Friends Forever!

Here's to good friends! For listening, laughing, loving, crying, hoping, praying, and dancing in the joy of life, when you need them most and when you think you don't! I would name names, but I may inadvertently miss someone and I would not want to hurt feelings! So my friends, This blog's for you and the poem ... though written a while ago fits and I want to remind you all how much you mean to me!

She Is My Friend

Written By Janalea Jeppson May 2006

She showed me how to love life
Until it loved me back.
She listened to my heart when all I
Could hear were echoes,
Then she wrote down the melody
And sang it back to me.
When my dreams were too big
Too wild and too far away,
She helped me tame them
Until they were close enough …
And gentle enough to be realized.
She was kind and loving and patient with me.
Because of this, I understood my worth.
She woke up one day and threw away
All of her excuses,
And then came over with a broom
And a dustpan
And together we threw away mine too!
She ignored me when I said, “It’s impossible!”
And like a potter with clay, she
Helped me shape the possibilities.
When she discovered she could fly,
She Helped me to find my wings,
She painted the tips with gold …
Then taught me to fly!
We both learned how to enjoy life
To the end ..
Instead of merely enduring to the end.
And together we joined in the celebration!
When my life wasn’t turning out
the way I imagined …
She helped me to imagine more.
She lassoed a rainbow for me,
And used it to color my world with love.
She is the light that
Show’s me the way,
She make’s my world a better place.
She is my treasured friend.

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some moves our souls to dance.
They awaken us to new understanding
with the passing whisper of their wisdom.
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile,
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same.”

Flavia
.

39.95 plus shipping and handling!

This last weekend I celebrated my birthday! I love birthday's! I had a good one! Birthdays always make me reflect. I either get really sappy with nostalgia or very philosophical! This year It's philosophical! I tend to evaluate my existence when I am face with adversity, challenge or tragedy and this year I have been dealing with a little of everything ...

Up until recently I felt like I was getting older ... you know OLDER especially when my grand niece, Sariah, points out that I have too munch granny in my hair, or suggests that I might have gone to high school with Noah's wife (see earlier post)! But after my brother's hasty departure from this life I have realized that old is a state of mind and I've got a lot of living to do!

My personal philosophy in life is that in order to really live you must be forgiving! Hanging onto grudges, anger and frustration can hold a person stagnet in life. It takes courage to let go of things such as that, but it's worth the effort. Forgiveness releases you and the other person. It fives you both a new beginning. So, don't be mad! BE GLAD!

Don't live in regret. I think we can all choose stuff from our past that we could have a do-over on. There have been times I have wished that I could go back to my younger self and smack her ... or at least show her that she's not going to like the end of the road making that certain choice! But, what good would that do me. What is, is! Accept past mistakes as lessons for the future! Praise God for the atonment of His son and look to the future with hope and anticipation! I know I have blogged about this over and over again, but I have such a stong testimony of the power that His atonement holds for each of us personally that I guess I don't think I could ever say enough about encouraging others to open their hearts to the possibility that being perfect was never what was expected of us ... if it was, His gift would have been pointless! (think about it)

I found a quote on the internet ... I loved it "There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few that will catch your heart. Pursue those." unknown

Do something new ... maybe you'll find a hidden talent! Allow yourself the chance to experience newness! Open your mind to the possibilities of your creativity.

Write a poem

learn to paint/draw

play an instrument

write a song

run a marathon

try out for American idol just to see if you can get some camera time!

Make friends with lonely person in a rest home, you'll never regret that!

So ... in essence

learn to really live ... enjoy to the end!

LISTEN TO YOUR HEART , our world is loud and very chaotic. Take the time to pause, look around and bask in the wonder!

Remember, with every birthday you celebrate come wisdom gained from experience ... true wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you!

Life is filled with crap! And it takes full awareness, a great attitude and a heart filled with gratitude to avoid it!

Happy Birthday to me! I am not over 40 ...I'm 39.95 plus shipping and handling!

I'm not Dead Yet, So I must be Stronger!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger!” Well, I’m not dead yet …so I must be stronger :o)
As you can tell from the majority of my posts this summer … I have struggled to make sense if drastic changes that have been thrust upon me in my life. I have had some amazing truths reaffirmed for me:

A: There is absolutely nothing in life more important than a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ! That relationship alone will get you not only through this life, but through this life happily. You’ve heard “Endure to the End”, well that sounds like a lot of work and not too pleasant. Well, it’s true, enduring to the end is not always pleasant…but it is necessary, and by developing a relationship with Christ … growing a testimony of truth in your heart. Learning to apply spiritual knowledge and the atonement to your life and walking with God and His Son Jesus Christ and allowing them to be the center … the very core of who you are, this will keep you floating when you’re not strong enough to swim anymore!

B: And almost equal to that, there is nothing more important than family. It’s about cultivating relationships within that realm and about taking the time to make every moment matter. It’s about letting go of pettiness, and rivalry and rejoicing in the light of the wonderful gift of having someone to hang on to!

Time is fleeting … we only have a minute and then we’ll all be through! No-one is going to make it out of this life experience alive. I never cease to be amazed that time seems to be rolling by faster and faster every year. SO get in … hang on ….keeps your arms and legs inside the ride … feel the breeze in your hair as you slide from now to then!

Laugh … and feel the true joy that our Father desires us to experience!

Live out loud! … Be who God created you to be! You have a gift within you that no other soul that has ever lived or ever will live can share. Don’t leave this life looking back and wondering …did I do everything I was supposed to??

Dream! God did not give you the power to dream without also giving you the power to make them come true! So Dream and Dream Big for the world’s possibilities are endless if we are only open enough to receive them!

Be Grateful! True joy can also be experienced in gratitude for all you have been given!

Keep promises … promises ignored will cause pain and the pain caused takes value and self worth from another and only leaves you with regret!

Forgive! People can be thoughtless at times … be patient and be kind … be like the Savior. Find a way to take the conditions off of your love … I know there are times in life when that is not easy … but I know that it is worth it!

C: Learn to get along. ... God gave us agency and because of that agency we all make choices to the dictates of our own conscience … He did not command us to find offense with one another … I remember that one …it’s an easy one, He said Love one another. Love thy neighbor … We don’t have His permission to hate even if we learn that our neighbor is making a choice to live differently than we believe. We don’t have to condone the behavior of the man/woman in order to learn to love their soul! Christ loves all in whom He suffered and died for, He did not suffer for only a select few, and His atonement is for everyone … EVERY ONE! His word does not stipulate to only love the people who think the way you think and live the way you live. Our world is running rampant with people who choose to find offense and to hate. Satan is having a heyday with misunderstanding and anger! There is name calling and frustration reeking havoc in the streets. The garbage being thrown causes pain and heartache in the hearts of all who make the choice to participate! Be the change!
Be the shining example of Christ Like love and you will be a beacon for the world!

D: Be accountable! Everything in life that affects you, you hold accountability for. Whether you created the experience or it was thrust upon you, the accountability is how you choose to react to it! Own what is yours ... fix it (fixing is not necessarily easy ... I am aware!), then move on! Playing the blame game is a waste of time! Saying that my leaky toilet is not my fault is true ...but I have accountability in my choice of how to deal with it ... and though I did not cause the issue I am the one with the responsibility to fix it!