Choice #10—Financial: I decided to pray about changing the words “live frugally.” When I prayed, “live abundantly,” were the words that immediately came into my mind. With further research, I learned that living abundantly also includes being frugal and making wise decisions when you spend your money.

The book, The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan has been another life-changing book for me. Learn how dramatic growth can take place in your life all at once by utilizing the amazing power of your thoughts and words!

I believe the following quote I recently read by C.S. Lewis regarding the role of mothers and homemakers is 100% true: “The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career.”

To comprehend the intangible, spiritual concept of Jesus Christ’s Atonement, it is sometimes helpful to compare this beautiful, divine doctrine to something more tangible. In the scriptures, the Lord often refers to objects that are familiar to us or teaches insightful parables to help us better understand these spiritual principles in a more concrete way.

Every March, I write about addiction and recovery because my wonderful son Jonathan suffered from alcohol and drug addiction for many years before he took his life on March 5, 2010. Jonathan often attended AA meetings, and  I attended with him a few times. Now, you can locate online the closest AA meeting place to you or join an AA group online. It’s never been easier to join friends and live a life of complete sobriety and freedom!

A new hymn, “His Eye Is on the  Sparrow” recently caught my attention. I love to sing it when I am feeling a bit discouraged because it lifts my spirits. I also love to sing it when I’m already feeling happy because I’m so grateful to know that Jesus is “my constant friend.” 

While I don’t set specific goals each new year in January, I do reflect on goals I have set in the past. I was delighted when I came across an old notebook and looked inside to see what my goals were when I was young. I found I had only written down one goal: “Don’t yell!” Haha. Still working on that one!

The Christmas tradition I love best is when we go out to the barn with the horses, where David has set up the scene of Christ’s birth, and he reads the story in Luke 2:1-20. I always feel the Spirit which testifies to my heart that the story of Jesus Christ is true!

I now take joy in the baby steps of growth I make each day,  and I also kindly acknowledge to myself my human weaknesses when I slip backward from time to time. I am resolved to keep going forward. l will always keep trying!

JOY IN THE MORNING is a beautiful phrase, and it has profound meanings. What I have learned is that the choices I make today not only affect me today, but they also affect me tomorrow as well. If I want to wake up with joy in the morning, I need to do my part to make it happen each day. When tragedy and major disappointments strike and knock us down, we must immediately turn to the Lord and seek His guidance to get back up.  He will heal our aching hearts, inspire our thoughts, and cause the right people to come into our lives who will help us get through our difficult times.

A contributing factor to many deaths by suicide is the use of alcohol and drugs. Excellent health—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—can be achieved when you have a zero tolerance for these substances. The use of alcohol and drugs, even occasionally, messes with our minds. We cannot become the person we know in our hearts we desire to be when our minds get off track while stumbling along the path of dead-ends and detours, which alcohol and drugs always bring.

I love the quote by Cindy Trimm that says, “Your yesterday does not define your tomorrow.” I know that God loves each one of us, and He wants us to become the best we can be. Nothing from our past—heartaches, disappointments, failures, depression, anxiety, addictions—can keep us chained to our past. As it says in the New Testament in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me".