Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need.
Dust if you must, but there is not much time
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world's out there
The sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come round again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go, as go you must
You, yourself, will make more dust!
One more "find" while cleaning out my old desk and yes there was dust on it!!!
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Champion
"The average runner sprints until the breath in her is gone.
But the chapion has the iron will that makes her carry on.
For rest the average runner begs when limp her muscles grow.
But the champion runs on leader legs, her spirit makes them go.
The average girl's complacent when she has done her best to score.
But the champion does her best, and then does a little more."
Another find while cleaning out my old desk. So I guess today I was a champion because I decided to take a walk. Not my usual walk around the block either. I decided to walk to the post office in town and then around the end of the park and back across the railroad crossing then back home again. As my legs (mostly my right knee) tired I pulled from within and finished strong. I thought that it was going to be a longer walk when I started out but when I figured out the mileage it was only 2.5 miles which is the same as my walk around the block. It was nice to see something different and to feel like I was really doing something different!
But the chapion has the iron will that makes her carry on.
For rest the average runner begs when limp her muscles grow.
But the champion runs on leader legs, her spirit makes them go.
The average girl's complacent when she has done her best to score.
But the champion does her best, and then does a little more."
Another find while cleaning out my old desk. So I guess today I was a champion because I decided to take a walk. Not my usual walk around the block either. I decided to walk to the post office in town and then around the end of the park and back across the railroad crossing then back home again. As my legs (mostly my right knee) tired I pulled from within and finished strong. I thought that it was going to be a longer walk when I started out but when I figured out the mileage it was only 2.5 miles which is the same as my walk around the block. It was nice to see something different and to feel like I was really doing something different!
Strength Grows Out of Struggle
Found this while cleaning out my old desk:
Struggle is a clever device through which nature compells mankind to develop, expand and progress. It can either be an ordeal or a great experience depending on one's attitude toward it. Success is impossible without it. Meet struggle and master it and you shall have the strength and wisdom sufficient for all your needs.
Struggle toughens the human spirit. Most people go through life following the path of least resistance. Without the strength of character that grows out of struggle, we would be tempted to go through life with little purpose or plan. Struggle forces us to move when we would otherwise stand still and it leads us eventually to the full realization that success comes only through struggle.
Nothing worth while in life is ever achieved without a struggle. If it were easy everyone would do it. Life is a struggle, and the reward goes to those who meet the difficulty face to face, overcome it and move on to the next challenge.
My old boss used to work me most nights and sometimes holidays, at the end of some weeks he almost would apologize for having me work such long hours but he would add "you've been a big help to me, but a bigger help to yourself though the experience you've gained."
By running to embrace struggle, rather than trying to avoid it, you to can use it to help you learn, grow and succeed.
Powerful words don't you think? I have spent time on both sides of struggle and find these words to be true. When you empower yourself to meet the challenge head-on you can and will achieve great things. My sister Caren once told me that when I am "up" I accomplish amazing things! I guess another way to state this is: You are either reaching or receding but never just standing still. Embrace your challenges, spend as little time as possible avoiding them for they are yours to conquer. If not today then they will come around again until you seize the opportunity and overcome the challenges of life.
Struggle is a clever device through which nature compells mankind to develop, expand and progress. It can either be an ordeal or a great experience depending on one's attitude toward it. Success is impossible without it. Meet struggle and master it and you shall have the strength and wisdom sufficient for all your needs.
Struggle toughens the human spirit. Most people go through life following the path of least resistance. Without the strength of character that grows out of struggle, we would be tempted to go through life with little purpose or plan. Struggle forces us to move when we would otherwise stand still and it leads us eventually to the full realization that success comes only through struggle.
Nothing worth while in life is ever achieved without a struggle. If it were easy everyone would do it. Life is a struggle, and the reward goes to those who meet the difficulty face to face, overcome it and move on to the next challenge.
My old boss used to work me most nights and sometimes holidays, at the end of some weeks he almost would apologize for having me work such long hours but he would add "you've been a big help to me, but a bigger help to yourself though the experience you've gained."
By running to embrace struggle, rather than trying to avoid it, you to can use it to help you learn, grow and succeed.
Powerful words don't you think? I have spent time on both sides of struggle and find these words to be true. When you empower yourself to meet the challenge head-on you can and will achieve great things. My sister Caren once told me that when I am "up" I accomplish amazing things! I guess another way to state this is: You are either reaching or receding but never just standing still. Embrace your challenges, spend as little time as possible avoiding them for they are yours to conquer. If not today then they will come around again until you seize the opportunity and overcome the challenges of life.
The Importance of Friends
"Life is sweet just because of the friends we have made and the things which in common we share. We want to live on, not just for ourselves, but because of the people who care. It's giving and doing for somebody else on that all life's splendor depends. And the joy of this world when you've summed it all up, is found in the making of friends." Edgar A. Guest
What a wonderful quote! I found it in an old letter I received from a friend while Catherine was on her mission. She said, and I agree, that sometimes reading it helps her feel happier because it puts things in perspective.
It has been said of me that I have never met a stranger. Sometimes I feel as if I meet people that I already knew and since life is eternal, having lived before this earth life and will live on after this earth life, friends and knowledge are all that we bring with us and take back with us. I am so grateful for my dear friends.
Family members are friends that we hold even dearer and closer to us.
I am truly blessed with a wonderful family of friends!!!
What a wonderful quote! I found it in an old letter I received from a friend while Catherine was on her mission. She said, and I agree, that sometimes reading it helps her feel happier because it puts things in perspective.
It has been said of me that I have never met a stranger. Sometimes I feel as if I meet people that I already knew and since life is eternal, having lived before this earth life and will live on after this earth life, friends and knowledge are all that we bring with us and take back with us. I am so grateful for my dear friends.
Family members are friends that we hold even dearer and closer to us.
I am truly blessed with a wonderful family of friends!!!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Grandchildren are the best!
So the best things in life are grandchildren! It is really true!!! Your children bring you joy and then they give you grandchildren!Emily and Jared brought grandchild #8 and #9 to us this year. No, they did not have twins. But they opened their home to a foreign exchange student, Olga, from Spain last summer. Olga and I bonded immediately when she went quilting with me last summer at Aunt Caren's quilting group in North Bend, Washington. Willing to accept a challenge, Olga decided that she wanted to make a quilt too. Aunt Caren came to her aid with some left over quilt blocks that she wasn't going to use and Olga began putting her first quilt together. Her perfectionism showed as she chose color placement first and then began sewing the blocks together. Finding just the right fabric for the borders was a fun trip to the fabric store and again her eye for design and color was apparent. It was a fun time but then Granny had to leave and she was on her own. She soon finished the top and brought it with her to Idaho this spring where Granny quilted it for her on "Millie" the long arm quilting machine and put the binding on it for her too. 
Soon it was a real quilt to wrap herself in.
Soon it was a real quilt to wrap herself in.So much fun! I am so very proud of Olga for learing something new. For not being afraid of a new project! And for finishing it so she can take home with her a beautiful quilt with lots of memories and lots of love in every stitch. 
So Olga became our grandchild #8 as Emily and Jared began to learn what parenting is all about. Usually you have a baby before you have a teenager but not this time. She will have to return home to Spain soon but she will always be a part of our family!!! It is with deep graditude that I thank her family for sending her to us and allowing us to bring her into our family forever! She has been a constant source of joy for me and I will miss having her near so very much!!!
Then on May 29th grandchild #9 was brought into this world as Emily gave birth to Benjamin Michael Lutz. At 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long there is no denying that he is one of ours. What a big boy!
It was a mad dash to drive from Idaho to Washington hoping that I would be there before he was born. Jared says I made it in record time! I arrived on Friday and he arrived on Saturday. Such a deal! I am so very happy for Emily and Jared. They patiently waited for such a long time for him to come to their family. And now he is here and such a sweet thing too! Isn't it interesting the blessings that came from giving so much as Young Woman's President in her ward and then opening their home to a foreign exchange student to finally being blessed with their own son. Sacrifices are often the door that opens many blessings in life.
What a HAPPY GRANNY!!!Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness,
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the World.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that
other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God
that is within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love
This quote was given to me by a dear friend and I feel it is worth pondering over and consider where you find yourself. Do you live in fear? Do you shrink in order to not make others feel small? I know that I have done that many times and it is never a good place to spend our precious time here on earth. The words to a hymm come to mind, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven." Each of us have been given many gifts and talents to use and develop while here on this earth. Eventually we will all have to give an accounting of them and how we have used and developed them. The parable of the talents comes to mind, doesn't it? Being faithful and true to who you are and being the best you can be is always the best plan.
Sometimes we loose balance in life and spend too much time in one area such as always giving service and not knowing how to receive it. It is said that "it is better to give than to receive" and there is some truth to that. Being kind, generous, charitable are all important Christ-like qualities we need to develop. But, if we never learn to receive service from others then we are out of balance. And, if we don't learn to receive service from those that we can repay during this life either directly or indirectly then how are we ever going to be able to receive the fullness of the Atonement of Jesus Christ which we can never pay back?
Finding balance in all aspects of life is my goal. Making sure that I have my "oxygen mask" on first, being the best "me" that I can be and then finding ways to serve others and help them be the best they can be that we may all return to our Heavenly Father.
We all have fears ocassionally, but realizing that "there is nothing to fear but fear itself" is so empowering. Liberate yourself from fears with faith and see what comes of it! You CAN do anything you put your mind to!
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