pondering when I'm listening to good music. The words pouring directly into my head seem to have more meaning. A song I can sing the words to, without thinking, suddenly takes on a new message when I am concentrating on those words and the story behind it. Usually during a run I do not listen to music or anything. However, when I'm going to be gone longer than an hour, the earbuds go in and the music goes on. My music of choice is a mixture of 80's, country and Christian. Ecclectic!
On this particular run I was thinking about the upcoming move and reflecting on the experiences we've had here. We had lived here about a year when my husband and I felt that change was in the air and it was time to look for a new job move closer to family. It wasn't long after that decision was made that I started to really fall in love with where I live; the house, the neighborhood, the people, everything. About 45 minutes into the run, I hear the words, "It must have been love. But it's all over now." Tears. "It must have been good, but I lost it somehow." Sobbing. I wondered if I had wasted 12 months of living here by not loving it sooner. Then I realized that I had grown to love something and I know we are always better off for loving...even if it takes longer than expected.
Two songs later, Garth Brooks begins crooning to me. "I'll never reach my destination, if I never try..." "Don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied but choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide...There's bound to be rough waters and I know I'll take some falls. With the good Lord as my captain I can make it through them all." Now I was REALLY crying. I thought about how my husband and I really have embraced this move. We chose what job we wanted, we chose where we wanted to move to. We were dreamers!
The final 10 minutes of my run I stopped the music and took out the ear buds. I listened to the birds singing. I noticed the leaves starting to bud on the trees and I avoided puddles left from the recent rain. I reflected on how much I have loved where I live, and how grateful I was to have spent 75 minutes saying "goodbye" to this neighborhood and part of the country that has been my home.
Running was therapy for me on this day, and running with music was inspirational and healing to my soul. I learned this on accident, because I listened to music on purpose.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Blogging is hard
Everyone, it seems, has a blog these days. I never aspired to be a blogger. I've never really considered myself a writer. I've had experiences in my life that I enjoy talking about, and writing them down helps to cement them in my memory.
But choosing to be a BLOGGER, now that feels like pressure and that I better be funny and smart and clever. And punctual. My original intention was to publish one new post a week. I did well the first month because I wrote several posts on one day and I scheduled them to publish on the weeks that I wanted them. (I love technology for this purpose!)
Then, life started happening, I got behind on my posts, I began to wonder if anyone was really reading, and thinking that no one would notice if I didn't write another word. It's challenging to put my thoughts into words that are coherent and flowing for someone else who isn't in my brain.
And I realized, blogging is HARD. I learned this on accident because I choose to blog on purpose.
But choosing to be a BLOGGER, now that feels like pressure and that I better be funny and smart and clever. And punctual. My original intention was to publish one new post a week. I did well the first month because I wrote several posts on one day and I scheduled them to publish on the weeks that I wanted them. (I love technology for this purpose!)
Then, life started happening, I got behind on my posts, I began to wonder if anyone was really reading, and thinking that no one would notice if I didn't write another word. It's challenging to put my thoughts into words that are coherent and flowing for someone else who isn't in my brain.
And I realized, blogging is HARD. I learned this on accident because I choose to blog on purpose.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Put the SOCIAL back into social network
Today's happy accident is brought to you by...my birthday; And social media. Social networks these days are a funny mix of political posts and food videos. Maybe they should be renamed "opinion networks."
First, I want to share some definitions that I found for the word "social":
relating to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations:
seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable;
living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation:
The last one I really like. People need other people! While many of us feel anti-social at times, we really do need other people to be part of our lives, to at least a small degree.
I had a birthday last week. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I celebrated the completion of my 46th trip around the sun. (sounds kind of impressive, right?) I also share a birthday with my youngest child, a boy. He turned 12.This child of mine does not yet belong to any "opinion networks". He has an email account. He's 12. He doesn't even NEED email but it keeps him in touch with some long distance friends. Which brings me to my point. Social networks are supposed to be social!
Because of my said birthday, I was the recipient of many thoughtful birthday wishes. Now, some people don't like to post their birthday on social media, and they don't like receiving the "obligatory" "Happy Birthday" from people that maybe wouldn't ordinarily go out of their way to give a birthday wish. I am not one of those people. While I don't always give a birthday shout out to someone when I am "reminded", I loved reading the posts from friends who took time out of their day to type out a little birthday wish to me. It might seem like no big deal, but they really did think about me! They saw that it was my birthday, made a choice to click on my name, continued with that choice and wrote "Happy Birthday, Gina!" or some other variation on that theme. And it really means a lot! Really. I wanted to reply to each one, so I took some time to do that. And I wanted each reply to be special too--not a cut and paste job. And here is when the magic happened. As I replied, my friends started to reply back. And we were, get this, social! We exchanged niceties and I felt connected to them. Some of these people I have not seen for well over 15 years. It took me a couple of hours to get all of the replies done, but as a new comment would come in I would smile and enjoy a few more minutes with that person. Over the years, social media has been hijacked into political messages, political correctness, business promoting and cat videos. I believe that social media has a great power to bring people together and even to keep them connected, if that power is used for that purpose. Something I learned on accident, because I chose to be social on purpose.
I invite you to take a few minutes today and be social on your social media. Interact with someone. Write them a hello, or wish someone a happy birthday. It'll bring a smile to you and your network.
First, I want to share some definitions that I found for the word "social":
relating to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations:
seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable;
living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation:
The last one I really like. People need other people! While many of us feel anti-social at times, we really do need other people to be part of our lives, to at least a small degree.
I had a birthday last week. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I celebrated the completion of my 46th trip around the sun. (sounds kind of impressive, right?) I also share a birthday with my youngest child, a boy. He turned 12.This child of mine does not yet belong to any "opinion networks". He has an email account. He's 12. He doesn't even NEED email but it keeps him in touch with some long distance friends. Which brings me to my point. Social networks are supposed to be social!
Because of my said birthday, I was the recipient of many thoughtful birthday wishes. Now, some people don't like to post their birthday on social media, and they don't like receiving the "obligatory" "Happy Birthday" from people that maybe wouldn't ordinarily go out of their way to give a birthday wish. I am not one of those people. While I don't always give a birthday shout out to someone when I am "reminded", I loved reading the posts from friends who took time out of their day to type out a little birthday wish to me. It might seem like no big deal, but they really did think about me! They saw that it was my birthday, made a choice to click on my name, continued with that choice and wrote "Happy Birthday, Gina!" or some other variation on that theme. And it really means a lot! Really. I wanted to reply to each one, so I took some time to do that. And I wanted each reply to be special too--not a cut and paste job. And here is when the magic happened. As I replied, my friends started to reply back. And we were, get this, social! We exchanged niceties and I felt connected to them. Some of these people I have not seen for well over 15 years. It took me a couple of hours to get all of the replies done, but as a new comment would come in I would smile and enjoy a few more minutes with that person. Over the years, social media has been hijacked into political messages, political correctness, business promoting and cat videos. I believe that social media has a great power to bring people together and even to keep them connected, if that power is used for that purpose. Something I learned on accident, because I chose to be social on purpose.
I invite you to take a few minutes today and be social on your social media. Interact with someone. Write them a hello, or wish someone a happy birthday. It'll bring a smile to you and your network.
 |
| Me and the birthday boy trying this selfie thing. |
Monday, February 20, 2017
It's the response that counts
What kind of trials do you experience? Maybe it's an unhealthy habit that plagues you. Perhaps someone you know is dealing with an addiction and it's poisoning your relationship. Maybe it's unemployment or underemployment. You might be dealing with chronically ill children or aging parents. Maybe a loved one has hurt you deeply, or you are having a faith crisis, or you are moving Maybe you face depression. Maybe it's a trial of how to get your business going, and keep it going. Maybe your hard trial for today is getting the laundry and dishes done, or making sure that all of the people that live in your house are fed, clothed and safely back in bed at the end of the day.
Whatever we face, whatever our challenge is, it's not really the challenge, or "the trial" that's the issue. IT'S HOW WE RESPOND to the trial. Do we meet each hurdle and obstacle with frustration, anger and resentment? Or, do we embrace it as an opportunity to learn, grow and an acknowledgement that we have been entrusted with the responsibility to see ourselves through to the other side of this hurdle?
Getting through these trial usually requires some sort of plan, right? How will I get that laundry done? When will I make dinner? How can I show my loved one that I care for them? How can I loose excess weight or tone and strengthen muscles?
If we respond to these trials with the attitude that we are stronger than we think, and that we can overcome; if we stay on "THE PLAN", there will come a day that we become what we are striving to become, and accomplish. We are meant to have JOY in our lives. There is a scripture I love that says "If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God...that your soul may be joyful." Focusing on joy brings peace into our lives. Focus on Joy. It's the response that counts!
I learned this on accident, because I want to be joyful on purpose!
Whatever we face, whatever our challenge is, it's not really the challenge, or "the trial" that's the issue. IT'S HOW WE RESPOND to the trial. Do we meet each hurdle and obstacle with frustration, anger and resentment? Or, do we embrace it as an opportunity to learn, grow and an acknowledgement that we have been entrusted with the responsibility to see ourselves through to the other side of this hurdle?
Getting through these trial usually requires some sort of plan, right? How will I get that laundry done? When will I make dinner? How can I show my loved one that I care for them? How can I loose excess weight or tone and strengthen muscles?
If we respond to these trials with the attitude that we are stronger than we think, and that we can overcome; if we stay on "THE PLAN", there will come a day that we become what we are striving to become, and accomplish. We are meant to have JOY in our lives. There is a scripture I love that says "If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God...that your soul may be joyful." Focusing on joy brings peace into our lives. Focus on Joy. It's the response that counts!
I learned this on accident, because I want to be joyful on purpose!
Monday, February 13, 2017
No Less Seviceable
Do you find yourself comparing your actions to those of others? Do you feel that your day to day, run of the mill tasks just don't measure up to those of Fred and Sally that live on the other side of the fence? (Or the other side of social media?)
During a church lesson recently I learned that even my daily events like dishes, cleaning, teaching my children right and wrong and supporting my husband do not make me any less serviceable than the actions of those people that, on a daily basis, enforce laws, help the sick, or make million dollar deals. Our tasks are different. Our responsibilities in this world are not comparable, but the effect we can have on the world is the same...positive.
A wise man once said, "Not all of us are going to be...catching the acclaim of our colleagues all day every day. Most of us will be quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do our work without fanfare. To those of you who may find that (thought) lonely or frightening or just spectacular, I say, you are "no less serviceable" than the most spectacular of your associates. You, too, are part of God's army." --Howard W. Hunter
No less serviceable. Something I learned on accident, because I went to church on purpose.
During a church lesson recently I learned that even my daily events like dishes, cleaning, teaching my children right and wrong and supporting my husband do not make me any less serviceable than the actions of those people that, on a daily basis, enforce laws, help the sick, or make million dollar deals. Our tasks are different. Our responsibilities in this world are not comparable, but the effect we can have on the world is the same...positive.
A wise man once said, "Not all of us are going to be...catching the acclaim of our colleagues all day every day. Most of us will be quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do our work without fanfare. To those of you who may find that (thought) lonely or frightening or just spectacular, I say, you are "no less serviceable" than the most spectacular of your associates. You, too, are part of God's army." --Howard W. Hunter
No less serviceable. Something I learned on accident, because I went to church on purpose.
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