The Secret Life Inside Our Heads

A Model of a Town

The other day one of my boys brought up a story titled, and about, A Town Called Charity.  It is by Blaine M. Yorgason and the people in that town were anything but charitable.  And then a man comes and builds a model of the town.  Every night, miraculously and much to their embarrassment, the thoughts of the people show up on the top of those model houses. 

The boys and I talked about our thoughts, and how much harder we might work to control them if others could hear, or see what we were thinking.  Of course, sometimes when we think our thoughts are hidden, there is evidence of them on our faces, or in our actions.  In that town called Charity, there was certainly evidence in the actions of the people that their thoughts weren't very charitable. 

In the story, slowly, thoughts became more kind and loving, and the town became a much more pleasant place to live.  The town began, with the change of thoughts, to live up to the name of Charity.  Today I was thinking of the secret life inside of my head.  I am certain that changing negative thoughts to positive ones would make the life inside of my head a much more pleasant one!  And changing negative thoughts to positive ones can lead me to be more kind and loving, and would make me more consistently live up to what I want to be -- Charitable.

*Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash

A Thing of Naught

Yesterday Jake and Dan and I were talking about what it meant to be considered a "thing of naught".  They hadn't been aware that the meaning of naught is "nothing" or "zero".  I asked them if anyone had ever treated them or talked to them like they were nothing -- as if they didn't matter and didn't count.  They said they had been treated like that (which is really sad).  I told them that people had not really ever treated me like that, but I have treated myself like that before.

We were talking about Jesus, and people considering Him a "thing of naught".  I asked how Jesus handled that.  Did it change His opinion of Himself?  They agreed that it did not change what Jesus thought of Himself.  Why?  Because He knew He was the Son of God and He knew that what He needed to do was important for everyone.

From talking about Jesus, and how He handled others treating Him as nothing, we could see that if someone else, or even ourselves, ever considered us as "nothing" or "zero" we needed to remember that we also are sons or daughters of God.  In Moses chapter 1 Moses does say that man is nothing compared to God, but when Satan tried to get Moses to worship him, Moses answered, "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?"

We matter to God, and because of that we are never, ever a "thing of naught".

**Scriptures used:  1 Nephi 19:9 from The Book of Mormon:  Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and Moses 1: 10 & 13 from The Pearl of Great Price

God's Perfect Son

***

Sun in the sky

Clouds in the air

Fishes in oceans

And birds everywhere

Are all God’s creations

That I can enjoy

I feel like He made them for me

Lightning and thunder

Large waves in the sea

Rock breaking earthquakes

And wind bending trees

All speak of God’s power

Much greater than mine

He uses that power for me.

The coo of a dove

A small baby’s cry

The soft gentle music

Of a sweet lullaby

Are all gifts from God

He hopes I’ll enjoy

Sweet sounds that bring His peace to me.

Words that are unkind

A sharp kind of pain

Feeling so lonely

And buried in shame

Are all things our Savior

Can help me with now

He gives me His grace willingly.

A life that feels heavy

A path that seems black

A heart that feels broken

A time full of lack

The Lord understands these

He reaches for me

Sending peace, and enough light to see.

A Savior who loves me

The beauty around

His power to help

And the peace in good sounds

The hope that my Father

Gave me through the One

The Lord Jesus, God’s perfect Son.

Click here to listen

Words and Music by Sherie

***Picture by Del Parson

from Christ Healing a Blind Man

Happy Birthday to Travis

Trisa and Travis about a year ago.

Travis has been a part of our family for 5 1/2 years.  Here are some things I know about him:

*When I need someone to run to the store while Travis is here, he is always willing to go.  And he's been very kind when I need help and have gotten a little emotional asking for it.

*Travis gets up early.  I have very little evidence that Travis actually sleeps.  He does not understand us slugs who can't drag ourselves out of bed with, or maybe before, the sun.

*Travis likes to play Monopoly

* Travis brings fun computer games that we can play as a family sometimes, and other times he just hands over one of his devices to Dan with a fun game for him to play.

*Travis really likes customer appreciation day at the place in Orem where he has taken classes and bought equipment for his business.

*Travis likes to cook -- at least more than me!

*Travis likes funny memes.

*Travis seems to like to say shocking, or embarrassing things to make things awkward.  He doesn't get embarrassed about most things -- but I think he does get a little embarrassed when we try to give him complements.

*Travis likes dogs -- at least his dogs.

*Travis is really great at cleaning carpets, and tile.

*Travis likes to help.

*Every time I wish Travis a happy birthday, he wishes me a happy birthday back -- even though it really isn't close to my birthday.  I suppose that covers it in September in case he forgets.

*I love Travis.  Life is hard.  People can be unkind, kidney stones and hospital bills can surprise you, trucks break down and cost a lot to be repaired, work can be too busy, or not busy enough, and sometimes life is hard for no reason that we've figured out.  Travis keeps working and helping and trying to figure out how to deal with it all.  I hope this year is a happy one for him.

Creativity

This picture was taken by Trisa in Cedar City.
It is a sunset with a rainbow and lightning.
Proof that God is creative!

Another picture of the sunset / rainbow in Cedar City that Trisa took pictures of.

I believe she captured a bit of a double rainbow in this one!

God is creative.  We can see His creativity in everything -- people, animals, fish, landscape, etc.  I still remember hearing the talk Happiness, Your Heritage by President Uchtdorf where He talks about God's creativity and how as God's children it is our heritage to have a desire and ability to create.  Using that creativity helps to bring us, and those around us, joy.

I know that some people do not think they are creative at all, and then there are people like Dan who regularly get "lost in their imagination", always busy creating new stories, and activities.  Creativity covers so many things, and we are all creative.  I think that sometimes we view creativity through a narrow lens, but it covers many things.  

We can create words, music, paintings, gardens, pictures, and beautiful spaces. We can create smiles that spread, and the desire to laugh.  Some people create calm and peace just by their presence.  There are so many things to create that I could not possibly list them all.  I enjoy creating poems, a funny voice for my Princess Puppet, music, blogs, and notes or letters.  I love creating organization out of the chaos that often exists in closets, or messy rooms.  I also enjoy creating time in my day to enjoy the creations of others!

There is happiness and joy to be found in creating, and sharing our creations -- no matter how imperfect they may be.

Striving For Perfection

Is it a good thing to strive for perfection?  I think the answer to that is a bit tricky.  If I am always trying to be perfect, I am going to fail repeatedly, and it will seem like a more monumental fail if I am comparing myself to perfection.  Reaching that goal will seem discouraging and impossible.  I can be made perfect in Christ, through His grace, but in my thinking, it is best for me to strive for improvement.

If I try for improvement and fail, the fail isn't as big and I will know that, with a little bit more work, I can improve.  It is easier to give grace to myself, and to receive grace, as I strive for improvement in all I do.  Heavenly Father and the Savior are happy with improvement.  Constant improvement, in the very long run, with grace, does lead to perfection.

*Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

The Gardener

My Dad the Gardener

I have known a gardener since the day that I was born.

I’ve watched him tend to gardens, getting rid of weeds and thorns.

He made sure plants had water and he kept the pests away.

Spending time out in the garden was the highlight of his day.

He tried to teach his children to love the garden too.

He’d send us out to work, and tell us what to do.

I liked the little rabbits, that ate up the green beans.

I didn’t want to have to pick, and eat those yucky things!

But I did like the potatoes, that grew down in the ground,

And I like watermelon that grew from a tidy mound.

Corn is quite delicious, especially when it’s new

And I enjoy a good tomato from the garden too.

I can’t say that it’s fun getting popcorn off the cob

But knocking down the popcorn plants was kind of a fun job.

Working in the heat really isn’t very fun,

But getting up before the heat -- well that just isn’t done!

My Dad got up that early, and my Grandma did that too

But that just isn’t something that I really want to do!

For years I watched my sisters enjoy working in their yards

But I avoided mine because -- well, that work is hard!

I thought that I was breaking a tradition that we had

Of a long line of gardeners that did not start with Dad.

But it turns out that I learned a bit of stuff along the way.

And once my schedule slowed down, gardening fit into my day.

Then I found that I liked gardening, at least some of the time.

And I have a pretty garden that I get to claim as mine.

And I like to think of Dad as I work out in the yard

And his example of someone who liked to work quite hard.

He prayed over his plants, because he feels it helps them grow.

Just like he prays for me.  This is something that I know.

I really love this gardener that I’ve known since I was small.

And I hope this Father’s Day is the best Father’s Day of all!

When You Skip The Dishes .....

....they will pile up.  But it is possible that you can get some great things done instead -- and the dishes will probably still be there to wash later.

This is my garden.  What you are looking at is the bark on the left.  I put lots of new bark on today.
It looks a lot better!  You'll have to take my word for it unless you've been to visit.

I got new cushions for the chairs too so I can sit outside toasting in the sunshine!

It's probably more comfortable to sit there in the morning or evening though.  The garden is
really toasty in the sunshine.

The long view

A project that Dan, Jake and I did this week was to clean the shed.
I'm sure this will last a week or two!

My red "desk" has been the perfect thing.

I take a picture of this bush every year I think.  I love it.
It is beautiful and smells really good too.

We can't always skip the dishes, but this time I got a lot of good things done while not washing those dishes!  There's still tomorrow.

Forgetting Self in Service

One of the three excellent talks on Sunday was on losing ourselves in the service of others.  The speaker, my friend Lory, grew up with five brothers and so she was a little disgruntled when her Grandma asked her to do the dishes for her Mom every day.  She explained to her grandma just how many dishes that was, but her Grandma had been asked to do the same thing for her Mother when she was growing up and she asked Lory to do the dishes every day and see how she felt.  So Lory did what she was asked, washing a lot of dishes by hand every day.  She learned to love doing dishes, and I imagine her Mom was super grateful.

Her talk reminded me of a time in college when I was talking to my Mom.  I was having a hard time and my Mom said when that happened to her she would get out the ward list and go down it until she came to someone she felt like she could help in some way, and then she went to help.  I have tried this occasionally.  I do not always manage to forget myself by doing service, but at the end of the day I can at least look back and know I have tried to do something good.

Sunday after church I was doing the dishes and jokingly asked who was going to decide to do the dishes for me every day.  Nobody volunteered, but when everyone else went outside, Jake quietly came over and helped me finish up the dishes before we headed outside too.  Service does not need to be big to make a difference.

*Photo by Catt Liu on Unsplash

Be Anxious For Nothing

Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.                                  Philippians 4: 6-7  KJV2000

It is easy to feel that I have a right to feel anxious sometimes.  There are so many things that can be worried over, and I certainly can choose to worry!  But I find the days are better when I can choose to be grateful and trusting.  I can pray.  This gives me access to God, who is wise and who is the Father of us all.  He truly wants what is best for everyone and gives us chances to learn and grow and become stronger.

Becoming stronger isn't always fun.  Becoming physically stronger usually includes some soreness (or a lot of soreness).  There is no reason to think I can become the person of strong faith that I want to be without facing challenges, and learning how to turn to God.  When I do this I learn that He is trustworthy, and that He will send that peace that passes all understanding.

*Photo by Igor Kasalovic on Unsplash

Sympathy and Sunshine

Picture by Kayli's friend Brittany.  I kind of stole it from Facebook.  Thanks Brit!
This is Kayli and BoBo.  I believe this was the day Kayli started feeling lousy
but she looks great here!  I hope she feels well soon.

This morning was one of those where I woke up with a headache, and all of my joints hurting.  The first few steps always find me hobbling with an ow, ow ow!  Sometimes I miraculously find a sense of humor about this.  I have a friend who has had her joints ache like that every day of her life (that she can remember) and I love her attitude about hard things.  My attitude wasn't so great when I woke up.

After breakfast I like to sit in my sunny front room and study.  Kayli came in.  She's been sick for so long.  She coughs and coughs and I feel so sorry for her, but she still manages to pull out sympathy for me, and having someone be sympathetic seems to make pains less bothersome.  It might not be really logical, but it's true.  I took medicine, kept busy, and really ended up feeling well by noon and having a perfectly lovely day. 

The sympathy of a thoughtful daughter, and the gift of a beautiful, sunny day helped make today a happy one.

Music That's Made A Difference

I love music, and it has helped me immeasurably throughout my life.  Here are some of the Primary songs and Hymns that have made a difference for good in my life.

Jesus Once Was A Little Child by Lyle Hadlock has the words, "so little children, lets you and I, try to be like him, try, try, try."  This never made me feel like God was expecting too much, or that I was letting him down.  Instead it felt comforting, and encouraging.

I Am A Child of God by Naomi W. Randall was the song I sang to myself in the night as a child when I felt lonely.  It reminded me that, as God's child, I was never forgotten.

Count Your Blessings by Johnson Oatman, Jr. is the hymn I always started with when I was feeling sad or discouraged and I would sit down at the piano to play and sing until I felt better.  Doing this usually helped me gain a better perspective on life, and what is really important.  This song was my "go to" song for years and years.

Come, Come, Ye Saints by William Clayton:  I love this hymn, especially the second verse which helps stop the pity parties I am sometimes prone to.  It says, "Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?  'Tis not so; all is right.  Why should we think to earn a great reward If we now shun the fight?"  The pioneers didn't give up, and even though life really can be difficult, we can remember to find joy in the journey because God has not forsaken us.

I Stand All Amazed by Charles H. Gabriel:  Can we ever feel more loved than when we realize that someone loves us enough to not just be willing, but to actually suffer and die just so we could be with Him and our Father forever?

How Firm a Foundation attributed to Robert Keen:  And, though there are more hymns I could talk about, I'll end with this one.  I have sung this to myself when life has felt so heavy that I have started to panic.

"When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow, For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!" 

 I am thankful for music, and those who have written and shared it.  I have found knowledge, and comfort in music!

*Photo by Michael Maasen on Unsplash

Connor's Birthday Celebration

Even with Connor's birthday being on a busy Sunday, we were able to fit in some celebration!

Connor opened a couple of presents in the morning and saved the rest until Tia came in the afternoon.

A fan and Harry Potter socks.  What an awesome birthday!

The cake and candles are coming!

And now for the play by play pictures of the candle tradition.

Except this is the first time that the plate has been placed on the person blowing out the candles!

Derek "helping"

 Later we spent some time together outside, and then Connor went to get his friend Amanda so they could watch the movie I Can Only Imagine.  While he went to get her, her Dad brought over some posters their family made for Connor so that when Connor got back he had a happy birthday surprise!  He had a bit of trouble figuring out how they got here since Amanda's Dad got back to their house in time to say happy birthday to Connor in person.