Musings on Gratitude

***Please note that these musings are not intended to be a lecture or sermon. They're definitely not intended as a sign of how "good" I am or as evidence that I've got the craziness of life figured out in the least but are often for my own self as I ponder the person I hope to be. I just hope that maybe by sharing them they might help someone else along the way.***

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life has always had a lot of ups and downs. We all have them. It’s just part of being human. Sometimes we may look around at all the platitudes of perfection that are on social media or the covers of our favorite magazines and wonder why it seems like we’ve unfairly received more than our fair share of the downs though. After all, why can’t we have a fairy godmother come and make everything work out? Wouldn’t that just be so much nicer? I know I’ve spent more than my share of hours wishing for just such a thing.

The thing about wishing for what we don’t have though is that it doesn’t allow us to think of just how blessed we are. One of the memes I saw recently that really struck home said something to the effect of while we’re busy wishing for all the things we wish we had someone else is wishing for the things we have already been blessed with. Definitely something to think about when we start whining about things that really won’t make a difference 5 days from now or even 5 years.

We may never know why things work out the way they do but dwelling on the what might have beens or the way we wish things were only brings us down. If instead we think about the things that we do have to be grateful for we realize that each of us has been given so many amazing gifts that we can’t even really begin to start counting them.

This lesson really hit home for me when someone was discussing how gratitude affects our prayers. They suggested considering how long we usually pray for and then taking that amount of time and trying to write out as many of our blessings as we could think of. When the time was up review the list and then ponder what life would be like if you woke up the next morning with only the things on your list.

I’m definitely not perfect at it, even though I tend to think of myself as a fairly positive person I’ve realized lately just how often I let the bad take control over the good and start in on the whining and complaining and dreamily wishing. Now don’t get me wrong, wishing is fine but we’ve got to be willing to put some action behind it and make it happen. When we start going down those empty negative roads we just end up feeling even more negative and it snowballs on itself but when we stop and intentionally turn ourselves towards gratitude it’s like a whole new world of joy opens up before us.

Like I said, I know we all go through things though and sometimes it really is just ridiculous little stuff but sometimes it’s hard - really hard. As I gain more perspective on life I realize that even in those darkest of moments when I’ve felt like there’s nothing but me and the storm there have been blessings and lots of them– blessings of strength, comfort, friendship, care, and so much more.  I can realize looking back that I really wasn’t as alone as I felt and I know that I wouldn’t change any of those moments because they have taught me so much and helped me become the person I am. If that’s true than when moments of wind and hail come I probably need to focus on the lessons I’m learning and the growth I’m achieving if I want to keep moving forward in the future and trust and have faith that things will continue to work out as I do so. 

I’m so thankful for this time of year when we can all take a little time to ponder our gratitude and allow it to help shape us instead of allowing pride and jealousy destroy the beauty all around us. My wish is that it will help us all find a little more joy and a little more love and realize amidst all the false enticements and notions of "reality" the things that matter most.

Family Forever

Once upon a time I was a stupid teenager. I had some things happen that I let damage my self-esteem pretty bad and ended up with a crowd of friends who although not ill-intentioned, simply did not have my same standards. Although I never committed any "serious" sins there was a short time when I was not worthy to enter the temple.

That may seem a bit strange or harsh to people not of our faith but we believe that the temples are the most sacred and holy places on earth - we believe that they are the House of God and the scriptures say "that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence" (Moses 6:57). If we want to be in God's House, if we hope to dwell in His Presence we must be clean and worthy.

So there I was, unable to enter the House of the Lord. All my life I grew up knowing how special temples were and it was devastating to me not to be able worthy to participate in those sacred experiences. My top priority became repentance and taking hold of the blessings of the Atonement so that I could return. I remember a special blend of feeling joyful and humble when I was able at last to enter in again that I now feel each time I enter. 

It was soon after this time that I found my favorite Primary song - I had always loved music and especially the church songs but this one took on special meaning to me.

I have a family here on earth.

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

 Families can be together forever

Through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

 While I am in my early years,

I'll prepare most carefully,

So I can marry in God's temple for eternity.

 Families can be together forever

Through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

 

If there was a blessing in all that I went through, it was that I appreciated temples and eternal families like I had never done before. I knew with certainty that I could never settle for anything that wasn't forever. I wanted my family to be eternal and that I would have to continue to make sure that I was worthy and focused if that was going to happen.

Fast forward a bit and I knelt across the alter from my very best friend and made sacred promises with him and the Lord that no matter what came our way we would stay focused on eternity together. When I look at my husband, my children, when I think of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents - I feel an indescribable joy and overwhelming gratitude for how very blessed I am. I am so grateful that the priesthood was restored and that temples are once again on the earth and that we can be sealed together as a family forever.

 

In our ward during April we focused a lot on temples and families. We made a ward goal for everyone to try and get their families to go to the temple together - at least to walk around the grounds and feel the Spirit there. We were able to go as a family to both Boston and Montreal and see the temples there. 

 

No my kids weren't the most reverent while we there, yes it was a difficult thing to get everyone together and do the long drive. Would I do it again? Of course! Even though it was challenging and I imagine it will remain so no matter what the future brings, having our family together at the temple, teaching our children that they are part of our family forever, showing them how much we love them and God loves them are some of the most treasured moments of my life. 

 

I hope that by helping them focus on the things of eternity so they will be able to remember who they are and where they are going and know without a doubt that they are children of a Heavenly Father who loves them, and wants to keep the commandments and be clean not only so that they can be happy in this life but so He can bring them home to live with Him again to live in his eternal joy with all our loved ones together forever. 

my greatest blessings

Being Mindful of the Moment

In trying to think about what I wanted to say today I knew I wanted to talk about motherhood. Should I tell you a little more about my kids? How thankful I am to have them in my life? How I still feel every day like I worry that I’m going to mess them up? My guess is that if you’re a parent you already know those feelings pretty well. If you’re not a parent yet well, you’ve got a lot to look forward to someday.

No, as I start today I’m thinking about the daily rat race of life as a parent. If you’re a parent it is so easy to get caught up in the daily tasks of life: everyone wakes up, everyone gets ready for the day, everyone goes to work and school, everyone comes home, everyone gets ready for bed, and hopefully everyone gets to sleep. If you’re lucky everyone’s managed some semblance of three fairly balanced meals.

Is that what parenting is supposed to be like? Is that how our families are supposed to experience life? I’m horrible about getting caught up in the rat race. My “to do” list is insanely long and impossible. I never seem to get to half of it. I’m always worrying about jamming everything in. Thankfully kids aren’t like that. Over time they learn to grudgingly conform but their natural tendencies are to take life minute by minute and if you let them, they’ll teach you a lot about what’s really important.

Getting to know Monkey at 11 has been so much fun. She’s really starting to get into the deeper stuff of life and she’s handling it so much better than I did at her age. She’s always studying people and coming up with plans for how she can help others. She’s a lot like me in wanting to really understand why people are the way they are and why we make the choices we make and respond the way we do to different things. She makes me remember to look at the big picture and look for ways to show more love.

Tiger at 8 has been amazing. He has grown so much this past year. He loves to dream big and appreciate the small. One minute he’s talking about his dream of becoming an astronaut and finding a new Earth and the next he’s making friends with a caterpillar. He just loves to be happy and to make others happy and is always thinking of the most interesting things to be thankful for – like trees that clean the air and the stars so night isn’t so dark. He makes me remember that anything is possible if you can only stop and enjoy the moment and notice all the little gifts and joys around you.

Bear at 2 ½ is a blessing and a joy. He just loves his family and he’s usually happy doing anything as long as it’s with someone he loves. Of course he has his favorites like trains (we’ve been building A LOT of trains lately to help him pass the time with the other kids at school). He’s also happy to help me do the laundry or dishes. He always greets his family and friends with a big smile, a hug, kisses, and often a few silly faces. He makes me remember that happiness comes from love, not from the toy store.

If we are willing to listen children can teach us so much about the really important things of life. They teach us that dreams and joy and love aren’t found in the rat race – they’re found in the moment. Only as we pause and are mindful of the moment can we really feel and understand the greater things of life. When we take the time to just love and enjoy being with our children they will inevitably find a way to turn it back to us in even greater amounts.