Skip to main content

Sunday Musings of the Spirit: Perspective

Ever have one of those weeks?  It has been one doozie of a week for me, filled with pain (root canal), inconvenience (no water), and a million-and-one other reasons excuses to complain.  It is easy to get wrapped up in the problems of the day, and become stressed.
I imagine John was stressed, too, but he greeted one piece of bad news after another with calmness and a smile.  He took to heart his mantra, "It's an adventure, and adventures usually work out."  I really love that man!

The fact is, this life is an adventure, and the ups and downs really won't matter much in the end.  I need to hang on to my hat and enjoy the ride.  Granted, sometimes I'm a merry-go-round girl on a roller-coaster life, but that's OK.  When life gets a bit overwhelming, I need to remember what is really important. 

In a Relief Society general meeting in 1999, Sister Mary Ellen Smoot presented the following statement:

"We 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."

That is what is important.  My Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, my family, and the opportunity we all have to return to our Heavenly Father.  Remembering what is truly important helps keep all the other things in perspective.  And working together through the difficult times further deepens bonds of love. 

We are already laughing (albeit somewhat maniacally) about our "date" last night:  building a tarp to protect the freshly-poured concrete from the rain!



It looks better than it did last week ,though, and we've made some memories in the process:



Thanks for properly-working plumbing, reminders of what is really important, and for family and friends with whom to enjoy this adventure called life. 



Photobucket
Sew Darn Crafty Party, Find a Friend Friday, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop, Show Your Stuff, The Wildly Original Link Party, Wow Us Wednesdays, Down Home Blog Hop, Tuesday Archive Link Up, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, Grandparents Say It Saturday

Pin It

Comments

  1. I had one of those weeks too Kristi and I loved hearing your perspective! blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's the right 'thankful thought' Things do happen and we do need to have the right spirit and to keep our attention on the right things. I think it is fantastic that when you needed it your husband encouraged you!
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's the right 'thankful thought' Things do happen and we do need to have the right spirit and to keep our attention on the right things. I think it is fantastic that when you needed it your husband encouraged you!
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  4. It seems like most everyone I know had a rough week. Things breaking and stressing them out. Your husband is a smart man. What a blessing for you and your family. Glad you have some reliable running water again. Gotta take those dates where we can get them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for this post and the reminding us of all our blessings in any way, shape or form loved reading your perspective!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...