Some people don't think before they put their mouth into gear

Well, today was the last Sunday of the year (2007). We went to church and in Sunday school the teacher asked us to reflect on time when the Savior was born and maybe how Mary, his mother and Joseph, his step - father was feeling at the time. Well, there was alot of discussion, because we live in a ward full of old people and many of them have alot to say about anything and everything, well, anyway I raised my hand to express (because I am one of those old people) how I thought that the trip to Bethlehem must have been very difficult for Mary being 9 mos pregnant and riding on a back of a Donkey and how I empathized. I was then...a brethren (kind of a big know it all brother in the gospel) interrupted me and said how he didn't want disagree with me but.....(here it comes) That it wasn't difficult for Mary because Donkeys were the mode of travel in those days and Joseph probably got a really special Donkey for the trip that rode really smooth!!!! WHAT?? Did the guy think before he put his know-it-all mouth in gear, really! Have you every heard of a smooth riding donkey? What I know is those animals take short little steps and it like riding on a pogo stick. I would think it is hard staying on a donkey if you would in the best of shape. It was so obvious that the old talker-talkerton man didn't have any idea what it was like to be pregnant or riding on a donkey. He went on to say, (by that time I knew he was full of it and he was just talking to hear himself but maybe he just didn't have his hearing aid on and really couldn't hear himself), how he thought that God had to make it easy for Mary, Oh brother! I know Mary was a very special human being and she was giving a very special task to do but easy???? I don't think so. Mary was a very special spiritual person having a very human and earthy experience. God just knew she could do and go through it all to fulfill her assignment.

Patrick O. Nugent

Last night I went to see a movie called, PS: I Love You, it was a story of a young girl who loses her husband after 10 years of marriage through death. He writes her a series of letters that lasted a year after he was gone to help her with the lost of him.
Why do I mention this? Well it caused me to reflect on my marriage and what my husband has brought to me over the many years I have known him, which is close to 50 years. I met him when I was 14 years of age, almost a lifetime ago. I was awed by his looks and his abilities to be able to do anything. He made me laugh. I enjoy watching him move. He was a wonderful athlete, in fact he was the best. He played basketball and he was always the highest scorer, baseball the same, he was the clean up batter. When he hit the ball it always went over the fence. I went to see him play in any kind of weather. I was his greatest and best fan. I loved dancing with him, he struggle with his rhythm but it didn't matter because we had fun. I looked forward to every youth dance because i knew he was going to be there. He was tall, broad shouldered, light brown,wavy hair, he had a strong built but he wasn't fat. He was so adjell and quick. Along with being smart, quick witted, he could do math like a whiz, spell and had a killer testimony. I loved being with him. We had our first date when i was junior in high school, I was about 16. At the time he was dating my sister Joan. We went to a jazz concert. Pat has always like Jazz, the easy listen kind. I felt safe with him and he was going places and I wanted to go too. He told me often he was going to be a millionaire by the time he was thirty and I believed he would be and I wanted to be there with him when he did. He was at every activity I was at and participated, I saw him as a leader and a guy of influence. He sure did influence me. I felt beautiful around him. After we were married Pat help me develop confidence in what I couldn't do very well. I became a better, leader and reader because we would practice by having me read to him the scriptures. I believed in the power of the priesthood he held and he would pronounce blessing on me any time I would ask with abilities beyond myself. I adored him and he was my champion, my knight in shiny armor, my love.

What 2007 Has Brought to Me!

This has been quite a year. The most noticeable thing is I am a smaller person, meaning size about 25 lbs. I have worked very hard and rid myself of old hurts and beliefs. For almost a life time I thought there was something wrong with me and if I tried harder no one would notice. But that is not true. Life happens and you have to do some very hard stuff but it doesn't mean you are loved less. Last year at this time, my desire was that I wanted my health back and I wanted to be nifty at sixty. I knew I was going to be 60 years old so in January I started to eat better and I wanted to develop habit for eating that would last me the rest of my life. I was done with emotional eating. I started looking at those things that caused me to turn to a cookie instead a yummy salad or sandwich; I was finished with cleaning my plate and having 2 of everything. I didn't like my job and it took so much gas to get there but, didn't have a place to jump to. In March I came down with the shingles Boy was I sick!!! It was on my face and it like having fever blusters all over you. It hurts so bad. My Daughters sprang into action and helped heal me. They were wonderful. They helped me want to live again. I learned about family and those who say they care but their actions are ones of hollow comments. In April I was free of my no end job and the shingles. I joint a "women on weights" class with my daughter Janel 2 days a week and decided that I was worth it to see a doctor that could help me get my weight down and health back. I felt myself becoming strong in my body, mind and soul. I didn't just want to live, I want to thrive!! In the course of the year I filed bankrupty, let my house go (even thought we are still living in it, which is a miracle) found out I can save myself and that Lord is aware of me and guide me with everything. In August I came across a job site for the company called Ultradent and the spirit told me that I need to walk in my resume. It was a part time job but I knew it would bring something more to me and it was very close to my home. I was hired and I am full time and I am doing what I have done all my life plan events!!! I work with some wonderful people that make getting up and going to work a lot easier. I miss a clean house, staying up on the laundry, my 11 o'clock nap, being around my grandkids and sleepovers. It has strengthen my confidence giving me money to pay bills and save for a rainy day. This year has proving to me that I can live without my twin sister and I don't have to invest time into things that don't matter. I learned a lot when I was young from my husband but he has a harder time learning from me now that we are older. I had the experience to watch my sons interact with their wives and realize just because I don't see them very often and their families spend more time with their wives families that I haven't had a influence upon them. They are married to really good women and they have married women more like their mother than they care to know. This year my daughters have kept me sane. They are talented and wise be on their years. Janel has been like a star guiding me along sometime a very dark and lonely path. She is full of light and very willing gives it to anyone who comes in contact with her. She was a child the Lord gifted to me that has given me peace. Even during those years of adolences we had our storms but, when we took the time to be together, even then there was peace and a easiness about being with her. She is ever learning and a joy to talk to, and be with, I love you, Janel. My Amy has kept me present by including me in her creations. She is so talented and has an eye of an artist. She is so kind and give so much of herself in helping others, she has truly been a savior to me. She has fed my body and mind. Nursed me back to health given me hope. Her presents has been felt not only by me but my friends and that has been going on since she was a teenage girl. I have never worried about Amy's intentions. She is good to the bone. I love you, Amy. I just want to say thank you to both of my beautiful daughters, you are women of truth and goodness and I am so lucky.

Christmas Day 2007

Well today is Christmas and I learned something. As I watched my daughter Amy and her husband work so hard on helping Santa and his elfs get Christmas ready I noticed that is what makes it fun for the Parents. As I watch the faces of our little grandsons and the glee of their parent as they came up the stairs to Christmas music and the lights of the Christmas tree. I watch with delight the custom that has been past from parents to child. I wonder why I didn't have my parents come more often to our family Christmases while I was raising my family. I know I worried I would be judged by my parents on how i spent money on my family and how it was always too much. I know now that was all in my head. I was thought of so generously by my daughter and how I have every thing i need. I was thrilled how my family can give to their families. No judgement just love and appreciation for what I have and the kind of children and grandchildren I have. Christmas is so much better with children!!! and the peace the Savior bring knowing he answers our prayers.