Embracing the day of rest...

"Sleep is my favorite and my best." --me

Embrace the day of rest. Rest is something I've done A LOT of lately. And I have to say, too much rest isn't advised, and bed rest is absolutely mind numbing... but rest is not something we should fight against- it is something we NEED. It is something we should embrace.

In my current chapter of life I am on the go from the moment my eyes open at 6:15 in the morning, till my eyes close around 10 o'clock in the evening... At night I feel I could use a day of rest, and yet, during the craziness I feel like I'm racing against time. There's never enough if it!! There is always something that needs my attention. Someone that needs me right now. I love it. I love being needed. I love that I have the answer they need. I love being depended on. 

But I don't love being exhausted by the time hubby gets home. I don't love being at the point of "running-on-fumes" by bedtime. I love using up my "full battery" because I feel accomplished, but I use it up too soon I think. Do I need MORE energy?
Do I need a pill?
Do I need "all natural green tea energy caffeine sugar yards yadda supplements?"

 "Our bodies need us to recognize the need for rest (not using stimulants to keep our bodies running.) We don't need caffeine, we need time." Yes! 

Time to rest.

Time to rejuvenate.

Time to heal.

Time to refocus.

Time to calm.

Have you ever gone for a walk, or a drive, or taken a long bath and afterward you feel like a huge weigh is lifted? 

When I'm in the thick of the day- usually right around dinner (homework, Scouts, Therapy, Dinner all crammed in this delicate time frame)  is usually when I begin thinking about caffeine, and it's usually to distract from what I'm doing. Or not wanting to do. Or distract me from thoughts of failure "If I'm having this hard if a time- I must be doing something wrong!" 

But, I don't need caffeine or "supplemented energy." 
 I need rest! Mental rest. Even if just a few minutes, in a bathroom, to read a verse. Say a prayer, stop and count your blessings. Stop and reflect the positives. 

We cannot keep our minds so strung out all the time. 

A lesson I'm learning and reminding myself over and over is: "We don't have enough time or money to do everything-- that's why it is essential for us to choose what we do with our time and money."

{We women learn very quickly the necessity of choosing wisely how you spend you money. I know I learned this importance of the VERY early on!!}

 And your time! There is a limit. there are only so many hours in a day- and it will never change. We know this, and yet we forget that our bodies have limits. Make the most of your day. Make the most of your time this month. This year. This life! Choose wisely what to do with your time.

This world we live in, steps in and convinces us that "we only live once!" "Eat what you want!" "Dress how you want!" "Speak how you want!" "Be yourself!" "Be different!" "Be unique!" "Be you!"

What???

The world is constantly looking for "new" and "different." Don't follow the world, they're constantly searching... That will not only be exhausting, but also a serious waste of TIME!

I'm rambling-- but it's therapeutic, haha!

Make time for yourselves as you prioritize you time.
Go to bed knowing you didn't do everything- remember that you cannot do everything- and be proud of what you decided to spend your time on.
And remember also, especially on this day of rest, to give your bodies the rest it needs.
Early to bed, early to rise.

Happy Sunday!

Embrace the day of rest! 

Pray, He is there...

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doing, and he will direct thee for good;  yeah, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." Alma 37:37

I am grateful for prayer; to be able to communicate with our Heavenly Father. On any day, at any time. To be able to ask and receive answers; to be able to plead, and receive help. To be able to humbly ask, and be guided; to sorrowfully repent, sitting on the mercy seat, and be forgiven.

This morning, and really these past few days I've been especially grateful (and honestly, especially more conscious of my blessings.)

I'm grateful for my blessings. My temporal blessings, my spiritual blessings, my physical blessings, and for blessings I received that I may not be aware of. 

I am grateful to have a husband in this life. I'm grateful to know he loves me, even on my lowest, grumpiest, selfishly moody days. I'm grateful for his patience. I'm grateful for his kindness. I'm grateful for his wisdom. I'm grateful for his companionship. I'm grateful for the priesthood. I'm grateful to have the priesthood in our home. 

I'm grateful for our experiences. I'm grateful to learn life lessons by his side. I'm grateful for our trials. I'm grateful for our family. I'm grateful for our children. I'm grateful for what they give me. I'm grateful to be able to give to them. I'm grateful to have them home. I'm grateful to be able to learn how to teach them. I'm grateful for the desire I have to try my best. To give them my best efforts. I'm grateful to be able to meet their physical needs. I'm grateful to feed their spiritual needs. I'm grateful we are raising them within the church. I'm grateful for the good habits we're striving to instill in them. 

I'm grateful for revelation. I'm grateful for spiritual revelations. I'm grateful to have a prophet and apostles. I'm grateful to hear the revelation they receive. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful for the experiences documents within. I'm grateful to know what the prophets before my time experienced. To know what they prayed for. To know what their struggles. To know their fears. To know their testimonies. 

I'm grateful for my past, my childhood, my upbringing. I'm grateful it wasn't perfect. I'm grateful for the adversities I faced. I'm grateful for the struggles I endured. I'm grateful for my parents. I'm grateful to know they were not perfect, to know they struggled; to know they tried. I'm grateful to know the bitter. To have lived in bitter for so long, that the sweetness is delicious beyond compare. I am grateful to have learned lessons in my youth. To have understood life without the gospel. To understand how lost the world truly is. I am forever grateful to not be lost! I am forever grateful for temples. I am forever grateful to know I am sealed for eternity to my husband. I am forever grateful to know I am seed for eternity to my children. I am forever grateful to know any future children I beat with be sealed to me for eternity. I am forever grateful for the trust I have in my Heavenly creator. My Heavenly Father. I am forever grateful for the patience, the mercy, the forgiveness, the love, the joy, the life, the time He has given me. I am forever grateful that He is in control.

"Trust in the lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Looking beyond our circumstances...

"When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them in gratitude and love toward God." F. Enzio Busche

I've become a little obsessed with creating my own images with quotes, because I don't always find ones I like!

"We can choose to be grateful, no matter what. This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer.

When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.

We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?

Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges."

I'm in pain, but so grateful for the time to heal. For the time to catch up on reading. To read conference talks and quotes from our Prophets and many apostles and be spiritually fed in the comfort of my bed.

 I'm not necessarily pleased to have to have multiple surgeries, but so grateful to have the option, ability, and opportunity to afford to have the surgeries performed. So grateful for the dentist, for his sweet assistants, and all they do to help me.

My smile will not be perfect, but I will be able to smile everyday. With a mouth full of teeth. I have the blessing of feeling comfortable and confident enough to smile without worry.

I'm so grateful to my husband! He is my source of strength, joy, hope, courage, love, confidence, and happiness! He becomes this ultra-husband when I need to lean on him completely. I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful for him.

I'm so grateful to Him for him. ;)

Quote was taken from Dieter F Uchdorf's April 2014 General Conference talk

Dieter F. Uchdorf is Second Councilor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Story Of My.... teeth.

Taken right after the surgery. I had my phone on camera mode to look at my face, and thought I'd document it since this is my last of a looooong line of dental surgeries- none of which were documented.

Bone graft and gum membrane graft done again, today. This was dental surgery number.... I have no idea. I think close to either #6 or #7..

I'm so over having stitches in my mouth, the taste of blood, the swelling, and the mind-numbing P A I N!! 

It's so intense. I'm so sore. I feel like I'm reliving the accident after every procedure.

I did it to myself, though.

Don't play hide & seek in the rain, in the mud, climb down from the roof of a two story house, onto the wrap around porch, slip in mud, land face first on a wrought iron grate knocking your three front {adult} teeth out and expect to just walk away....

This is a similar build of my great grandmothers house where my accident happened. Her house was built against a mountain, so you could literally walk around the porch to the back, climb up the railing, and onto the side of the mountain, climb up a few feet, turn around and walk on to the roof.

 It. Was. Awesome! 

It was also raining, and I was rushing back down during a game of hide and seek, slipped, fell HARD landing right on my mouth, knocked my three front adult teeth (root and all) and fractured my Maxilla jaw bone.

I was in shock but I needed someone to come so I screamed for help; I had no idea I had knocked my teeth out. I turned around and saw my sister first. The look on her face scared me. She pointed out that I had blood everywhere and started crying. I looked down at my shirt soaked in blood and started getting very dizzy, and that's right around the time the pain started in...

The fire dept. was called and I remember being duck taped down to the gurney and then carried down the flight of stairs leading to the ambulance. 

At the station I was asked a series of (concussion) questions: my name, date, my parents names, president... Then I was taken all the way to the Flagstaff, and then eventually down to the east valley for surgery. 

I was given a temporary "flipper" to wear and kept it for way too long. I wore that flipper for the next fourteen years before finally buckling down and scheduling the grueling, gruesome, grievous, agonizingly painful series of surgeries to not only insert implants into my jaw (using screws... Guess where those go) but also to repair my jaw bone...

That's the story. 

Don't run in the mud. The consequences are painful. And expensive!! 

Fortunately I have a husband who loves me despite my dental needs, and is not only willing to pay the price, but is also willing to play Mr Mom to our three kiddos while I recover from each surgery...

And children who visit me to cheer me up...

Aiden liked this picture because his hand is invisible...

EYE love this kid.

FHE: Alma 43

"It is ok if the houses a mess, the children are still in pajamas, and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer, and weekly family home evening." -- Linda S. Reeves.

So grateful I came across that quote this morning! (Now I can postpone the dishes, plan FHE, AND  feel good about it!) 

Catch ya later, guys!

We're doing so good with reading the Book Of Mormon at night!! And I have really noticed the difference it makes. We still get upset sometimes, our children still fight sometimes, we get frustrated at times, but overall there is a greater sense of harmony in our home. We forgive quicker, and our night time routine of reading has NEVER been questioned or disputed. 

(Hopefully I'm not jinxing it!!)

For our FHE lesson tonight I thought I'd base it on what we're reading in the Book Or Mormon.

We're in Alma, just read chapter 42 last night and we'll be reading 43 tonight so I want to incorporate how Captain Moroni prepared the Nephites.

Ugh. My husband loves the gruesome, war chapters... I don't. Not exactly what I envision reading my babies before bed, but the righteous planning, revelation and Faith is there. And that's what counts.

Forget yourself...

Good morning, Monday. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole "morning person" thing! It's quieter, and cooler, and not as hard as I thought... I just hate that I'm exhausted by 8pm!! 

A quote has been popping into my head the past couple days, and I really like it. It's from one of Pres Hinckley's talks, about advice he was given on his mission.
And really, it applies to any aspect of live- in any situation.

But oh how applicable it is to MOTHERHOOD!


"Forget yourself, and go to work." -- Bryant Hinckley 

'As a new missionary serving in Preston, England, (My hubby served in Manchester, England!) Elder Gordon B. Hinckley was facing a major trial in his life. He was sick when he arrived in the mission field, and he quickly became discouraged because of the opposition to the missionary work. At a time of deep frustration, Elder Hinckley wrote in a letter to his father that he felt he was wasting his time and his father’s money. A little while later, Elder Hinckley received a reply from his dad. It said, “Dear Gordon, I have your recent letter. I have only one suggestion: forget yourself and go to work.”

I'm not sick, or serving in the mission field, but I am a mother. And I am "primarily responsible for the nurture of" my children, {{ and also the keeping and functioning of our home!}} And I, too, get "discouraged from the opposition of" the work.

Because like all good things; all good things we want to last- it takes hard work. Every day! 

After much prayer,  and a lot of faith in Heavenly Father, I have  learned that when I take President Hinckley's fathers advice, and "Forget Myself And Go To Work," I am blessed.

 I feel it. 

My children are blessed. 

I see it. They see it. 

My prayers are answered. 

My marriage is blessed.

My testimony is fed.
I feel closer to my family, my children, my husband.
Life is put in the right perspective.
I have the ability to accomplish what I need to.

When we forget ourselves and go to work, we are in the service of others. And when we are in the service of others, we are in the service of our God.

Sometimes "others" are those in my neighborhood. Sometimes "others" are those in need in my ward... And sometimes, "others" are just within my own family. 

When I am serving my family: cleaning, preparing meals, laundry, keeping my home... I am serving my God. I am serving my purpose, my duty. 

"Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little meaning to our own lives."  --Elder James B. Martino

Here's to loosing myself to bloom! 

90 day Book Of Mormon challenge

At the end of June our Bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days!

{to do this you pretty much have to read about five pages a night!}

At that time we had finally made it Mosiah, because we were only reading a column a night.

 I wasn't too eager to turn around and start back at 1 Nephi and forget the progress we had made, so we decided to accept the challenge but to continue from where we were and eventually loop back around by the end of 90 days!

So far, so good!! We've missed a night or two but the habit is forming.  It's become part of our routine.  It is expected. A couple of Sunday's ago, a lesson was taught in Relief Society about the Blessings we are promised when we prayerfully and regularly read the Book of Mormon. It was simple. She had complied a list of the blessings, and read them aloud. But after she read the list, she read it again. Only this time, she read it as a list of "the blessings we would forgo by NOT reading the Book of Mormon." Blessings we are denying ourselves, and our children by NOT reading together: We will NOT become worthy to enter the Lords Kingdom. We will NOT receive eternal life. We will NOT gain a testimony that Jesus is the Christ. We will NOT be able to expose and combat falsehoods. We will NOT receive blessings hitherto unknown. We will NOT be lifted from condemnation. We will NOT know the fullness of the gospel. We will NOT be reading inspired words confirmed by angels.We will NOT be given evidence the scriptures are true. We will NOT be reading clear, undiluted, untainted, powerful words. We will NOT become nearer to God, by abiding by its precepts than by reading any other book. We will NOT draw nearer to God, and be more like Him. We will NOT feel His presence with us constantly. We will NOT feel the Spirit permeate our homes and all who dwell there. We will NOT feel the spirit of reverence increase in our homes. We will NOT have mutual respect and consideration for each other. We will NOT notice a decrease in contention. We will NOT be able to counsel our children in greater love and wisdom. We will NOT see our children become more responsive and submissive to their parents' counsel. We will NOT witness righteousness increase. We will NOT have an abundance of faith, hope, and charity in our homes, bringing peace, joy, and happiness in their wake. We will NOT have increased love in our home. We will NOT have increased harmony in our home. We will NOT understand true doctrine required for our salvation, and confound false doctrine. We will NOT see the enemies of Christ in their true form. We will NOT gain a greater testimony of the Bible. We will NOT increase our understanding of history and faith-promoting stories. We will NOT expose the errors and find truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men. We will NOT strengthen our discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit. We will NOT be fortified against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. We will NOT find comfort, counsel, guidance, and the quiet power to improve our lives. We will NOT hear the voice of the Lord to guide us in mortality. Sorry, I know this was intense. But, like I mentioned before, it is simply a list of the blessings we would receive (or not receive) depending upon our scripture reading. For me, this was powerful; this hit home. I want peace, joy, happiness, love, harmony and the Spirit dwelling in my home. I want an increase in understanding, of the gospel and scriptures for myself and my children. I want to be able to combat the evil around us. I want to draw closer to Heavenly Father and my children, also. We want to claim these blessings. So we will continue our challenge and finish by 90 days! I invite you to read The Book Of Mormon, also. Gain a testimony for yourself. Ask God. Hold Him to these promises as you draw closer to Him. Happy reading!!