Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

Today is Sunday.  I have been listening this morning to old gospel songs sung by Allison Krauss, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson, and others.  My soul is stirred.  Recognizing that my soul is stirred is one of God's gifts to me.  When this happens my heart fills with gratitude and it goes back to the Lord, the creator of all things.

Truth is everywhere and we must be able to recognize it, and the Lord's hand in it.  I feel gratitude this morning for the small and simple things, and for the large, encompassing things.  God is good.  He gave us these things that we might find joy, peace, love, and through those things we can balance those challenges, anger, hurt and evil.

There is so much division in our world, and particularly in our country right now.  It starts at the top with our leaders and trickles down to us.  We must look to Jesus for his example of love, non-judgement, and just good.  Can we find serenity and peace in a world where there is so much devisiveness and unrighteousness?  Yes, I think we can.  It doesn't mean we have to close our eyes and put our head in the sand. 

It means we must start within ourselves.  Control what we have control over.  Whisper peace to our souls by building our personal relationships with Him.  When we feel the whisperings of the spirit, and we have found peace in the tumultuous world, then we can create a ripple effect to our families. 

Create warmth, security and soul stirring experiences there.  Create a heaven in our homes and with our loved ones.  With that power created in our homes we can ripple out to our communities; our neighborhoods, friends, and church.  Give solace where we find pain, balance fear with hope, give compassion and testify of faith. 

I feel gratitude that music touches my soul and that my ears hear it, and my spirit feels it.  My eyes allow me to see the beauty the Lord has created to balance the evil Satan wants us to see.  I am grateful for good people I have been surrounded by for my whole life, that I had a "safe" place to renew.  My soul feels compassion for those who have pain, encountered their own personal hells.  I want to help them see people, the world, and God through my eyes.  I want to offer hope.

I'm grateful for quiet moments to reflect on these things and all blessings too numerous to count.  I'm thankful today for music, Sundays, and God. 

"...where troubles melt like lemon drops"

Today on The Spoken Word I heard the most beautiful rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" I have ever heard, including Judy Garland's which has always been my favorite. The "word" was that we were to close off the noise of the world and find peace in quiet, in stillness.

I was laying in bed trying to will myself up to get ready for church and the days meetings but I have been having a bit of a Lupus flare, so I have been pretty much non-functioning for the past few days. On top of that I just learned they are auctioning my house next month, so essentially I am homeless.

Although my Lupus flare speaks otherwise because it can come from stress, I have really come to terms with this additional loss. Like my marriage ending, this has nothing to do with me. It comes about from circumstances. I'm sure I have made mistakes along the way, but essentially I had no more control from this financial disaster than someone who loses their home in a natural disaster like flood or tornado. I usually do have more control with what happens in my life than I have had the last few years, so it has allowed me to come even closer to my Heavenly Father and to rely on the Savior. What a blessing that has been.

So, this morning as I lay in bed I listened to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and my spirit was taken over the rainbow. I felt myself soaring among beautiful fluffy clouds with the birds at my shoulder leading me in peaceful dips and turns to a place where "troubles melt like lemon drops". What peaceful joy to know there is a place beyond the rainbow where we can let our spirits soar unburdened by the weights of the world. We don't need to leave this earth to feel it we can just give ourselves a moment with the Lord and He will lead us there to be renewed, refreshed, dipping in and out of the clouds so that when we are set firmly on the ground we can gather our little troubles around us and lilt through the day with gratitude, hope and peace surrounding us.

Even though it isn't the version that I heard this morning please listen to the following rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and let your spirit relax and renew.

Christmas 2008

I just learned how to post pictures so we will see how this goes. I love Christmas! I have a zillion boxes of decorations, but I only used about 1/8 of them this year.

This is Christmas 2008.

Dinner was at my house with 1/2 of the table here: Scott at the end, Harrison, Kirstin, Monica, and Philip. (The pictures aren't posting where I planned so hopefully you can figure it out...it is a work in progress!) Well no one really reads my blog, so as long as I know I guess I'm okay. LOL

This is the other side of the table to your left. Brock, Carmen, Samantha, Jimmy, and Scott again at the end.

I did a little table for Hailey and Madyson. They loved it!

We had Christmas Eve and morning at

the kids house in Lake Elsinore and

dinner at my house.

We had a great time with my brother Brock's family. Never seems like enough time though. We played balderdash and ate.....Scott made some great hors d'vores to start us off....and then we just kept eating.

One of the neat things about this Christmas is that Joey, my nephew came out Christmas Eve to join us. He took part in all the traditions and stayed over until morning to open presents. It was great having him there.

Mady on the left and Hailey on the right got lots of neat gifts from Santa and

everyone else who loves them. And they are very loved.

Of course everyone felt the love. The gifts covered the floor. We had a hard time believing the financial woes looking at our tree. Next year I think we will trim out some of the excess. Love is not just given through gifts and we all felt the spirit of love so strong.

This year Jim and Scott both got items that would help them with their favorite sport....cooking. Jim got an electric smoker, and Scott got a Dutch oven and cast iron skillets. I'm sure there will be some good meals coming soon! Yessss........

This is a picture of Samantha with her new "Mormon" cookbook.

It actually says on the front cover that there are recipes for lime jello

mormon potatoes, and red punch. LOL

Here's Scott with his Dutch Oven and cast iron skillets.

This is Joey with Jim. Honest, they are cousins!

Well it was the best of Christmases.....sharing love.....family......friends......good food......and the knowledge that the Savior WAS born, lived a life full of example for us to follow, then gave His life for us.....with such love.......in atonement for the sins we commit. How blessed we are.