I now understand that we must love ourselves first if we want to feel God’s love for us. Our negative thoughts and feelings towards ourselves trap us in a dark cave where the sunlight of God’s love cannot penetrate. We must crawl out of the cave by loving ourselves and trusting that God’s love and sunlight will be there waiting for us. I promise it will be!
Read MoreYes, our Heavenly Father and Savior know us by name. They care about our worries, fears, anxieties, problems, and concerns. The scriptures proclaim Their promises to always be there for us and for our loved ones. We can’t give up on others. We can’t give up on ourselves. We must always “wait until July” arrives.
Read MoreOn Mother's Day, I started reading some quotes about love, kindness, and mothering. After reading all these inspiring, thought-provoking quotations, some words came flowing into my mind that I quickly wrote down. I decided to put my own quotation at the beginning of this compilation. I shared these quotes with my family that day. Now, I'm sharing them with you!
Read MoreI would like to share a recent “little miracle” that began in my life on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, and it is still reverberating in my soul today. I rarely get answers to prayers that come so quickly or that come in such a miraculous way. I was amazed! This was truly an “extraordinary event” and a “work of God.” Indeed, it was a tender mercy and miracle for me!
Read MoreOne of my favorite hymns is “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” I listen to it almost every morning while I fix breakfast. The words and music help me to re-center my life on the Savior. No matter how I wake up feeling that morning, no matter how I might have slept the night before, no matter what is on my to-do list for the day, I feel a little bit more energized and a little bit happier when I listen to this hymn!
Read MoreI recently found some words that Jonathan had hurriedly written on a piece of paper, which had been torn out of a spiral notebook. It read like a poem, so I typed it up. I feel that his message is profound because it is obviously written from his own perspective of being knocked to the ground so many times in his life. I have entitled the poem, “Failure?”
Read MoreOn February 3, 2023, David and I became great-grandparents to a beautiful new baby—a boy! He was born in the same Provo, Utah hospital where we had our own first beautiful baby—a girl—almost fifty years earlier! She was born on February 10, 1973. We feel that we have now gone full circle in the cycle of life!
Read MoreI read the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, the first time about 30 years ago, and it was life-changing back then. I found it on Audible a few weeks ago, and it has been even more life-changing this time as I listened to the power and truth in each chapter! I didn’t understand it all when I first read it, but with my many years of growth experiences, I understand his philosophy much better! This year, I wished my family a “HAPPY NEW LIFE” because I believe reading this book and applying its true principles will change their lives as much as it has mine.
Read MoreChristmas is always a wonderful combination of joy, a bit of stress, putting up old, well-loved decorations, trying to plan meals and festivities ahead of time, rushing at the last minute over something forgotten, love and laughter with family and friends, and truly appreciating the real reason for Christmas—Jesus Christ. How I love our dear Savior!
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
— Isaiah 9:6
Read MoreI love our family tradition of baking pies for Thanksgiving. I took this picture of my husband David with our grandson and granddaughter (twins) proudly showing off the pumpkin pie they baked together here at our ranch this year! Traditions are what pulls at our heart strings and bonds us as one, kind of like being stuck together with “Crazy Glue,” with our family and friends. Yes, some of our traditions are kind of crazy! Some make us smile, some make us laugh, some make us a little teary-eyed.
Read MoreI like to dress up for Halloween! This year I was visiting at my daughter and son-in-law’s house, so I looked around to see what I could find to make myself a costume. I found a black satin sheet lying on a bed, which I knew would work for my main costume. After searching through my granddaughters’ dress up boxes, I found a fluffy little skirt and put it around my head. I thought I looked great! My grandchildren all laughed at me and asked, “What are you?”
Read MoreAfter I spoke, we had the best part of the seminar! The choir director for Cody High School and Cody Middle School, Anissa Bree, had 70 of her choir students there. The singers had our song, “There’s a Reason to Live” memorized, and they all sang it with great feeling. They only had two weeks to learn the song, and they took it seriously. Anissa Bree had performed a miracle! It was amazing to see the Grizzly Hall in the Library packed with choir students and their family and friends who came to listen to them. When the song was over, many people were in tears.
Read MoreExcerpts From My Journal
Our celebrations continue… The first activity of the day was a “Guided Courtship Tour” so David and I could show our family where we dated in Provo and where we lived when we were first married! Our tour began at BYU where we bought ice cream cones for everyone at the Cougareat. It was a great bonding experience to walk together across campus and other places in Provo in our matching yellow and blue t-shirts, which were our wedding colors! Such a long, fun afternoon!
Read MoreExcerpts From My Journal
I wanted to plan a big celebration for my 70th birthday, which was on June 29th and also celebrate David and my 50th wedding anniversary, which had been on March 30th. Our celebrations lasted a week—June 28 – July 4! It started in Provo, Utah, and finished in Cody, Wyoming! David and I wanted to begin our celebration by attending the Provo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because we know that the Sealing Power of the Priesthood and our temple covenants provided the foundation for our 50 years of a happy marriage!
Read MoreDavid and I were never actively involved in politics in the past. We did our own research, discussed different candidates between ourselves, and then we voted. We avoided all controversial discussions that other people were having, and we chose to just listen to their opinions without expressing our own opinions. We always desired to avoid any kind of contention that usually arises in political conversations.
Read MoreYou must believe in yourself. You must believe that your life really matters, and the universe really does need you. It needs your personality. It needs your talents—the ones you have now—and the ones you don’t even know about yet that you will develop throughout your lifetime—much to your surprise! Right now, you have no idea what great gifts are hibernating within you or what amazing experiences are awaiting you up ahead. You must believe in yourself!
Read MoreMy desire this year is to become more like Jesus Christ and to build a better life by using Him as my one sure foundation. I want the true meaning of Christmas to linger with me, day after day, week after week, month after month, throughout the whole year. When I read the article, “Jesus Christ—Our Firm Foundation” by Donald L. Hallstrom, I gained new insights on how I can build a spiritually strong foundation through “vision, commitment, and self-discipline.”
Read MoreAs we sat around the table for our family’s Thanksgiving feast, we all took turns saying what we were most grateful for on this special Thanksgiving Day. I shed a few tears as I spoke of the miracles of God the last few years, both big and small, which had allowed our family to be together this day. Without His divine intervention, we wouldn’t have had this day of rejoicing with our family and friends.
Read MoreI sometimes have problems sleeping. I can usually fall asleep okay, but I often wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling back asleep. I’m not sure what the reason is (it doesn’t seem to be stress) as I usually go to bed feeling quite content and happy! I recently found some interesting, new information in a lengthy article, which I hadn’t read before. I decided that what I needed to do was to incorporate, slowly but surely, all 20 of its suggested “tips” into my daily routine!
Read MoreI went home and looked around my kitchen and decided to start learning to love being there much more. Instead of thinking about my kitchen as a place of drudgery where I had to do chores, I started thinking about my kitchen as a place to create happy memories and teach my children to enjoy making and eating nutritious food.
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