Saturday, July 18, 2009

Who I Am

THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS


are beloved spirit daughters of God,
and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.
As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion
to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar.
We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ
through prayer and scripture study.

Seek spiritual strength by following the
promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening
marriages, families, and homes.

Find nobility in motherhood
and joy in womanhood.

Delight in service and good works.

Love life and learning.

Stand for truth and righteousness.

Sustain the priesthood
as the authority of God on earth.

Rejoice in the blessings of the temple,
understand our divine destiny,
and strive for exaltation.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Why I Love Him



1. He goes to work every day to support our family.
2. He works as much as he needs to in order for me to stay home with my children.
3. He loves life.
4. He loves to laugh.
5. He has awesome hands.
6. He takes good care of himself.
7. He does anything I ask.
8. He encourages me to go out with my friends.
9. He leads our family.
10. He takes us to church each Sunday, sings the hymns, and participates.
11. He volunteers his time to serve others.
12. He is always first on the list to offer to help someone move.
13. He serves our country because he feels it's his duty.
14. He loves our children.
15. He takes care of all our finances so I never have to worry.
16. He sits at the dinner table long after dinner's over because he knows how much I enjoy chatting with him.
17. He takes me dancing.
18. He makes sure we're touching as we fall asleep- even if it's just our feet.
19. He tells me I'm beautiful and there's no one else he could ever want.
20. He encourages me when I want to try new things.
21. He goes out of his way to make sure I'm happy.
22. He has gorgeous eyes.
23. He's incredibly smart.
24. He likes everything I cook, and wouldn't say otherwise if he didn't.
25. He writes me letters because he knows how much I enjoy them.
26. He takes me to dinner, and makes dating a priority.
27. He appreciates life and is grateful for what he's given.
28. He can do anything with cords- I've never seen so many possibilities with things hooking up to other things.
29. He is incredibly sexy when he works out.
30. He keeps our lawn looking beautiful.
31. He changes the oil in our cars because it saves money to do it himself.
32. He's a guy. He's not into clothes or hair or anything girly- but he lets me be girly, and appreciates things for my sake. :-)
33. He's very straightforward- no hinting, no games.
34. He loves lots of types of music, but usually lets me choose.
35. He's taught me about politics, and allows me to make an opinion on my own.
36. He compliments me.
37. He teaches our children to be gentlemen.
38. He takes his responsibilities seriously.
39. He knows how to have fun.
40. He can laugh at himself.
41. He's fun to be with.
42. He can eat an entire meal in about four bites (but he doesn't because it wouldn't be polite.)
43. He can dance.
44. He has a look of complete contentment that melts my heart.
45. He is good to his family.
46. He takes me to the temple.
47. He honors his vows.
48. He sees the big picture and is working to attain his goals.
49. He loves me.
50. He makes my world worth living in. I love him so much- I am grateful to have such a good man in my life. He deserves the best, and I need to do my best to give him just that.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Smoothing those Edges!


Water is an amazing thing. It can cleanse. It can refresh. It can sustain life. It can carve canyons out of stone. It is used as a representation of the blood our Savior spilled as He pleaded for the redemption of each of our sins.

Water removes all the rough edges- those edges on this fallen tree, and those edges on our soul that we turn over to Christ and He washes away.

Every now and then I find myself in situations that allow me to see myself with more clarity than I did previously. I wonder if I am going to internalize the entirety of the understanding before me, or if it's going to merely pass as a fleeting thought. To name a few of the things leading my list this week: I am blessed to have such a strong, loving family- not only the family I grew up with, but also the family I've created. I can be responsible for much more than I knew, and to be fair I should do it without complaint. I interrupt people entirely too often by assuming I know what they're going to say. Doing this really annoys me and I want to change that habit as soon as possible. I don't have to put nearly the pressure on myself that I thought- things will still get done, and I will feel so much less stress. I love to be busy. I love to plan my day. When I plan my day to be busy, I end the day completely exhausted, but happy and full of accomplishment.

I have lots of rough edges- hopefully this week I will facilitate some 'smoothing' by admitting there are places I could start....and then figuring out how to start....and then starting.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Good Friends






I am blessed to have many people I call dear friends. Not acquaintances, though I have those, or regular invite to a gathering friends, though there's a place for them as well. I mean those really, truly, do anything for you, love you no matter what friends. The friends I spend hours talking with. The people I try to emulate. Those people that I can watch as they deal with things and want to ingrain it into myself. I love this picture- these two little ducks were quacking so noisily as they swam around the lake. How fun to see them swimming side by side looking at one another as they did. I wish everyone could know the joy of having at least one true "love you no matter what' kind of friend. They truly are more precious than any one thing on this earth.