Don't miss the Silver lining in the clouds of today.

As a young girl I was very fond of the movie Annie. One of my favorite songs was Tomorrow. On occasional dreary days I hear the echoing words of the little red head girl, “The sun will come out tomorrow.” It is true, the future is bright and there are good things to come, but we must not be so consumed with the sun tomorrow that we miss the silver lining in the clouds of today.

A few weeks ago in a conference we were all given a marshmallow, then we were told to examine the marshmallow as if it were the very first time we were seeing it.  I found this little exercise to be interesting wondering why I was staring at a little marshmallow.  I really tried to cooperate with the exercise and began to really look at the marshmallow what it looked like, felt like, smelled like and so on. Then he told us to put it in our mouth and to see how it changed. Never in my life had I put so much thought into one little insignificant marshmallow. He went on to explain we usually only look at things in life for our benefit. For example; usually when we look at a marshmallow we think about it tasting good for us, but we never think that that marshmallow is an independent object that we can observe without having to think about it only for our benefit. 

I have realized living in Virginia how one can easily be caught up in the race of life and begin to overlook the beauty of the moment. People are going 100 mph in 100 different directions trying to accomplish their many demanding responsibilities. In such a fast paced life it is easy to get caught up and forget the things that matter most, but as we apply the marshmallow concept and look at the beauty and wonderful things in the world around us, we will have an increased gratitude and appreciation for our Heavenly Father and our wonderful lives. 

  I hope we can all take time to enjoy the moment and not just wait for the storm to pass but learn to dance in the rain.

Click for inspiring words provided by President Uchtdorf

 

Follow Mr. Cat's example of determination

Well I couldn’t resist using the picture of this determined little Cat as part of a weekly wonder.





This rather chilly day we were knocking on a door as this little grey cat came trotting around the corner and stood at the door. ( For our Purposes we will name him Mr. Cat).  He sat meowing for a few seconds but quickly came to the conclusion that the two sister missionaries he was staring at were not going to solve his problem of getting out of the cold back into his cozy home. With a quick turn of his head and more determination in his eyes, he bounded up to the door and stretched out his little paw reaching for the door knob with all his might. I was quite impressed with the little guy who knew the door knob was what stood between shivering outside in the bitter cold or cuddling up on a nice warm couch. Mr. Cat was putting in effort and determination. In the end it would be his master that would ultimately let him back into the house so he could enjoy the comforts of his home.

This short scenario with Mr. Cat caused my mind to race of the many commonalties between my little cat friend’s problems and the problems and challenges that we face every day. Many times we are stuck on the outside of the door and must make the same choice as Mr. Cat, Will we persevere or will we ( meow/ complain) and give up?  When we feel like we will be in the cold forever, the task at hand seems impossible, and all hope seems lost, WE MUST KEEP TRYING! As we show our valiant effort and do our part we can remember that Christ's Grace will carry us through our darkest days and deepest trials. If we will continually do our part to persevere and let Christ in, he will be by our side and will bring us out of the cold so we may enjoy peace and comfort once again.

 

 

What is your one word???

 

So we are a few months away now from the time when we all made our wonderful New Year’s resolutions. I’m guessing many of us have forgotten, misplaced, or lost motivation about those ambitious goals we set. We started the year with a nice list thinking 2014 would be the year. Now as we approach the end of March some of us may no longer have the drive/ motivation we did January 1^st, do not fear my friends!

Yesterday we got to go to a wonderful sisters conference and learned something I found to be a unique idea to umbrella those New Year’s resolutions. Now this is not something I came up with please forgive me for forgetting the man that said to do it, the idea was passed to me through the grape vine by one of our mission leaders. So instead of making an enormous list of goals, pick ONE work that you want to have, become, do ect, and that word defines your 2014 year. These words can be anything your little heart desires. Some may have the word try, another could be hope, another intellect. The possibilities are endless. By picking one word to motto the year by you no longer have to become discouraged by the never ending list of goals. Instead there is one simple word that you’re striving to implement for your year. It will be awesome as the years go by to see how your words change and how you change.

Some of you may have thought of a word right off the bat as you read this; others may take a little time and meditation. As you’re contemplating on your word make sure you look deep into yourself to figure out which word is going to help you, then look out and get prepared to take on the world haha. ( keep thinking of your word because I want you to share.)

The word I chose is PASSION.

 

Growing up I had a great passion for basketball and volleyball. I absolutely loved the practices, games, competition I loved it ALL.  My world pretty much revolved around my sports. In the summer I would go to camps and try to stay in the gym as long as I could. I constantly begged my dad to take me to shoot some hoops. Once the specific sport season would come around I would eat sleep and drink it up. I thrived off of the competition. I loved the adrenaline that came in games and the feeling of success after the many long hours of practice I put in. Sports were my life then the day came when I graduated. aahh The  many life lessons and endless, wonderful memories stayed with me, but that chapter was over and it was time to move on.

I choose the word passion because I want to have passion for life. I realized that in the book of life each chapter comes to an end but another outstanding chapter begins. I want to institute the same amount of passion in life as I had for sports. To really live in the moment not being caught up in the glory days of the past or the unexpected mysteries of the future, but I want to have an absolutely love for life in the moment. So no matter what part of my book of life I’m in, I will have a passion drive and motivation!

 

From this Blog I want you ALL COMMENT on the blog or on facebook and share your 1 WORD!!!!!! It will be awesome to see the different words that everyone chooses for these last 9 months of 2014! Even if you heard of this and started it in January please share your word to help inspire others.

Rain drops and Roses Whiskers on kittens... these are a few of my favorite things..

My name tag I wear with Honor

I enjoy teaching others about Heavenly Father

 I love wearing Christ's name on my chest

My job is definitely the best!

 

Next my shoes who are so dear

To my little feet they've been sincere

For the many miles they've had to walk

The stories they would tell if only they could talk

 

Of course this book I love with all my heart

So many great things, I don't know where to start

 Written anciently the words they say

I know were written for me today

It keeps me on the right path

Until I will return to God atlas

 

And last but not least I love my Savior

Who's truly my friend and not a stranger

 I love My Savior Jesus Christ

For all man kind he paid the price

His life he so willing did give

Allowing all of us the gift to live

He is a perfect example of how to be

I want others to see his light through me

 

 

 

So here is a poem because I'm unable to sing

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite things!