Heaven Is Near

I have a really amazing family, they are always there for me whenever I need them, and there is a mutual love of Jesus Christ and one another that seems to fill our home. But our life wasn't peachy-keen perfect either. When I was about 8 years old, my Dad lost his Job. Being so young, I didn't realize the impact it was going to have on the family. All I knew was Dad didn't have to go to work, and that meant he got to play with me...ALL DAY. To a kid that was like winning the lottery. 

It's interesting to me, because I remember not having a lot of money, we lived off our food storage and our garden, and yet, I can't remember a summer I loved more than that one! As a child this was the greatest blessing in the world, but as a family, this was by far one of the most stressful times. 

Wouldn't it be nice if we all saw trials like little children saw them? Like an opportunity for something
greater? I look back on my attitude as a child and think, wow, what faith I used to have. Even now I wish I looked at everything they way I used to, and then I thought about this truth beautifully stated by Elder Henry B. Eyring, "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

A Creation of Color

I love to tie-dye, call me a true Oregonian, but I feel like good tie-dye is in my blood. The vibrant colors are a form of expression and personality. No two items ever look the same, and yet, nothing ever seems to 'clash'. It's a different kind of art.

Our lives are filled with all kinds of color. When we are born we start with a white shirt, pressed and full of possibility. As we go throughout our lives we pick and choose splashes of color, are we bold? Outgoing? Musical? Political? With all the things we do and are, there are splashes of color, vibrant and dull. We involve ourselves in all kinds of things, progressing and becoming who we someday want to be, but just like tie-dying a shirt, with too many colors, a shirt just becomes ugly.

The Symphony of Life

There is a really lovely piano song I have come to love. "Shine" by William Joseph. It has a beautiful melody, and wonderful chords that blend together in a wondrous serenade of sound. Listening to this song makes me think of goals and dreams for better a today and better tomorrows. It had different musical lines that blend together, and when the song is over, it leaves the listener inspired and refreshed. 

Music has always been one of my passions. I love both performing and listening to well composed music, especially piano music. But I've noticed two things about well written piano music, first, there's always more than one note that must be played, and second, the notes must stay within the key signature restrictions in order for the music to flow. 

Restless Beauty: A Bedtime Story

Once upon a time there was a young lady, strong, beautiful and bright. She could conquer the world with a wave of her hand, and she was confident in her knowledge that she was oh so very special. Everyone knew that when she was around, the spotlight followed her, and so did a crowd of people. Everyone wanted to be like Olive, a true princess in and out.

Olive had a problem though, she had a problem sleeping. Every time she went to bed, she would toss and turn, but could never get comfortable. She started piling mattress on her bed, and then pillows and then blankets, but nothing helped. Olive couldn't sleep.

Slowly, her beauty began to fade. Her once cheerful personality faded into grumpy shouts at the admirers that followed her. The beautiful skin that used to glow with joy and love, turned an uneasy shade of pale pale yellow, and her once radiant eyes, dulled, and were framed by dark bags under her eyes.

Our Happily Ever After

I keep hearing people tell me "life isn't like a fairy tale" and I would just like address this issue right off the bat. Life is absolutely like a fairy tale. It is full of magic, hope, loss, and of course, the most precious "happily ever after".

Ever fairy tale begins with a lone princess/prince who destines for more than she/he currently has. They want more! And in every case, they venture out, or are sent out to find that missing piece of life. Along the way they encounter the terrible heartache, misfortune, an evil villain who tries to keep them from their true destiny. But somehow our hero always steps in to save the lost royalty and helps them to the end. Despite the trials that face the beloved royalty, there is always this sense of hope we feel for them, "come on!" we cheer, "just wait, it get's better in just about 5 minutes!" We know that if they press forward with hope, something great is waiting around the corner.

It's raining Cats and Dogs!

North Carolina has rainstorms where I am pretty sure cats and dogs fall from the sky. It's crazy! I'm from Oregon, and I've never seen so much rain come down at one time, and when the sky is all cloudy gray, sometimes it's really hard to keep your 'happy face' on. It's so interesting though, the grass is always green here, and the flowers seem to always be blooming...why? Because it rains...and Rains...and RAINS. 

Life is much the same. Sometimes all we see is the crazy rain that always seem to pour on down. It almost floods our lives, and it makes it hard to see through dark clouded skies of confusion. But the really unfortunate times come when we are so focused on the rain, and forget to see the flowers. 

It all starts...with a starter!

There is this great young woman at my church, Sarah, and she makes sourdough bread, and for all those who know me well, you know how much I LOVE sourdough bread. Interestingly enough, I learned it's quite a process to make a good loaf of sourdough bread. It all begins with the 'starter'. And this starter has to be 'fed' over several days with potato flakes and sugar to make sure it stays 'alive'. If you don't feed it on a consistent basis, it dies, and then you have to start all over, and it's not easy.  

Faith is much the same. Often we start on the right foot, we begin believing and then something happens, we forget to feed our flicker of faith and the faith we had slowly begins to fade away. Which is why it is so important to consistently 'fan the flame of our faith' (Holland).