Visions of Heaven...

Have you ever sat back, in a family setting, and felt like you were catching a glimpse of Heaven?  I had that feeling today at the Kirton extended family party.  Kids were running around playing, people were laughing and loving and talking, and there was a light that permeated the room and lifted my heart.  I know that God is there and that he is perfectly filled with love because he created a plan that is not about the individual but about the family.  He is a good God and I am grateful for Him and his plan today and, grateful that he allows me to see and feel what my eventual goal really is right now.

Young and Old

Life, when you are young, is about the most important things in life.  It's about enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It's about running around and around your yard because you can and you love it.  It's about having your mom and dad hold you and tell you stories about you that they portray through a made up character.  It's about forgiving quickly and moving on to something simple and wonderful.  It's about knowing all of the primary answers to gospel questions.  And then, we grow up.  We serve missions, get married, and have kids.  We experience many joys and at the same time we complicate our lives with all of the many "things" we feel like we should do.  We cloud our lives with things that don't matter.  And, we spend great amounts of time in important things like school and work in hopes that all the hard work will pay off.  And after many years, we become old.  We are no longer in school.  We don't have to work because we are retired.  All our kids are grown up.  We no longer fret about what we look like and are simply grateful we are healthy enough to still be walking around.  Life becomes simple again.  But this time, life is simple because we've lived it and have realized that everything we knew as a child is true.  We more fully let go of the world and become closer and closer to God.  So today, I'm grateful for my childhood, my adulthood, and the days when I will be old.

Juice in a Box

On Friday night I went grocery shopping with Spencer.  As we were passing the boxed juice portion of an aisle I thought to myself, "I wish I could buy a carton of that boxed juice but it's too expensive."  I didn't think much of it until the next afternoon when I came home to a boxed carton of orange juice in my fridge.  We had breakfast that morning at our house and my sister brought 2 cartons of boxed juice.  To my surprise, she had left one of them for us.  God does answer the desires of our hearts and for that I am grateful!  Thank you Emily and thank you Heavenly Father.

Thinking of Death...

This morning, before I left for school and as I was hugging and kissing Spencer goodbye, I had an instant fear that I would get in a car crash on my way to school and would get severely injured or die.  I told Spencer about it and said if I died that he couldn't marry anyone else :)  I then left and continued to think about this fear.  While thinking about it, I realized that it was a fear because I am so happy with life right now.  I feel so blessed everyday to be where I am.  I feel happiness; not all the time but most of the time.  I feel like I have so much yet to accomplish and do.  I want to have a family with Spencer.  I want to be a mother, wife, and grandmother.  I want to graduate from my Master's program.  I want to live in New York.  I want to run a half-marathon.  I just feel like so much is on the horizon of my life and I'm just reaching the outskirts of it.  I have, at times in my life, thought of death as an escape from everything that was hard and wrong.  I no longer think of it that way.  I only want to die when I feel I have accomplished (including the hard stuff) all God has in store for me and I'm pretty sure he wants and needs me around for many more years and for that I am grateful.  Thank you mom for giving me life and thank you Heavenly Father for letting me live it.

A good mother and father

Today I am grateful for my good father and my good mother.  Over the past two months, as I have been studying and working for my Social Work master's at the U of U, I have again realized how important it is to have both a secure female and male influence in the life of a child, teenager, an adult.  I believe that it is not only important but necessary.  My mother influenced my life in ways that my father couldn't and vice versa.  They both helped me to grow into who I am today in unique ways that only one of them couldn't have provided.  Thank you mom and thank you dad for providing for me in only ways that you could have and thank you Heavenly Father.

Thank-you Cards

Today I am grateful for thank-you cards.  Last night, my husband and I finished all the thank-you cards that we needed to write from all the gifts we received from our wedding!  I am grateful that it's over and I am also grateful that we did it.  It's no easy task to write almost 200 hundred thank-you cards but I am grateful for the generosity of family and friends that gave us a reason to write them.  I'm grateful that my husband and I could do something small in return for all the gifts and blessings we have received because of others. So thank you everyone and thank you God.

Yellow Leaves

Yellow leaves in the fall bring a sense of peace to me.  Looking at them helps me to know that although times and seasons are changing, I can have hope and assurance in knowing that there change brings another kind of beauty - the snow.  And when the snow begins to melt and March rolls along, I know that change will bring about a Spring full of beauty.  The Summer follows with sunshine, bugs, insects, birds, etc. bringing yet another beauty.  And then, well, Fall comes again and brings with it more yellow leaves.  And those yellow leaves seem to mean more knowing that there beauty and presence brings about another one.  Life can be like yellow leaves. Although the seasons of our lives change we can always have hope for a different kind of beauty than the one we are leaving behind.  I'm grateful for the yellow leaves that bring peace and assurance to my life now.  And I have hope in the beauty of the snow that will follow.

Making a Cake...A Real Cake!

Today I am grateful for my sister-in-law Lauren because she helped me to make a real cake; one with two layers, frosting in between layers, fondant, fondant decorations and (I can't remember what she called it) frosting doodles and dots.  I wrote 'Congrats!' on it to celebrate my wonderful husband getting two very excellent and prestigious summer law firm offers.  It feels really good to have done something that for years I've wanted to do. Hopefully I'll be able to try it again real soon and then again, and again, and again.  I'm grateful for those who share there talents with me.  It makes me a better person.  Thank you Lauren and thank you Heavenly Father for putting good people in my path; people that help me accomplish good goals.

Journals

Today I am grateful for my journal.  My husband has been gone the past 27 and 1/2 hrs in Chicago for some interviews.  Last night, I was feeling lonely.  It was our first night apart since we've been married.  I decided to get out this book I made for us of  journals, texts, emails, etc. of the first time we met in Spain until our wedding.  I was able to read parts of my personal journal that I had written about him.  As I read, I felt close to my husband even though he was far away.  I was able to relive getting to know him and those words brought back so many wonderful feelings.  It was as if I was back there experiencing it from the perspective I have now and it seemed to sweeten everything.  So, I would encourage anyone who may be reading this to write in your journal about someone you love today.  You never know when they'll be far away or gone; but, if you write about them and how you feel, you can always keep a piece of them with you.  And, looking back in a few years as you read about him or her, your perspective will make those memories seem sweeter because you will understand then what you couldn't in the moment.  It will bring a greater depth to your love for them.  It will help you smile.  So thank you journal and thank you God.

Cupboards and Heads

Today I am grateful that my head barely missed the corner of my cupboard :).  For some reason my body is attracted to walls, corners of counters, and cupboards.  But, today my head was spared and that makes it a good day.

A Supportive Husband

My husband supports me:

sup·port

   [suh-pawrt, -pohrt]  Show IPA

–verb (used with object)

1.

to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serveas a foundation for.

2.

to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.)without giving way; serve as a prop for.

3.

to undergo or endure, esp. with patience or submission;tolerate.

4.

to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage, etc.) undertrial or affliction: They supported him throughout his ordeal.

5.

to maintain (a person, family, establishment, institution, etc.)by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for:to support a family.

6.

to uphold (a person, cause, policy, etc.) by aid,countenance, one's vote, etc.; back; second.

7.

to maintain or advocate (a theory, principle, etc.).

8.

to corroborate (a statement, opinion, etc.): Leading doctorssupported his testimony.

Immediately after I sent my family an email about my new blog, my husband replied and said:


BABE!!


I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea....I am very excited! and I am SURE that it
well help others, including me, see the blessings in their lives!


I love you 10 tons!!


I don't think a wife can be blessed with a greater blessing than to have the full support of her husband in all that she does - both in small and big endeavors.


Thank you Spencer and thank you God!

A Lifelong Blessing

Yesterday I called my mom to tell her that my husband, Spencer, got a job offer for his second summer of law school in Las Vegas.  She screamed for joy and immediately starting telling me all the good things that would come from and with this offer.  I realized today how blessed I have been to have a mother who lives with enthusiasm for life.  For her, it never mattered how small or large a piece of good news was; she always was excited, happy for me, and enthused about all the good that could come from it.  I want to be more like my mom.  I tend to prepare for potential trials or hardships by picking apart a future circumstance.  My mom, like a gipsy, sees everything as an adventure and moves forward with enthusiasm and excitement for whatever the future may bring.  Today, I understand a little better what a blessing my mother's enthusiasm for life has been in helping me.  Thank you mom!  And thank you God.