No ... I guess there's more!

Ok ...I said I was done ... that there was no more wisdom in my head, but there is no such thing as an empty headed Jana ...

Tonight someone I trusted grabbed my heart ... and stepped on it! I'm not blogging about this to whine ... I am OK really ... I just can't beleive how easy it is for the adversary to slither his way into absolutely anything in our lives and then squish! Sometimes I think I am going crazy but then I received this e-mail and laughed ... in it was a joke:

Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

So, I'm a basket case, but it's ok ... I'm not alone.

Am I sorry I opened my heart??? probably not ... because on the other side of pain there is the Savior ... who is the healer and the comforter ... and working through the "crud" in life makes you stronger right? Music makes all things better, in my opinion so, take a minute and listen to this song:
it's by Jenny Phillips ..'

Writers Block ...

After pondering profound perils of wisdom to leave with you this day ... I have realized that I have imparted all my wisdom to you and as such can no longer blog ... I am sorry ... my head is empty!

Gee Thanks!

By sharing her gratefuls, my good friend Laralyn has got me focusing on mine everyday as well. What are gratefuls you ask?
Well, they are the wonderful little things we notice in our lives that the Lord has blessed us with!

People, in general, often take so much for granted and tend to focus mostly on the frustration and mundane in their lives. There is so much to be grateful for ... and life is so much better when you focus on the good and the beautiful within it! One of my favorite hymns is "Count Your Many Blessings":

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. …


So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
(Hymns, 1985, no. 241.)

James Faust said;

"A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It helps us develop such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being." D&C 78:19 says “And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more”

What a fabulous promise just for being grateful! Our hearts are lighter and our out look is brighter when we are filled an attitude of gratitude! I know my own life takes on new meaning when I focus on the blessings and gifts from my father in heaven, rather than whining and pouting over things I want but don't have! I have been blessed with such abundance in my life and from that has come great joy!

I used to keep a gratitude journal, I don't any more ...humm, maybe I do, I try to make my blogging a positive and happy evaluation of my blessings in life ... I think it is important for us to take inventory of our gratefuls every day! Start in the morning ... and find joy in every moment by counting your blessings!

Fill your backpack, purse, breifcase and heart with enough gratefuls to get you through each day. Write them down and read them when you are frustrated or overwhelmed!

President Gordon B Hinckley said, " Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights,” He encouraged each of us to incorporate gratitude into our daily lives. “Work at it,” he said. “You will find it will yield wonderful results.”

From today forward I will try to walk with gratitude in my heart. I challenge each of you who read this to do the same. Count your blessings ... write them down ... it only takes a minute and can bring you such personal joy and peace that I find hard to describe. but, it is real and I know you can feel it too!

Just Who Is Ben ??? ...

I speak of him often and many people have inquired ... "just who is Ben?" Well, my friends, I will tell you about Ben;

His name is Benjamin, He is my eternal companion, He was a stripling warrior …He died while building a pyramid in Zarahemla … He fell off! (That had to hurt!) I can’t wait to ask him why they built pyramids … Oh,and he is one of Helaman’s sons, not just one of the army, but one of his boys, the youngest I think… (his oldest brother Nephi, took his father’s place as the chief judge after he died and then there is his brother Lehi … you don’t hear anything about Benjamin in the scriptures … I think it was because He died so young (the pyramid thing) and it wasn’t a flashy death … you know, he wasn’t defending truth and righteousness … he was just clumsy!)

President and sister Helaman were devastated when Ben lost his footing and ended up a statistic of who’s who in paramid death’s (which, by the way, in that dispensation was one of the leading causes of death next to battling with laminites!)

Anyway, sister Helaman was looking forward to the whole grandma thing and then her son is gone … what can you say. When She was given a blessing to comfort her, she was told that the daughter of a King was being prepared for the last days (that would be me!)and would eventually end up with Ben, she was told that she should keep and eternal perspective … well if my mother in law kept an eternal perspective … I certainly can! So, I wait for Ben … or Benjamin, son of Helaman…In these latter days would that make him Benjamin Helamanson??? What a mouthful …. I guess that’s why I call him Ben. Nice, short, and to the point! If his father was here … would he be asked to speak at the next conference??? Would people want his autograph? Just wondering …
Anyway … I have often posed the question, why weren’t we born in the same dispensation? I don’t know? Other than the fact that I hate camping and that was a way of life with them. Or, maybe it was to bring the best of both worlds together for our own posterity! Who knows …it’ll all be figured out eventually ... until then, I wait for Ben :0)

( Poor Helaman .. somewhere in paradise he is shaking his head in total disbelief at my over active imagination!)

Where Do I Go From Here?

I found some old journals last night ... no, we're talkin really old ... a journal of poetry from April 1982. A gratitude journal from 1997. My scripture journal from 2002!
I think it's funny that it is now when I am trying to redefine my life that I find old journals :) It kind of takes me to the center of who I was when I was graduating from high school and starting out in life to what ever brought me here. It's not surprising that thoes things I wanted so badly then are the same things I want today. Back then, I never would have dreamed that I would be sitting in this position today ... but no use in cryin' about the time span. I do have faith and a testimony that everything I wanted at 18 will be mine if I remain faithful.

So, that being said, I can move forward.


I blogged a while back about dreams ... I am trying to redefine my dreams ...

I wrote a personal mission statement a few years ago, I just dug it out of one of my journals! (I don't seem to have a problem keeping journals! I wish I had the same dedication to my weight problem ...lol)

Anyway, I have reviewed my mission statement and I find that I am not necessarily on the wrong path ... I just need to give it some gas ...

My mission statement has three bullet points:

Embrace: to embrace the gospel and all that is good and to use it to inspire my creativity that I might inspire those around me ...
I don't have any problem embracing the gospel ...

Create: I do create ...this very blog is a perfect example of that! I write OFTEN... and I share what I write ... I write poetry, mostly ... I make cards for family and friends ...so I do create ...

D&C 60:13
"Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel among the congregations of the wicked; wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known. "

1 Timothy 4:14
" Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. "

Well, I shouldn't bury my talents ...and I should not neglect the gift that is in me .. My bishop just called me to the activities committee ... he's determined to keep my creative juices flowing ... (on that note, he didn't even seem to be phased at all by the look of terror on my face when He called me to the position!)

Another bullet point on my mission statement is

To Inspire:Do I inspire??? I hope so ... Friends have said I inspire ... I try ... so I will keep plugging away at the inspiration

like I said before, I'm not to far off ..... I'll just rev it up a bit!