Tis the Season

 "Love Chapter" (1 Corinthians 13)
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If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime: but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity; but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ,  have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return; but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust; But giving the gift of love will endure.

Take time for those you love....

Merry Christmas from our house to your house, may it be a wonderful day and season.

Forget Not

To be patient with yourself ...  (we add stitch by stitch, often not seeing the whole or final picture for a very long, long time, if ever and yet each stitch adds something to the whole)

The difference between good and foolish sacrifices.... (having little ones makes you sacrifice every day but it certainly isn't ever foolish -- )

Sacrifice for things and more things is not worth it....

To be happy now....                              (no matter what your color, size or situation)

 (In the trenches or out)

The "why" of the gospel....

(Returning with Honor, Who we actually are, What we actually become, the need to get in touch with your center rather than the fluff of life and mental abilities)

...that the Lord loves you

 (Amazingly as an individual even though there are so many others)

He is the light even when all around you there is darkness ... in all of nature and the beauties of His world He loves us and knows us and wants us to come unto Him

We must set forth

"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail and not drift, nor lie at anchor."  - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Beautiful Things

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched...but are felt in the heart." 

-- Helen Keller

I am thankful for a testimony of things not seen, but are definitely felt by the heart.

Achieving

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."- Helen Keller

Journey On

"Therefore, continue your journey, and let your hearts rejoice. For behold, and lo I am with you, even unto the end."
D&C 100:10

Persistence

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased."       Gospel Standards, p. 355

Positive View Point

Positive Attitude in the midst of destruction is worth working for..... "Reflections on Pearl Harbor" by Admiral Nimitz. Sunday, December 7th 1941 -- Admiral Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington DC He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. when he answered the phone, it was Pres. Roosevelt. he told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the commander of the pacific Fleet.

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. he landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat -- you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war.

On Christmas Day 1941 Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.


As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well, Adm, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?"
Adm Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Adm. Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?" Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do you mean?"
Adm Nimitz explained:
Mistake number one: the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. if those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk -- we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
Mistake number two: when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away winking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. if they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow everyone of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America..and I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three: every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is on top of the ground in storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America.

Anyway you look at it -- Adm Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism. Pres. Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job.

There is a reason that our national motto is, "In God We Trust"

Even in death -- our motto should be "In God We Trust"

Son

Turn your face towards the sun and the shadows fall behind....

Happy Independence Day

"I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land. We need God's help to guide our nation through stormy seas. But we can't expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living." -Ronald Reagan

I want to thank all those that have come before and that currently give their service to allow me to live, love, and be.

God's Love



Whenever I hear the song of a bird

or look at the blue, blue sky

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

or the wind as it rushes by

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

or walk by a lilac tree

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see

the color of butterfly wings

He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sounds of things

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart

I thank Him reverently

for all His creations of which I'm apart

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me!!

Life is Good

We may live in a sad world, but the sad world doesn't have to live in us. Enjoy life! Live life! Be Happy.

God's Hand

I Love the Beauties of the earth and recognize God's hand....
A disbelief in God does not result in a belief in nothing;

disbelief in God usually results in a belief in anything