WORTHWHILE RESULTS

My quote of the day is:
 "There is no substitute for hard work.  Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning."  (John Wooden)

Just appreciating hard work lately and the sense of fulfillment that comes with putting up a new fence, reorganizing my paperwork, planning homeschool assignments into my calendar, working with horses,doing a level 2 hot yoga class, etc., etc. etc. It just feels good to challenge myself and be successful.  

Worshipping God In My Body

So anyway, I was just musing for the millionth time on the miracle of the human body and how ill we can make ourselves even though our bodies were divinely designed to function and be self healing.  Over the years of having a son with a delicate body (heart defects, esophageal atresia, scoliosis) I have had a crash course in some things that help overall and other things that definitely harm. 
For my son, he has definitely benefitted from yoga, massage, and trying to eat so that his blood Ph is alkaline.  We are still not totally successful, but we are making progress. We have a list of things that we very conscientiouly avoid.  I am so grateful we learned about these things and can keep researching online.  It has helped us immensely to avoid "flu" and to have more energy overall. I will post a list of these things later on with an alkaline/acid chart.

Wow!

My awesome sister Amanda helped me find my blog again!  Unbelievable that someone could lose a blog so often, But I am THAT talented! :-)

Softly and Tenderly

So, today I am grateful for a beautiful song called "Softly and Tenderly" which was apparently sung at the funeral of Martin Luther King.  The words are worth contemplating and I just wanted to write them here. 

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,


Calling for you and for me;

See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,

Watching for you and for me.


Come home, come home,

You who are weary, come home;

Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,

Calling, O sinner, come home!
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Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,

Pleading for you and for me?

Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,

Mercies for you and for me?

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Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,

Passing from you and from me;

Shadows are gathering, death's night is coming,

Coming for you and for me.
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O for the wonderful love He has promised,

Promised for you and for me!

Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,

Pardon for you and for me.

Come home, come home,


You who are weary, come home;

Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,

Calling, O sinner, come home!
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So these words echo some things I have been reading and listening to recently which have really helped me have a better understanding and perspective of the nature of God and of our Savior's infinite love for us.
One of the books I have been reading is by Glenn Beck "The 7 Wonders That Will Change Your Life" in which his personal life stories help illustrate the tender mercies of the Lord in his life and the ways God kept calling to him, and showing him "bread crumbs" to follow to help him get on the path to a happier life through faith in the Lord.  I just love this imagery of clues being left for him to follow to find happiness in his life.  I have just taken some time to really think about my own life and I can see the ways that the Lord has done the same thing figuratively for me personally.  I am just amazed when I see the ways he guides me. 
Another great blessing for me has been the following talk about the Atonement of Christ, which my Aunt Laura sent to me. Here is the link:
 
http://byutv.org/watch/49475abb-10d4-4f45-a757-7000b9945468
 
I hope the link works, because the way the speaker describes the reality of the atonement and how we misunderstand it has really helped me with overcoming perfectionism.  I still struggle of course, but it helps with me understanding and lowers my stress level.  I will NOT be perfect now and I SHOULD not ever beat myself up about it.  :-) 
Softly and Tenderly. . .Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me...

You Are So Beautiful To Me!

My husband sings this to me sometimes and today found it on youtube in a bunch of different versions including Spanish, opera and Italian. Very cool. I want my daughters to marry guys that sing this song to them. We all need to hear it, after all--WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Today I was amazed at the beauty of the mountains all around in Redlands where we visited Jay's Dad for a birthday surprise today. The sun shone, air was clear, the sky bright blue, the grass so green and cool, the sunset clouds were pink cotton candy, the kids were giggling with grandpa tickling and chasing them. We had a couple injuries, though. The wet grass caused some slipping and Grandpa pulled a muscle when he fell. Buddy was walking down some stairs and twisted his ankle. It's a bit swollen, but he got a blessing, some arnica, and some lavendar and eucalyptus massaged into the foot to help the pain and swelling. We made him a bed on the floor so he wouldn't be stuck up on his bunk bed. That'll make bathroom trips easier. :-) He is feeling much better now.

Well, today the Kister Kids and I made our own caramel apples with molasses, brown sugar, butter and walnuts. Very fun, but even more fun to watch them (and Jay) becoming progressively stickier as they ate them. Pretty cute.

Last weekend we had our San Diego Mormon Choir and Orchestra concert. It was so wonderful! It was neat to see how happy the children were when they had finished. You could tell they just felt good inside. They'd been a little antsy beforehand, but we danced together and galloped around the "holding tank" room where they kept us prior to performing. It was such a blessing to have that whole experience of singing along with so many others, blending our voices with the power of the symphony orchestra under such wonderful direction.

This week the kids started their first practice with Jackie Abernathy's children's choirs. They had a great time and she's already going to have them perform a song at a fireside this Sunday. Matthew says he wants to sing, so we will see how that goes. :-) My sister, Audra is planning her wedding for end of December/beginning of January so that makes it hard for our cousin Becca to dance at the reception since she'll be 8 1/2 to 9 months pregnant. So I will teach Emily and Samara this month what we call the "white dress dance" to a song called "What Heaven Sees in You". It will be neat to see how they do. I teach Global Rhythms ballet tomorrow. I'm pretty tired, but encouraged that the Lord will help me get some good rest and start fresh tomorrow so I can be excited to teach my class their dance beginning and also cover the PreBallet with Emily and Grace not there tomorrow. I have good children. I am so thankful that they are starting to become more responsible for themselves (just a little--but it's so encouraging!). I have hope for the future! I am hopefully going to be in the Stake Christmas Choir, as well as our Ward Choir at church. I went to ballet class last night, taught by Xavier. I love how well he warms up the class and also that he challenges you constantly, keeps you moving while giving a thousand corrections, so you stay warm and your mind focused. I want to be a good teacher! I need to pay closer attention to how the Savior taught. Many parables, using analogies the people were familiar with. Hmmm...Something to think about. :-)

I can blog again

And so, it has been months since I last posted. I lost my blog! Well, I am preparing for the Christmas recital which will be the second Friday in December around 10:30 in the morning.
I have found some music I love, which really helps me feel the Spirit, and I hope it helps others, too.